Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/352

 king of Scots, performed homage to the king at Westminster (Parl. Writs, i. 7). In the same year he dedicated the new church of the monks of Waverley, granting indulgences to all present and entertaining the whole assembly at his own cost (Ann. Wav. ii. 390). In 1279 he assisted at the consecration of John of Darlington, archbishop of Dublin, and attended and sent presents of game to Peckham's enthronement (Reg. Epist. J. Peckham, xxix. xxx.) During nearly the whole of his episcopal rule at Winchester he was engaged in an obstinate quarrel with his chapter. One of his first acts was, at the instance of the legate Ottobon, to restore as prior a certain Valentine. In 1274 Andrew, the rival prior, endeavoured, at the head of an armed force, to restore himself to his old position. The bishop excommunicated the offenders and placed the town under an interdict. A full inquiry by royal justices, before a jury, led to the imprisonment of the culprits; but so strong was the feeling among the monks in favour of Andrew, that the new prior, Valentine, found his position untenable, and resigned in 1276. In great indignation Ely seized the prior's manors; but the mediation of royal commissioners resulted in Valentine's restoration for a time, with two episcopal nominees among the obedientaries of the house. But before long, ‘to show his power,’ Ely deposed Valentine altogether, and appointed a Norman, John of Dureville, in his stead. The disgusted monks sought the protection of the Roman curia; but in 1278 the mediation of the abbots of Reading and Glastonbury patched up a peace between Ely and his chapter. The bishop ‘put away all rancour’ and gave the kiss of peace to all the monks, except those still negotiating in the papal court against him. A little later troubles were renewed, and the king thought it worth while to take the priory in his own hands; though at Christmas, when he held his court at Winchester, he resigned its custody to the bishop. Ely then made a clean sweep of the house, made Adam of Fareham the prior, and appointed his partisans as obedientiaries. This secured his triumph for the rest of his life; but years after his death the after-swell of the storm had not subsided (Reg. Epist. Peckham, iii. 806, 837). But on 12 Feb. 1280 Ely died. His body was interred in the church of Waverley Abbey, to which he had so long been a friend; but his heart was deposited in his own cathedral. In his will he left considerable legacies to Worcester Cathedral (Ann. Wig. iv. 480). He had promised to assist in building the Franciscan church at Southampton, and Peckham compelled his executors to respect his wishes. Ely, according to Wykes (A. M. iv. 180), had knowledge and prudence. He is said to have been a benefactor of the university of Cambridge. 

ELY, WILLIAM (d. 1609), catholic divine, brother of Dr. [q. v.], was born in Herefordshire, and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford. He graduated B.A. in 1546, and M.A. in 1549 (, Register of the Univ. of Oxford, p. 212). In 1552 he was appointed one of the clerks of the market. When Cranmer was brought to the stake to be burnt at Oxford, he took leave of some of his friends standing by, and seeing Ely among them went to shake him by the hand, but the latter, drawing back, said it was not lawful to salute heretics, especially one who falsely returned to the opinions he had forsworn (, Acts and Monuments, ed. Townsend, viii. 89). Ely entered into holy orders, supplicated for the degree of B.D. 21 June 1557, and had a preaching license under the seal of the university 25 Nov. 1558. He was always a catholic at heart, though he conformed for a while ‘in hopes that things would take another turn.’ In 1559 he was appointed the second president of St. John's College, Oxford, by Sir Thomas White, its founder, but about 1563 he was removed from that office on account of his refusal to acknowledge the supremacy of the queen over the church of England. Thereupon he retired to the continent, and on his return became a laborious missioner in his own county of Hereford. At length being apprehended he was committed to Hereford gaol, where he spent the remainder of his life. In a report sent to the privy council in 1605 the high sheriff of Herefordshire says: ‘Mr. Elie, a prisoner there [at Hereford], is a setter forward of their [the jesuits'] desperate designs with all his might, having such liberty as that he rideth up and down the country as he listes.’ He died in the prison at a great age in 1609, ‘being then accounted by those of his persuasion a most holy confessor.’ Dodd says that ‘his years and strictness of his morals made him both fear'd