[13] Bentham says, "after he had lived too years complete." The "Liber Eliensis" says he was in his eighty-seventh year when appointed abbot; if so, he was nearly, but not quite, one hundred years old at his death. [14] "Chronicon Angliae Petriburgense," _sub anno_ 1102. CHAPTER V. HISTORY OF THE SEE. Ely thus became a cathedral--of the kind that was called conventual cathedrals. No such cathedral had a dean and canons till the time of Henry VIII. The prior and convent were the custodians of the fabric, and perhaps to a certain extent they acted as the bishop's council; and the bishop, as representing the abbot, had the right to preside in the chapter-house whenever he chose.[1] The bishop also had the power of appointing several of the officers of the monastery, and of displacing them. At Ely the priors were appointed by the bishop until 1198. In 1197 the offices of bishop and prior were vacant at the same time, and the convent was unable to elect a bishop without having a prior: so the Archbishop of Canterbury authorised the monks to proceed to the election of a prior; and it is believed that subsequent priors were all elected by the monks, and not appointed by the bishop. The first bishop, as has been seen, was #Hervey# (1109-1131), Bishop of Bangor.[2] He had been consecrated in 1102. His ecclesiastical discipline in Wales was very strict, and he made many enemies; and he thought to carry out his spiritual censures with the help of armed forces, but insurrections arose, in one of which his own brother and several of his company were slain. Upon this Bishop Hervey made his way to the English court, where he remained until he was sent to take charge of Ely monastery at the death of Abbot Richard. He was bishop here for nearly twenty-two years, and was most active and painstaking in managing the very difficult business of settling the affairs of the bishopric and monastery in such a way that justice was done to both. He died in 1131.