The
Diocese of Lichfield is a
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
dioceseA diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
in the
Province of CanterburyThe Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England...
, England. The bishop's
seatA cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...
is located in the
Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint ChadLichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...
in the city of
LichfieldLichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
. The diocese covers 4,516 km² (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
,
ShropshireShropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
,
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
and the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
.
History
The Diocese of
MerciaMercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
was created by Bishop
DiumaDiuma was a medieval Bishop of Mercia.Diuma was consecrated after 655 but his death date is unknown. He was an Irishman, and one of the four priests that were introduced into the kingdom of Mercia in 653 by Peada of Mercia son of Penda king of Mercia. Peada had become a Christian when he married...
in around 656 and the
seeAn episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
was settled in
LichfieldLichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
in 669 by the then bishop,
CeaddaChad was a prominent 7th century Anglo-Saxon churchman, who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonized as a saint. He was the brother of Cedd, also a saint...
(later Saint Chadd), who built a monastery there. At the Council of Chelsea, Bishop Higbert was raised to the rank of
archbishopAn archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
and given authority over the dioceses of
WorcesterThe Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
,
LeicesterThe Bishop of Leicester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Leicester in the Province of Canterbury.The first bishops of Leicester were originally prelates who administered an Anglo-Saxon diocese between the 7th and 9th centuries...
,
LincolnThe Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
,
HerefordThe Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
, Elmham and
DunwichThe Bishop of Dunwich is an episcopal title which was first used by an Anglo-Saxon bishop between the 7th and 9th centuries and is currently used by a suffragan bishop who assists a diocesan bishop. The title takes its name after Dunwich in the English county of Suffolk, which has now largely been...
. This was due to the persuasion of King
OffaOffa may refer to:Two kings of the Angles, who are often confused:*Offa of Angel , on the continent*Offa of Mercia , in Great BritainA king of Essex:*Offa of Essex A town in Nigeria:* Offa, Nigeria...
of Mercia, who wanted an archbishop to rival
CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. On Offa's death in 796, however, the
PopeThe Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
removed the archiepiscopal rank and restored the dioceses to the authority of Canterbury. In 803 the Council of Clovesho accepted this decision.
During the 9th century, the diocese was devastated by the Vikings. Lichfield itself was unwalled and had become rather poor, so Bishop
PeterPeter was a medieval Bishop of Lichfield. He moved the see from Lichfield to Chester in 1075.Peter had been a royal chaplain before being nominated to the see of Lichfield. Nothing else is known of his background, although presumably he was a Norman, as were most of King William I of England's...
moved the see to the fortified and wealthier
ChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
in 1075. His successor,
Robert de LimeseyRobert de Limesey was a medieval Bishop of Chester. He moved the see from Chester to Coventry in 1102....
, transferred it to
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
and the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield. At this stage it also covered
DerbyshireDerbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
and most of
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
.
In 1539 the see was transferred back to Lichfield and the name was reversed to become the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry. In 1837 Coventry was transferred to the
Diocese of WorcesterThe Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many Anglo Saxon petty-kingdoms of that time...
.
The present bishop of Lichfield, the 98th, is
Jonathan GledhillJonathan Michael Gledhill is the 98th Bishop of Lichfield. He was enthroned in Lichfield Cathedral on 15 November 2003....
. He is assisted by the area bishops of Shrewsbury (responsible for the Salop archdeaconry), Stafford (responsible for the Stoke archdeaconry), and Wolverhampton (responsible for the Lichfield and Walsall archdeaconries).