Abstract
The monastic cathedrals of England had for centuries led a double life. On the one hand, each was the seat of a bishop, and the centre of a diocesan administration. On the other, it was the home of a cloistered community, usually Benedictine, which was in theory withdrawn from the world. In principle, the community, which actually owned the cathedral and its precincts, should have elected the bishop, in which case he would probably have been one of their own number, and relations could have been expected to be harmonious. However, in practice, bishops were royal servants, and were appointed by the king with papal connivance. There were numerous quarrels between kings and popes over such appointments, but disagreement never resulted in a canonical election, which would almost certainly have produced a candidate acceptable to neither. In consequence, the bishops of monastic cathedrals were almost invariably outsiders, and usually seculars.
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