Bishop of Elmham

Remains of the Saxon cathedral at North Elmham

The Bishop of Elmham is an episcopal title which was first used by an Anglo-Saxon bishop between the 7th and 11th centuries and is currently used by the Roman Catholic Church for a titular see. The title takes its name after the small town of North Elmham in Norfolk, England.

Anglo-Saxon bishops

The Anglo-Saxon dioceses before 925

In about 630 or 631, a diocese was established by St. Felix for the Kingdom of the East Angles, with his episcopal seat at Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. In 672, the diocese was divided into the sees of Dunwich and Elmham by St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury.

The line of bishops of Elmham continued until it was interrupted by the Danish Viking invasions in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. By the mid 950s, the sees of Elmham and Dunwich were reunited under one bishop, with the episcopal see at Elmham. After the Norman conquest, the see was transferred to Thetford in 1075, and soon afterwards to Norwich in 1094.

List of Anglo-Saxon bishops

Anglo-Saxon Bishops of Elmham
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
672 x ?	693 x ?	Bedwinus	also recorded as Beaduwine
? x 706	716 x ?	Northbertus	also recorded as Nothbeorht
? x 716	716 x ?	Headulacus	also recorded as Heathulac
736	736 x ?	Æthelfrith	also recorded as Eadilfridus, and Aethelfrith
? x 758	758 x ?	Eanfrith	also recorded as Lanferthus
? x 781	781 x ?	Æthelwulf	also recorded as Athelwolfus, and Aethelwulf of Elmham
? x 785	805 x ?	Alherdus	also recorded as Alhheard
? x 814	816 x ?	Sybba	also recorded as Sibba
816 x 824	816 x 824	Hunferthus	also recorded as Hunfrith
? x 824	845/856 x ? or d. 869?	Humbertus	Episcopate ended in 845 or 856, or possibly died in November 869; also recorded as Hunberht and Humbryct
late 9th century	by mid 950s	The episcopal see was interrupted by the Danish Viking invasions. Afterwards, the sees of Elmham and Dunwich were reunited by the mid 950s under one bishop, with the see at Elmham
? x 955	962 x ?	Eadwulf
? x 970	970 x ?	Ælfric I
? x 974	?	Theodred I
?	995 x 997	Theodred II
995 x 997	1001	Athelstan	Died 7 October 1001
1001	1012 x 1016	Ælfgar	Possibly resigned between 1012 and 1016; died 24 or 25 December 1020
? x 1019	1023 x 1038	Ælfwine	Died 12 April 1023 and 1038
1023 x 1038	1038	Ælfric II	Died in December 1038
1039	1042 x 1043	Ælfric III
1043	1043	Stigand	Deprived in 1043
1043	1043	Grimketel	Deprived in 1043; also was Bishop of Selsey 1039-1047
1044	1047	Stigand (again)	Restored; translated to Winchester in 1047, and later Canterbury
1047	1070	Æthelmær	Brother of Stigand; consecrated after August 1047; deposed c. 11 April 1070
1070	1075	Herfast	Formerly Lord Chancellor; consecrated in 1070 as bishop of Elmham; transferred the see to Thetford in 1071
The episcopal see was transferred to Thetford in 1075, and subsequently to Norwich in 1094
Sources:[1][2]

Roman Catholic titular bishops

In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church revived the title Bishop of Elmham, using Elmhama as the name of the titular see, but Helmamensis as the adjectival form in Contemporary Latin.^[3] The current titular bishop is the Most Reverend Eamonn Oliver Walsh, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin who was appointed on 7 March 1990.^[4]

List of titular bishops

Titular Bishops of Elmham
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1969	1976	Alan Charles Clark	Appointed Titular Bishop of Elmham and Apostolic Administrator of Northampton on 31 March 1969; ordained bishop on 13 May 1969; appointed Bishop of East Anglia on 23 April 1976
1977	1990	Patrick Leo McCartie	Appointed Titular Bishop of Elmham and Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham on 13 April 1977; ordained bishop on 20 May 1977; appointed Bishop of Northampton on 20 February 1990
1990	present	Eamonn Oliver Walsh	Appointed Titular Bishop of Elmham and Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin on 7 March 1990; ordained bishop on 22 April 1990
Sources:[5][6]

References

1. "Historical successions: Norwich (including precussor offices)". Crockford's Clerical Directory. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
2. Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 216–217 and 243. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
3. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", p. 887
4. Bishop Eamonn Oliver Walsh. Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved on 29 December 2009.
5. Titular Episcopal See of Elmham. GCatholic.org. Retrieved on 29 December 2009.
6. Elmhama (Titular See). Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved on 29 December 2009.

External links

• Episcopal succession in Anglo-Saxon England