Bible Dictionaries
Birmingham, England, City of

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Birmingham, England, Archdiocese of

Next Entry
Birt, Dom Henry Norbert

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

City, tracing its history from Saxon times, and mentioned in Domesday Book. From the 14th century until the Reformation Birmingham was governed by the Guild of the Holy Cross. During the anti-Catholic riots which followed the changed order, a church and convent were destroyed, 1688, and in 1791 the "Church and King" riots which occurred here culminated in the exile of Doctor Priestley. Previous to the erection of the city into a diocese, 1850, it formed part of the Midland, and later the Central Vicariate, of which the last vicar Apostolic was William B. Ullathorne. The city was raised to an archiepiscopal see, 1911. The oldest parish church, Saint Martin's, now Anglican, dates from the 13th century, but the original building has been replaced. The Cathedral of Saint Chad, designed by Pugin, was built 1840, and the relics of its patron, preserved at Lichfield until the Reformation, now repose over the high altar. Through the generosity of John Hardman, patron of ecclesiastical art, the cathedral choir has become one of the foremost in the country. Newman came to Birmingham after his ordination and founded the Oratory, at Edgbaston, making it his home for forty years.