Editing Bath Abbey (section)

===Norman Conquest to the Dissolution===
[[File:Himnastigi.jpg|left|thumb|100px|On the west front, angels<br />climb [[Jacob's Ladder]]]]
Bath was ravaged in the power struggle between the sons of [[William the Conqueror]] following his death in 1087. The victor, [[William II of England|William II Rufus]], granted the city to a royal physician, [[John of Tours]], who became [[Bishop of Bath and Wells|Bishop of Wells]] and [[Abbot]] of Bath.{{sfn|Powicke|1939|p=205}}{{sfn|Barlow|2000|p=182}} Shortly after his consecration John bought Bath Abbey's grounds from the king,{{sfn|Barlow|2000|p=182}} as well as the city of Bath itself. Whether John paid Rufus for the city or whether he was given it as a gift by the king is unclear.<ref name=DNB>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14846|title=Tours, John of (d. 1122)|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/14846 |access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710192131/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14846|archive-date=10 July 2015|url-status=live|last1=Ramsey |first1=Frances }}</ref> The abbey had recently lost its abbot, [[Ælfsige II (bishop of Winchester)|Ælfsige]], and according to [[Domesday Book]] was the owner of large estates in and near the city; it was likely the abbey's wealth that attracted John to take over the monastery.{{sfn|Smith|1942|pp=134–135}} By acquiring Bath, John also acquired the mint that was in the city.{{sfn|Mason|2005|p=130}}

In 1090 he transferred the seat, or administration, of the bishopric to Bath Abbey,{{sfn|Fryde|1986|p=227}}{{sfn|Huscroft|2004|p=128}} probably in an attempt to increase the revenues of his see. Bath was a rich abbey, and Wells had always been a poor diocese. By taking over the abbey, John increased his episcopal revenues.{{sfn|Williams|2000|p=136}} William of Malmesbury portrays the moving of the episcopal seat as motivated by a desire for the lands of the abbey, but it was part of a pattern at the time of moving cathedral seats from small villages to larger towns.<ref name=DNB/> When John moved his episcopal seat, he also took over the abbey of Bath as his [[cathedral chapter]], turning his diocese into a bishopric served by monks instead of the [[Canon (priest)|canons]] at Wells who had previously served the diocese.{{sfn|Knowles|2004|p=132}} John rebuilt the monastic church at Bath, which had been damaged during one of [[Robert de Mowbray]]'s rebellions. Permission was given to move the [[Episcopal see|see]] of [[Somerset]] from [[Wells Cathedral|Wells]]—a comparatively small settlement—to the then [[Bath city walls|walled city of Bath]].{{sfn|Barlow|2000|p=182}}{{sfn|Huscroft|2004|p=128}}

When this was effected in 1090, John became the first Bishop of Bath, and St Peter's was raised to [[cathedral]] status.{{sfn|Greenway|2001}} As the roles of bishop and abbot had been combined, the monastery became a [[priory]], run by its [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]]. With the elevation of the abbey to cathedral status, it was felt that a larger, more up-to-date building was required. John of Tours planned a new cathedral on a grand scale, dedicated to [[Saint Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]], but only the [[ambulatory]] was complete when he died in December 1122.{{sfn|Powicke|1939|p=205}} He was buried in the cathedral.{{sfn|Greenway|2001}} The most renowned scholar monk based in the abbey was [[Adelard of Bath]]; after his various travels he was back in the monastery by 1106.{{sfn|Hylson-Smith|2003|pp=89–90}}

The half-finished cathedral was devastated by fire in 1137,{{sfn|Page|1911}} but work continued under [[Godfrey of Bath|Godfrey]], the new bishop, until about 1156; the completed building was approximately {{convert|330|ft|0}} long. It was [[Consecration|consecrated]] while [[Robert of Bath]] was bishop. The specific date is not known; however, it was between 1148 and 1161.{{sfn|Forsyth|2003|p=54}}

In 1197, [[Reginald Fitz Jocelin]]'s successor, [[Savaric FitzGeldewin]], with the approval of [[Pope Celestine III]], officially moved his seat to [[Glastonbury Abbey]], but the monks there would not accept their new Bishop of Glastonbury and the title of Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury was used until the Glastonbury claim was abandoned in 1219.{{sfn|Brooke|1976|pp=184–185}} Savaric's successor, [[Jocelin of Wells]], again moved the bishop's seat to Bath Abbey, with the title Bishop of Bath. Following his death the monks of Bath unsuccessfully attempted to regain authority over Wells.{{sfn|Robinson|1916|p=161}} There were 40 monks on the roll in 1206.{{sfn|Wroughton|2006|pp=25–38}}

Joint cathedral status was awarded by [[Pope Innocent IV]] to [[Diocese of Bath and Wells|Bath and Wells]] in 1245.{{sfn|Hylson-Smith|2003|p=80}} [[Roger of Salisbury (bishop of Bath and Wells)|Roger of Salisbury]] was appointed the first [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]], having been Bishop of Bath for a year previously. Later bishops preferred Wells, the canons of which had successfully petitioned various popes down the years for Wells to regain cathedral status. The great Romanesque cathedral church, begun in the early twelfth century, was allowed to fall into chronic disrepair during the fifteenth century. In 1485 the priory had 22 monks.{{sfn|Wroughton|2006|pp=25–38}} When [[Oliver King]], Bishop of Bath and Wells (1495–1503), visited Bath in 1499 he was shocked to find this famous church "ruined to its foundations".{{sfn|Luxford|2000|p=315}}<ref name="sacreddest">{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/bath-abbey|title=Bath Abbey|work=Sacred Destinations|access-date=1 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018141230/http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/bath-abbey|archive-date=18 October 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=visitbath/>{{sfn|Forsyth|2003|p=54}} He also described lax discipline, idleness and a group of monks "all too eager to succumb to the temptations of the flesh".{{sfn|Wroughton|2006|pp=25–38}}

[[File:Bath Abbey from the North West.jpg|thumb|A black and white photograph of Bath Abbey, taken at night, from a north-westerly direction]]

King took a year to consider what action to take, before writing to the Prior of Bath in October 1500 to explain that a large amount of the priory income would be dedicated to rebuilding the cathedral.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/abbey/dream.shtml | last=Manco | first=Jean | title=Oliver King's Dream | publisher=Bath Past | access-date=17 January 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129193233/http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/abbey/dream.shtml | archive-date=29 November 2010 | url-status=live }}</ref> There are several stories that, on a visit to Bath, King had a dream in which he "saw the Heavenly Host on high with angels ascending and descending by ladder" which is now represented on the west front of the cathedral.{{sfn|Hammond|2012|p=80}}{{sfn|Britton|1825|p=35}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Bath Abbey|url=http://greaterchurches.org/visit/bath-abbey|publisher=Greater Churches Network|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111235055/http://greaterchurches.org/visit/bath-abbey|archive-date=11 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, this interpretation, which first appeared in the writings of [[John Harington (writer)|John Harington]], around 100 years after it was supposed to have happened, has been challenged.{{sfn|Hammond|2012|p=80}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Manco|first=Jean|title=Oliver King's Dream|url=http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/abbey/dream.shtml|publisher=Bath Past|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129193233/http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/abbey/dream.shtml|archive-date=29 November 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Robert Vertue|Robert]] and [[William Vertue]], the king's masons were commissioned, promising to build the finest vault in England, promising "there shall be none so goodely neither in England nor France".{{sfn|Forsyth|2003|p=54}} Their design incorporated the surviving [[Norman architecture|Norman]] crossing wall and arches.{{sfn|Forsyth|2003|p=54}} They appointed Thomas Lynne to supervise work on site and work probably began the following spring.{{sfn|Forsyth|2003|p=54}} [[Oliver King]] planned a smaller church, covering the area of the Norman nave only.{{sfn|Wroughton|2006|pp=25–38}} He did not live to see the result, but the restoration of the cathedral was completed just a few years before the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1539.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mayorofbath.co.uk/renaissance-bath |title=Renaissance Bath |access-date=11 January 2014 |publisher=The Mayor of Bath |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114061225/http://www.mayorofbath.co.uk/renaissance-bath |archive-date=14 January 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>