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insula. The exact year in which it was held is a mat- ter of controversy upon which much has been written. Some copies of its Acts contain a date which corre- sponds with the year 324 of our reckoning; by some writers the council has accordingly been assigned to that year. Hardouin suggests 313, Mansi 309, and Hefele 305 or 306. Recent opinion (Duchesne, see Ijelow) would put the date considerably earlier, from 300 to 303, consequently previous to the persecution of Diocletian. The principal bishop attending the council was the famous Hosius of Cordova. Twenty- six priests are also recorded as sit ting with the bishops. Its eighty-one canons were, however, subscribed only by the bishops. These canons, all disciplinary, throw much light on the religious and ecclesiastical life of Spanish Christians on the eve of the triumph of Christianity. They deal with marriage, baptism, idolatry, fasting, excommunication, the cemeteries, usury, vigils, frequentation of Mass, the relations of Christians with pagans, Jews, heretics, etc. In canon xxxiii we have, says Hefele (op. cit. below), the oldest positive ecclesiastical ordinance concerning the celi- bacy of the clergy. Canon xiii exhibits the institution of nuns {virgines Deo sacratcv) as long familiar to Spain. Canon xxxvi (placuit picturas in ecclesia esse non debere ne quod colitur et adoratur in parietibus tlepingatur) has often been urged against the venera- tion of images as practised in the Catholic Church. Binterim, De Rossi, and Hefele interpret this prohibi- tion as directed against the use of images in over- ground churches only, lest the pagans should carica- ture sacred scenes and ideas; Von Funk, Turmel, and Dom Leclercq opine that the council did not pro- nounce as to the hceity or non-liceity of the use of images, but as an administrative measure simply for- bade them, lest new and weak converts from paganism should incur thereby any danger of relapse into idola- try, or be scandalized by certain superstitious excesses in no way approved by the ecclesiastical authority. (See Von Funk in "Tubingen Quartalschrift", 1SS3, 270-78; Xolte in "Rev. des Sciences eccl^siastiques", 1877, 482-84; Turmel in "Rev. du clerge fran^ais", 1906, XLV, 508.) Several other canons of this council offer much interest to students of Christian archeology. (See text and commentary in Hefele-Leclercq, "Hist, des Conciles," I, 212 sqq.)

Mansi, Coll. Cone., II, 1 sqq.; Baro.^jius, Annales, ad an. 305; RouTH. Retiquice Sacra:, III, 253; Dale, The Synod of Elvira and Christian Life in the Fourth Century (London, 1SS2); Leclercq, L'Espaffne chretienne {Paris, 1907); Hahnack, Chronologic der altchr. Lift., II, 450; Duchesne, Le concile d'Elvire et les flamines chrHima in Melanges Renier (Paris, 1SS6); Hefele-Leclehcq, Hist, des Conciles, new French tr. (Paris, 1907), 212-64.

Arthur S. Baknes.

Ely (Elia or Elts), Ancient Diocese of (Eli- ENSis), in England. The earliest historical notice of Ely is given by Venerable Bede who writes (Hist. Eccl., IV, xix): "Ely is in the province of the East- Angles, a country of about six hundred families, in the nature of an island, enclosed either with marshes or waters, and therefore it lias its name from the great abundance of eels which are taken in those marshes." This district was assigned in 649 to Etheldreda, or Audrey, daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, as a dowry on her marriage with Tonbert- of the South Girv'ii. After her seoond marriage to Egfrid, King of Northumbria, she became a nun, and in 673 returned to Ely and founded a monastery on the site of the present cathedral. As endowment she gave it her entire principality of the isle, from which subsequent Bishops of Ely derived their temporal power. St. Kt hclilroda died in 679, and her shrine became a place of pilgrimage. In 870 the monasterj- was destroyed by the Danes, having already given to the Church four sainted abbesses, Sts. Etlicldreda, Sexburga, Er- menilda, and Werburga. I'robalily under their rule there was a community of monks as well as a convent

of nuns, but when in 970 the monastery was restored by King Edgar and Bishop Ethelwold it was a founda- tion for monks only. For more than a century the monastery flourished, till about the year 1105 Abbot Richard suggested the creation of the See of Ely, to relieve the enormous Diocese of Lincoln. The pope's brief erecting the new bishopric w'as issued 21 Nov., 1108, and in Oct., 1109, the king granted his charter, the first bishop being Harvey, formerly Bishop of Bangor. The monastery church thus became one of the "conventual" cathedrals. Of this building the transepts and two bays of the nave already existed, and in 1170 the nave as it stands to-day (a complete and perfect specimen of late Norman work) was fin- ished. .\s the bishops succeeded to the principality of St. Etheldreda they enjoyed palatine power and great resources. Much of their wealth they spent on their cathedral, with the result that Ely can show beautiful e x a m - pies of Gothic ar- chitecture of every period, including two unique fea- tures, the un- rivalled Galilee porch (1198-1215) and the central oc- tagon (1.322-1328) which rises from the whole breadth of the buiUling and towers up until its roof forms the only Gothic dome in ex- istence. The west- ern tower (215 feet) was built be- tween 1174 and 1197, and the octa- gon was added to it in 1400. Of the cathedral as a whole it is true that "a more vast, magnificent and beautiful display of ecclesiastical architecture and especially of the different periods of the pointed style can scarcely be conceived" (Winkles, English Cathedrals, 11,46). It is fortunate in having perfect specimens of each of the successive styles of Gothic architecture: the Early English Galilee porch, the Decorated lady- chapel (1321-1349), and the Perpendicular chantry of Bishop Alcock (c. 1500).

The original Catholic diocese was much smaller than the present Anglican see and consisted of Cambridge- shire alone, while even of this county a small part belonged to Norwich diocese. The bishops of Ely usually held high office in the State and the roll includes many names of famous statesmen, includ- ing eight lord chancellors (marked *) and six lord treasurers (marked t)- Two bishops — John de Fon- tibus and Hugh Belsham — were reputed as saints, but never received formal cultus; the former was commemorated on 19 June. The following is the list of bishops:

Interior of Ely CATHEnR\L, Loo

ING West from Choir Siiowing famous octagon and lante

Harvey, 1109 Nigel, "11.331 Geoffrey Riddell, 1174 William Longchamp,

1189* Eustace, 1198* John de Fontibus, 1220t Geoffrey de Burgh, 1225 Hugh Norwold, 1229 William de Kilkenny,

1255*

Hugh Belsham, 1257 John Kirkby, 1286t William de Louth, 1290 Ralph Walpole, 1299 Robert Orford, 1.302 John Keeton, 1310 John Hotham, 1316*t Simon Montacute, 1337 Thomas de Lisle, 1345 Simon Langham, 1.362* John Barnet, 1366t