The distribution into parishes appears to be compara- tively modern. Originally all the clergy were (in the opinion of the Episcopalian churches) but coadjutors of the bishop, and served in his church, at which all the faithful assembled. Necessity, no doubt, and conven- ience gave rise to the division of parishes: for when the number of believers so increased in large and pop- ulous cities that a single church could not care for
them, there was a necessity of erecting other churches. At Alexandria, and afterwards at Rome, a number of minor churches were opened, which were served bj' the clergy, at first not permanently attached to them, but sent from tiie principal or bishop's church, and in prog- ress of time permanently fixed in the charge. The city of Rome had above forty such churches, there called tituli (q. v.), before the end of the 3d century. In France the Council of Vaison speaks of country parishes in the beginning of the 5th century. In England we have not so early an account of them, because the rec- ords we have remaining of the ancient British Church make no mention of ])arishes. Dugdale and others think Honorius, the fifth archbishop of Canterbury, divided so much of the nation as was converted into parishes about the year G40 ; but others understand this division rather of dioceses than parishes. In England the first legislation on the subject occurs in the laws of Edgar, about 970. The parochial division of districts seems in great measure to have followed the civil dis- tribution into manors, or other feudal divisions of terri- tory ; and it is probable that it is to the same state of things the English owe the practice of lay patronage, the priest oflficiating in a manorial church being chosen, with the bishop's consent, by the lord of the manor. The parochial revenue, however, by no means followed the same rides which now prevail. Settlement in a parish, whether in city or country, did not immediately entitle a man to the revenue arising from that cure, whether in tithes, oblations, or any other kind; for an- ciently all Church revenues were delivered into the common stock of the bishop's church, whence, by direc- tion and approbation of the bishop, a monthly or annual division was made among the clergy under his jurisdic- tion. At Constantinople no parish church had any ap- propriated revenues till the middle of the 5th century. In the Western Church, particularly in Spain, in the middle of the Gth century, the bishops and city clergy still had their revenues out of a common finid. See MiisSA. But the country clergy were upon a different footing; and from this time we may date the appropri- atioit of revenues in Spain to the country parochial churches. In (iermany and France the revenues of the parochial churches seem to have continued in the hands of the bishops some ages longer. Broughton saj's: " Some are of opinion that the bishops had their portion of the ecclesiastical revenues with the parochial clergy for a considerable time after the first settlement of par- ishes; for they suppose that originally the bishop's ca- thedral was the only church in a diocese from whence itinerant or occasional preachers were sent to convert the country people, who for some time resorted to the cathedral for divine worship. Afterwards, by degrees, other churches were built for the convenience of such as were at too great a distance from the cathedral, some by the liberality of the people themselves, others by the bishops, and others by the Saxon kings; but chiefly the lords of manors were the great instruments in this work of founding parish churches. The bishops seem volun- tarily to have relinquished their title to parochial reve- nues, though whether they made any canon about it is uncertain." At first, all ecclesiastical income, from whatever district, was carried into a common fund, which was placed at the disposal of the bishop, and was generally divided into four parts — for the bishop, for the clergy, for the poor, and for the Church. Bj' degrees, however, beginning first with the rural parishes, and ul- timately extending to those of the cities, the parochial revenues were placed at the disposal of the parish clergy (subject to the same general threefold division, for the clergy, for the poor, and for the Church); and in some places an abusive claim, which was early reprobated, arose upon the part of the lord of the manor to a portion of the revenue. Properly, a parish has but one church ; but when the district is extensive, one or more minor (succurscd) churches, sometimes called "chapels of ease," are permitted.
PARISH
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PARISH