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Franciscan Bishops in partibus infidelium: Ministering in Medieval England

Summary: From the middle of the thirteenth century Franciscan bishops began to minister in England. Initially, they were exiled from their own dioceses in the Crusading states and returned to their own province to exercise their episcopal office. Their number increased in the fourteenth century; these friars were effectively bishops in partibus infidelium who were consecrated to help the bishops of England. While some of them assisted a number of bishops in a particular region, later bishops committed themselves to a single diocese and became the precursors of the auxiliary bishops. Their task was to assist the ordinary in the administration of his diocese, generally carrying out routine tasks. While Peter of Bolognia, bishop of Corbavia, was content at live in friaries, the later bishops were appointed as rectors of parishes which provided them with a home and income. This study examines the growth in the number of such mendicant bishops, the process for their papal provision to dioceses, details of their episcopal ministry and their relations with their confrères, many of whom they ordained; they were also recruited to consecrate the order.s new churches, which were constructed during the fourteenth century.