york00orns

S. WILLIAM OF YORK. I3I
although the archdeacon of Richmond had great
powers over his extensive district, and had gradually
laid claim to a jurisdiction over Cumberland and
Westmorland, his supervision could not make up for
the absence of a bishop's rule. Thurstan saw this,
and in 1132 he obtained the king's consent to the
erection of a new see, that of Carlisle ; the counties
of Cumberland and Westmorland being assigned to it
as its bishop's diocese. About the same time he
revived the see of Whitherne, thus securing his own
ability to extend the benefit of episcopal oversight
the most remote and inaccessible portion, of the great
province over which he ruled.
Scarcel)', however, had these measures been
adopted before they were set on one side. In 1138
Northumberland and Cumberland were overrun and
occupied by the Scots. The bishop of Carlisle was
seldom permitted to enter his diocese, and after his
death the long period of sixty-two years elapsed before
a successor could be found.
A disputed election followed Thurstan's death,
which took place in ir4o. William Fitzherbert,
known afterwards as St. William of York, was elected
by a majority of the chapter, and their election was
favourably accepted by King Stephen, Fitzherbert's
uncle, as also by the bishop of Winchester, the king's
brother, who was then the papal legate. But the
Cistercian interest was arrayed against him, supported
by the Archbishop of Canterbury and by the great St.
Bernard himself, who were anxious to secure the appointment
of Henry Murdac, the abbot of Fountains.
The Cistercians were then all powerful at Rome, and
K 2
to