PETER60R0UGB
r)G
PETER
Peterborough Abbey, Hcnodictine monastery in
Northainiitiiiisliii'i', I'^nglund, known at first as Mv-
deshiiiiistocle, was founilod about 054 by Peada, King
of tlic .MtTi-ians. who appointed as first alilnit, Saxulf.
Poada's rliurcli and monastery were conipU'lcly de-
stroyed l)y the r^anes in 870. The circumstantial ac-
count of this event, given in Abbot John's chronicle, is
fictitious, but the fact of the abbey's destruction is
certain. In 970, in tlie monastic revival associated
with the name of St. Dunstan, the numastery was re-
built through the efforts of Ethelwold, Bishop of Win-
chester, with the aid iif King Edgar. Part of the foun-
dations were laid bare in ls,s7, when the central tower
of the |)resent catliedral was rebuilt, and its dimen-
sions seem to ha\e been about half those of the present
building. The abbey suffered both from fire and pil-
lage in the unsettled period preceding the Norman
conquest, and in 1116 during the abbacy of Dom John
of Sais a great conflagration destroyed the monastic
buildings with the little town that had grown up
around them. The work of rebuilding, begun by Ab-
bot John, ceased at his death, in 1125. Martin de
Bee, successor of Abbot Henry of Anjou, pushed the
work forward, and the presbytery of the new church
was finished and entered upon by the monks about
1140. The work of building went on steadily until
1237, when the completed church was consecrated by
Robert Grostete, Bishop of Lincoln. When the mon-
astery was surrendered to King Henry VIH in 1541
tlie church was spared from destruction, because it
contained the remains of his first wife. It then be-
came the cathedral of the new Diocese of Peterbor-
ough, and the last abbot, John Chambers, was re-
warded for his compliance to the royal demands by
being made the first bishop. Though the great church
was begun during the Norman period, a considerable
portion belongs to the thirteenth century. This is
true in particular of the glorious west front, which
Fergusson and Freeman agree in calling the grandest
and most original in Europe. It consists of three huge
arches, supported on triangular columns and enriched
with a number of delicate shafts, which open into a
long narthex or portico, extending the whole width of
the building. The interior has a nave of eleven bays
(228 ft.), with transepts and presbytery terminating in
a circular apse. The original ambulatory, round the
east end, was replaced in the late fifteenth century by
a square-ended chapel, of great delicacy, in the Per-
pendicular style. The total interior length is 426 ft.,
interior height 78 ft., length of transepts 185 ft. Much
controversy has been aroused over the rebuilding of
the central tower and the restoration of the west front,
but both these works were inevitable and have been
carried out with the greatest regard for the designs of
the original architects.
DuGDALE, Monaslicon Anglicanum, I (London, 1817), 344-404; Gc.NTON, History of the Church of Peterborough (London, 1G86); Tanner, Notitia Monastica (London, 1744), 371-373; Historia; aenobii Burgeiisis scriptores varii, ed. Sparke in Hist. Angl. Scriptares, iii (London, 1723), 1-256; Elias of Tkikinoham, AniuUes, cd. Pegge (London, 1789); Chronicon Angliae Petribur- gense, 6oi-lSes, ed. Giles (London, 1845) ; Chronicon breve Ecclesia Pelriburgensis, 1074-1181, ed. Stapleton (London, 1849); Browne-Willis, Survey of English Cathedrals, III (Lon- don. 1730), 475; Bkitton, History and Antiquities of Peter- borough Cathedral (London, 1836) ; Sweeting, The Cathedral Church of Peterborough (London, 1898).
G. Roger Hudleston.
Peterborough, Diocese of (Peterboroughen- sis), in the Province of Ontario, Canada, comprises the Counties of Peterborough, Northumberland, Dur- ham, and Victoria, with the Districts of Muskoka and Parrj' Sound. It was erected by Leo XIII, 11 July, 1882, by detaching the four former counties from the Diocese of Kingston and uniting them with the Vicari- ate of Northern Canada, which then included the Dis- tricts of Mu.skoka, Parrj' Sound, Nipissing, Algoma, and Thunder Bay. Rt. Rev. John Francis Jamot, at that time Vicar Apostolic of Northern Canada, was
- ipi)()inted first bishop. The new diocese then ex-
tended about 1110 miles from south-east to north- west, and its scHithcrn limit reached to L;ikcs Superior and Huron, I lie ( Icorgian Bay, :uid ;i part of l,:ike On- tario. Bishop Janiot w:is born in France in 1.S2S, juul came to the Diocese of Toronto in 1853. After serv- ing in the parish of Barrie for several years he was transferred to St. Micliacl's Cathedral, Toronto, and appointed chancellor and vicar-general of the diocese. In 1874 he was appointed Bi.shop of Sarepta and \'icar Apostolic of Northern Canada, where he displayed zeal ;ind energy in seeking out the Catliolics of his ex- tensive vicariate. When in ISSL' the Diocese of Peter- bonmgli w:is formed the total CathoHi- iio]iulafion was about 30,001), of whom 5000 were Indians, with 47 churches and 25 priests, of whom 11 were .lesuits at- tending t lie western part of the diocese and t he Indian Missions. After the erection of the Diocese of Peter- borough in 1882 Bishop Jamot moved his see from Bracebridge to the city of Pet erborough , whore he died 4 May, 1886. Rt. Rev. Thomas Joseph Dowling, then Vicar General of the Diocese of Hamilton, succeeded him and was consecrated 1 May, 1887. He continued the many good works of his predecessor and ;iftertwo years was transferred to the Diocese of Hamilton. The third bishop, Rt. Rev. Richard Ali)honsus O'Coimor, was consecrated 1 May, 1889. He was born at, Lis- towel, Co. Kerry, Ireland, 15 April, 1838, came to Canada in 1841 with his parents, and settled at To- ronto. Hewasoneof the first students in St. Michael's College, Toronto, and made his theological course in the Grand Seminary, Montreal. On 2 August, 1861, he was ordained priest in St. Micliacl's C;ithedral, Toronto, and, after serving in various p;irislies as ]ias- tor, and for eighteen years as Dean of Barrie, he was appointed Bishop of Peterborough by Leo XIII, 11 Jan., 1889.
During the administration of Bishop O'Connor (he western part of the diocese increased rapidly in popu- lation, :ind, that religion might keep pace with the material i)i-ogress of the country, many churches and schools were built. On account of the large influx of settlers into New Ontario, which embraced the west- ern part of the Diocese of Peterborough, and the de- velopment of that district in agriculture, commerce, mining, and manufacturing industries, a brief dated 14 Nov., 1904, of Pius X constituted the new Diocese of Sault Ste Marie by detaching from the Diocese of Peterborough the western part of the District of Nipis- sing, with the Districts of Algoma and Thunder Bay. There was then a population of 27,000 Catholics, with 35 priests and 64 churches, in the new Diocese of Sault Ste Marie; and 24,000 Catholics, with 29 priests and 45 churches, in the portion left to Peterborough. The city of Peterborough has a population of about 18,000, about one-fourth of whom are Catholics, with two churches, one hospital, one House of Providence, an orphanage, and the largest total abstinence society in Canada, numbering over 1000 men. In the dio- cese are many Catholic schools, conducted chiefly by the Sisters of St. Joseph, who have a mother- house and novitiate in the cathedral city, and have charge of the hospitals, House of Pro-\adence, and or- phanage. They also conduct a select academy at Lindsay, besides directing the day school for girls. In Peterborough there are three large schools, with 19 teachers, 17 of whom are Sisters of St. Joseph. At present the Catholic population of the diocese is about 26,000, with 29 secular priests, 3 Jesuit Fathers, 50 churches, 2 hospitals, one House of Providence, and one orphanage.
R. A. O Connor.
Peter CanisiuB (Kannees, Kanys, probably also De Hondt), Blessed, b. at Nimwegen in the Netheriands, 8 May, 1521; d. in Fribourg, 21 November, 1597. His father was the wealthy burgo-
