ish the coffers of his
poor see, so that the injured cathedral might be repaired, rather than
reduce it to poverty by extortion.

Ralph is credited with having established the office of "dean" [31] at
Chichester--the first of the four cathedral dignitaries, of which the
others are the praecentor, the chancellor, and the treasurer.

[31] Stephens, p. 49.

#Seffrid Pelochin#, or #d'Escures# (1125-1147), ceded to the
king's aggression the rights and privileges Ralph had gained. He was
obliged to vacate the see in 1145, [an]d returned to Glastonbury,
where he had been abbot before he was made bishop. His name figures in
the list which Roger of Hoveden gives in his chronicle, as one among
the bishops who were at the Council of London in 1129.

#Hilary# (1147-1169) was a bishop who was before all things an
ecclesiastic. To Ralph Luffa's foundation of the dean's office he
added those of the chancellor and treasurer, if not also, as is
supposed, that of the praecentor. With Hilary began the traditional
post of confessor to the queen of the realm. Stephen had given him
this office, and at the same time added to the privilege a perpetual
chaplaincy in connection with the castle at Pevensey.

The letters from Popes Eugenius and Alexander III., which confirmed
the possessions held by the see and guaranteed a papal protection of
the church in Chichester, are among the collection in the cathedral
library. The properties these deeds acknowledge include that portion
of the city--one fourth--in which the close was situated; and within
this area were comprised the church itself, the episcopal palace, and
the residences of the canons. The original grant of this land was
made by William, Earl of Arundel, in 1147, who bestowed it among other
things as compensation "for the damages which I once did to the same
church." Hilary was Bishop of Chichester during that historic period
when Becket opposed Henry II. He attempted, like the rest of the
bishops, to heal the breach; and Tennyson, in "Becket," adopting a
phrase he used, makes him say to his Primate, "Hath not thine ambition
set the Church this day between the hammer and the anvil ... fealty to
the King, obedience to thyself?" He went to Sens, to plead as an
advocate on the king's behalf before Pope Alexander III. and the
French king. The result of this meeting was that England was placed
under the ban of excommunication. But Henry replied by declaring that
the property of all who