| have it that the archbishop of York was originally
ARCHBISHOP
3G9
ARCHDEACON
primate of the British Church ; for London never was a Roman colony, or the seat of the Roman emperors, as York was, where both Severus anil Constantius Chlorus lived and died, and where Constantino the Great was born ; and from hence they infer that where the emperors resided was the most likely place to have pre-eminence above the rest. However it be, in the reign of Henry I, William Corbel, archbishop of Can- terbury, obtained from the pope the character of leg- ate, by which he secured to himself a superiority over the see of York, which he visited jure legation-is. But after his death the contest still continued ; for we find that in the reign of Henry II, a synod being called at Westminster by the pope's legate, the archbishop of Canterbury coming first, seated himself at the right hand of the legate ; but York, coming afterward, re- fused to take the seat on the left hand, and demanded Canterbury's place, which the latter refusing, York sat down in his lap. This occasioned the synod to break up in disorder, and both parties appealing to the pope, the contest was decided in favor of the see of Canter- bury, which enjoys the precedency to this day. The privileges of the archbishop of Canterbury are, among others, to crown the kings of England ; to have prel- ates for his officers— as the bishop of London his pro- vincial dean ; the bishop of Winchester his chancel- lor ; the bishop of Lincoln his vice-chancellor ; the bishop of Salisbury his precentor ; the bishop of Wor- cester his chaplain; and the bishop of Rochester his crosier-bearer, which last office, since the times of popery, has ceased. He is also the first peer of Eng- land next to the royal family. The archbishop of Canterbury has the supreme government of ecclesias- tical matters next under the king. Upon the death of any suffragan bishop, the custody of his see devolves upon the archbishop. He has the power of censuring any bishop in his province; he has an ancient right to preside in all provincial councils of his suffragans, which formerly were held once a year, but have been discontinued a long time ; so that his power of exam- ining tilings throughout his province is devolved to the courts, of which he holds several — as the Court of Arches, Prerogative Court, Court of Peculiars, etc., and he has the probate of wills. As to the archbishop of York, he is now styled Primate and Metropo 'item of England, and takes place of all peers except the arch- bishop of Canterbury and the lord chancellor. The province of the archbishop of York consists of the six northern counties, with Cheshire and Nottingham- shire. The rest of England and Wales form the prov- ince of the archbishop of Canterbury. The dioceses of the two archbishops — that is to say, the districts in which they exercise ordinary episcopal functions — were remodelled by 6 and 7 William IV, c. 77. The diocese of Canterbury comprises Kent, except the city and deanery of Rochester, and some parishes trans- ferred by this act; a number of parishes in Sussex called "peculiars;" with small districts in other dio- ceses, particularly London. The diocese of the arch- bishop of York embraces the county of York, except that portion of it now included in the dioceses of Ripon and Manchester, the whole county of Nottingham, and some other detached districts. Scotland, while epis- copacy prevailed in that eountrj', had two archbishops — of St. Andrew's and Glasgow — the former of whom was Primate of all Scotland. Wales likewise ancient- ly boasted of an archbishop, whose see (as has been observed) was established at Caerleon, and was after- ward translated to St. David's. But the plague rag- ing very much in that country, the archiepiscopal see was again removed to Doll, in Bretatcne, where this dignity ended ; notwithstanding which, in after ages, the Britons, or Welsh, commenced an action on that account against the archbishop of Canterbury, but were cast. In Ireland there are two Protestant and four Roman Catholic archbishops. Of the former, the archbishop of Armagh is Primate of all Ireland, Aa
' the archbishop of Dublin being Primate of Ireland. : They sit alternately in the House of Lords ; the three bishops who, along with them, represent the Church of Ireland, bcim; also chosen by rotation from the ' whole bod)'. Previous to the creation of an archbish- ! opric in Ireland, the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury extended to that island. The amount of control which belongs to an archbishop over the bish- ops of his province is not very accurately defined ; but if any bishop introduces irregularities into his diocese, or is guilty of immorality, the archbishop may call him to account, and even deprive him. In 1822, the arch- bishop of Armagh, who is primate of all Ireland, de- posed the bishop of Clogher on the latter ground. To I the archbishop of Canterbury belongs the honor of j placing the crown on the sovereign's head at his coro- nation ; and the archbishop of York claims the like privilege in the case of the queen-consort, whose per- petual chaplain he is.