ABSTRACT
'Bishop', the word being derived from Greek episkopos, overseer, was the title conferred on a higher grade of priest who held ecclesiastical jurisdiction over a considerable area, the diocese, a division adopted by Christians from the Roman empire at an early date. A peculiarity of the English bishoprics was that about half of the cathedrals were monasteries served by monks or canons: Benedictine at Canterbury, Rochester, Winchester, Durham, Worcester, Norwich and Ely, and Augustinian at Carlisle. The wealth of contemporary sources referring to bishops is very great indeed and certainly cannot even remotely understand the physical remains without them. Chronicles, sometimes emanating from a monastic cathedral, can be an important source, particularly in the twelfth century. Most of our knowledge of the great castle builders comes from this source. Crown sources are also very important particularly because bishops themselves played a major part in government.
