cases, however, the title bishop is equivalent to that of “superintendent,” the form most generally employed. The Lutheran bishops, as a rule, do not possess or claim unbroken “apostolic succession”; those of Finland and Sweden are, however, an exception. The Lutheran bishops of Transylvania sit, with the Roman and Orthodox bishops, in the Hungarian Upper House. In some cases the secularization of episcopal principalities at the Reformation led to the survival of the title of bishop as a purely secular distinction. Thus the see of Osnabrück (Osnaburgh) was occupied, from the peace of Westphalia to 1802, alternately by a Catholic and a Protestant prince. From 1762 to 1802 it was held by Frederick, duke of York, the last prince-bishop. Similarly, the bishopric of Schwerin survived as a Protestant prince-bishopric until 1648, when it was finally secularized and annexed to Mecklenburg, and the see of Lübeck was held by Protestant “bishops” from 1530 till its annexation to Oldenburg in 1803.[1]
In other Protestant communities, e.g. the Moravians, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Mormons, the office and title of bishop have survived, or been created. Their functions and status will be found described in the accounts of the several churches.
See Wetzer and Welte, Kirchenlexikon, s. “Bischof” and “Weihen”; Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, vol. ii.; Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie, s. “Bischof” (the author rather arbitrarily classes Anglican with Lutheran bishops as not bishops in any proper sense at all); Phillimore’s Ecclesiastical Law; the articles Order, Holy; Vestments; Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction; Episcopacy. (W. A. P.)
BISHOP AUCKLAND, a market town in the Bishop Auckland
parliamentary division of Durham, England, 11 m. S.S.W. of the
city of Durham, the junction of several branches of the North
Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 11,969. It is
beautifully situated on an eminence near the confluence of the
Wear and the Gaunless. The parish church is 1 m. distant, at
Auckland St Andrews, a fine cruciform structure, formerly
collegiate, in style mainly Early English, but with earlier portions.
The palace of the bishops of Durham, which stands at the north-east
end of the town, is a spacious and splendid, though irregular
pile The site of the palace was first chosen by Bishop Anthony
Beck, in the time of Edward I. The present building covers
about 5 acres, and is surrounded by a park of 800 acres. On the
Wear 112 m. above Bishop Auckland there is a small and very
ancient church at Escomb, massively built and tapering from the
bottom upward. It is believed to date from the 7th century,
and some of the stones are evidently from a Roman building,
one bearing an inscription. These, no doubt, came from Binchester,
a short distance up stream, where remains of a Roman
fort (Vinovia) are traceable. It guarded the great Roman north
road from York to Hadrian’s wall. The industrial population
of Bishop Auckland is principally employed in the neighbouring
collieries and iron works.
BISHOP’S CASTLE, a market town and municipal borough
in the southern parliamentary division of Shropshire, England;
the terminus of the Bishop’s Castle light railway from Craven
Arms. Pop. (1901) 1378. It is pleasantly situated in a hilly
district to the east of Clun Forest, climbing the flank and
occupying the summit of an eminence. Of the castle of the bishops
of Hereford, which gave the town its name, there are only the
slightest fragments remaining. The town has some agricultural
trade. It is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors.
Area, 1867 acres.
Bishop’s Castle was included in the manor of Lydbury, which belonged to the church of Hereford before the Conquest. The castle, at first called Lydbury Castle, was built by one of the bishops of Hereford between 1085 and 1154, to protect his manor from the Welsh, and the town which sprang up round the castle walls acquired the name of Bishop’s Castle in the 13th century. In 1292 the bishop claimed to have a market every Friday, a fair on the eve, day and morrow of the Decollation of St John, and assize of bread and ale in Bishop’s Castle, which his predecessors had held from time immemorial. Ten years later he received a grant from Richard II. of a market every Wednesday and a fair on the 2nd of November and two days following. Although the town was evidently a borough by the 13th century, since the burgesses are mentioned as early as 1292, it has no charter earlier than the incorporation charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1572. This was confirmed by James I. in 1617 and by James II. in 1688. In 1584 Bishop’s Castle returned two members to parliament, and was represented until 1832, when it was disfranchised.
BISHOP STORTFORD, a market town in the Hertford parliamentary
division of Hertfordshire, England; 3012 m. N.N.E.
from London by the Cambridge line of the Great Eastern railway.
Pop. of urban district (1901) 7143. It lies on the river Stort,
close to the county boundary with Essex, and has water-communication
with London through the Lea and Stort Navigation.
The church of St Michael, standing high above the valley, is a
fine embattled Perpendicular building with western tower and
spire. The high school, formerly the grammar school, was
founded in the time of Elizabeth. Here were educated Sir
Henry Chauncy, an early historian of Hertfordshire (d. 1719),
and Cecil Rhodes, who was born at Bishop Stortford in 1853.
There are a Nonconformist grammar school, a diocesan training
college for mistresses, and other educational establishments.
The industries include brewing and malting, coach-building,
lime-burning and founding, and there are important horse and
cattle markets.
Before the Conquest the manor of Bishop Stortford is said to have belonged to Eddeva the Fair, wife of Harold, who sold it to the bishop of London, from whom it was taken by William the Conqueror. William restored it after a few years, and with it gave the bishop a small castle called Waytemore, of which there are scanty remains. The dungeon of this castle, called “Bishop’s Hole” or “Bishop’s Prison,” was used as an ecclesiastical prison until the 16th century. The town now possesses no early incorporation charters, and although both Chauncy and Salmon in their histories of Hertfordshire state that it was created a borough by charter of King John in 1206, the charter cannot now be found. The first mention of Bishop Stortford as a borough occurs in 1311, in which year the burgesses returned two members to parliament. The town was represented from that date until 1332, and again in 1335–1336, but the privilege was then allowed to lapse and has never been revived.
BISKRA, a town of Algeria, in the arrondissement of Batna,
department of Constantine, 150 m. S.W. of the city of Constantine
and connected with it and with Philippeville by rail. It lies in
the Sahara 360 ft. above the sea, on the right bank of the Wad
Biskra, a river which, often nearly dry for many months in the
year, becomes a mighty torrent after one or two days’ rain in
winter. The name Biskra applies to a union of five or six
villages of the usual Saharan type, scattered through an oasis
3 m. in length by less than 1 m. broad, and separated by huge
gardens full of palm and olive trees. The houses are built of
hardened mud, with doors and roof of palm wood. The foreign
settlement is on the north of the oasis; it consists of a broad
main street, the rue Berthe (from which a few side streets branch
at right angles), lined with European houses, the whole in the
style of a typical French winter resort, a beautiful public garden,
with the church in the centre, an arcade, a pretentious mairie
in pseudo-Moorish style with entrance guarded by terra-cotta
lions, some good shops, a number of excellent hotels and cafés,
a casino, clubs, and, near by, a street of dancing and singing
girls of the tribe of Walad-Nail. East of the public garden is
Fort St Germain, named after an officer killed in the insurrection
of the Zaatcha in 1849; it is capable of resisting any attack of
the Arabs, and extensive enough to shelter the whole of the
civil population, who took refuge therein during the rebellion of
1871. It contains barracks, hospital and government offices.
To the south-east lies the Villa Landon with magnificent gardens
filled with tropical plants. The population (1906) of the chief
settlement was 4218, of the whole oasis 10,413.
From November to April the climate of Biskra is delightful. Nowhere in Algeria can be found more genial temperature or clearer skies, and while in summer the thermometer often registers 110° F. in the shade, and 90° at night, the pure dryness of the air in this practically rainless region makes the heat
- ↑ The title prince-bishop, attached in Austria to the sees of Laibach, Seckau, Gurk, Brixen, Trent and Lavant, and in Prussia to that of Breslau, no longer implies any secular jurisdiction, but is merely a title of honour recognized by the state, owing either to the importance of the sees or for reasons purely historical.
