suffragan, n. and a.
(ˈsʌfrəgən)
Forms: 4 suffrigane, soffragan, 4–7 suffragane, 5 suffragann, -igan(n, -ygane, -ann, sofregann, 5–6 suffrygan, 6 suffregan(e, -ragene, (suffryngham), 4– suffragan; β. 5 suffrecan, -ykayn, soffrycan, 5–6 soffrecan, 6 suffrecane, -ykane, soufrecan.
[a. AF., OF. suffragan (13th c.), occas. -ain (mod.F. suffragant), corresp. to It. soffraganeo, -ano, Sp. sufraganeo, -ano, Pg. suffraganeo, repr. med.L. suffrāgāneus, f. stem of suffrāgium suffrage.
The earliest OF. examples, being in the pl. suffragans, are ambiguous for the form of the sing., but it is probable that *suffragan was the older form (cf. MDu. suffragaen), and that suffragant (1451 in Du Cange) is due to etymologizing alteration (see -ant); cf. however Pr. suffraguant, It. suffragante.]
A. n.
1. A bishop considered in regard to his relation to the archbishop or metropolitan, by whom he may be summoned to attend synods and give his suffrage.
| c 1383 Concl. Loll. xxvii. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) Oct. 746 Decrees..þat ȝeuen þe chesigne of þe erchebisshop to alle his suffragans. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 115 Þe primat of Ȝork haþ but tweie suffragans in Engelond, þat beeþ þe bisshoppis of Caerlile and of Duram. c 1440 Jacob's Well 17 Which sentence was ȝouyn..be Boniface, erchebysschop of cauntyrbury, and be v. oþere bysschopys, his suffraganys. 1534 Lyndewode's Const. Provinc. 3 We..commaunde all and euerye our Cobysschoppes and suffragans. 1611 Coryat Crudities 532 He had no lesse then sixteene Bishops vnder him that were subiect to his iurisdiction as his Suffragrans [sic]. 1716 M. Davies Athen. Brit. III. 28 The two High-flying Suffragans to AB. Laud. 1768 Boswell Corsica iii. (ed. 2) 164 The Corsican bishops, who are..suffragans of the archbishop of Pisa. 1862 Hook Lives Abps. II. ii. 121 The suffragans of the province were summoned as usual to assist at the consecration of their metropolitan. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxiii. 214 The Bishop of Orkney, more strictly a suffragan of Trondhjem, is seen acting as a suffragan of York. |
| transf. 1877 C. Geikie Christ lii. (1879) 619 The Jewish primate and his suffragans kept steadily in view his arrest. |
2. An assistant or subsidiary bishop, performing episcopal functions in a certain diocese but having no jurisdiction; in the Church of England, since the passing of Act 26
Hen. VIII, c. 14, a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop in a particular part of his diocese.
Suffragan bishops take their title from certain towns named in the above act or (according to the Suffragans Nomination Act of 1888) from ‘such other towns as Her Majesty may..by Order in Council direct shall be taken’.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 225 Þat þei ben not maad bischopis of heþene men..& þanne meyntened to be suffragans & sellen sacramentis. 14.. S.E. Leg. (MS. Bodl. 779) fol. 102 Suþþe he made him bysschop..& makid him his soffragan & in his stede prechour. 1483 Cath. Angl. 371 Suffragane, Coepiscopus. 1511–12 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 277 Paid the Suffregan for haloyng of a Chales [etc.]. 1534 Act 26 Hen. VIII, c. 14 §1 Everie Archebyshope and Byshop of this Realme,..beynge dysposed to have any Suffragane. 1536 Boorde Let. in Introd. Knowl. (1870) 58, I was..dyspensyd with þe relygyon by the byshopp of Romes bulles, to be suffrygan off chychester. 1587 Harrison England ii. ii. 49 in Holinshed, Which function peraduenture he [sc. the Bishop] committed to his suffragane. 1615 Wadsworth in Bedell Lett. (1624) 13 One Hodgeskin Suffragan of Bedford. 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 101 Dr. Stern..was at that time Suffragane of Colchester. 1885 Life & Lett. A. Monod 58 M. Charles Barde of Geneva who had been called to act as suffragan at Lyons. 1912 Cath. Encycl. XIV. 324/2 It is presumed that the cardinal-bishop has given his suffragan all the faculties necessary for the government of his diocese. |
| β 1470–85 Malory Arthur xii. xiv. 611 Thenne the suffrecan lete fylle a grete vessel with water. 1493–4 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 198 Payd to þe soffrycan of london for halowyng of sentt stevyn ys autyr, x s. iiij d. 1530 Palsgr. 273/1 Soufrecan, suffragan, penitencier. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 78 There the suffrecane gave them their dyssipline. |
† 3. A coadjutor, assistant; a deputy, representative.
Obs.| 1481 in Legg Clerk's Bk. 1549, 66 Howe the Clerke And the Suffrigann of Seynt Nicholas Churche Aught to do... The suff[r]ygann Augh to fastenn the Church Dorys [etc.]. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlviii. 173 The nychtingaill song [to the rose], ‘Haill, naturis suffragene’. Ibid. lxxxv. 68 Oratrice, mediatrice, salvatrice, To God gret suffragane! 1577 B. Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. 3, I haue..my maide, so skilfull in huswyferie, that she may well be my wyues suffragan. 1647 C. Walker Myst. Two Junto's 6 The remaining part of the House are but..Suffragans to ratify what is forejudged. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2242/3 The Elector of Trier has named the Bishop his Suffragan to go and compliment the King. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) VIII. xix. 53 Her [sc. a strumpet's] bed-side, surrounded..by her suffragans and daughters. 1760 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 7 May, She made her suffragan, Whitfield, pray for and preach about him. |
† b. Of things: A help, aid.
Obs.| 1644 Bulwer Chiron. 16 So these suffragans of speech [sc. hands] by a lively sense afford that shadow which is the excellencie of the vocall pourtraicture. 1693 D'Emilianne's Hist. Monast. Orders 35 The Canons of those times..frequently..were Helps and Suffragans to the Bishops. |
B. adj. 1. bishop suffragan,
suffragan bishop:
= A. 1, 2.
| 1475 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 629 Prelatte or byschop suffrygane. 1534 Act 26 Hen. VIII, c. 14 §1 Everie suche personne..shalbe callyd Byshop Suffragane of the same See wherunto he shalbe namyd. 1538 Audley in Lett. Suppr. Monast. (Camden) 240 William More, clerk, byshopp suffragan of Colchester. 1671 F. Phillips Reg. Necess. 442 The Arch-bishop of York, and his Suffragan Bishops. c 1676 T. Barlow Rem. (1693) 162 A Co-adjutor or Suffragan Bishop is, quoad Ordinem, really and properly a Bishop. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 69 No Suffragan Bishop shall have more than one riding Apparitor in his Diocess. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 301 The total income of the two archbishops, and of their ten suffragan bishops, will then be 70,938l. 1888 Act 51 & 52 Vict. c. 56 It was enacted that the towns therein named should be taken..for sees of bishops suffragans. 1907 Cath. Encycl. I. 691/2 In regard to his suffragan bishops the metropolitan may compel them to assemble in provincial council every three years. |
2. Of a see or diocese: Subordinate
to a metropolitical or archiepiscopal see.
| 1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 399 Valladolid, a Bishoprick, suffragan to Mexico. 1907 Cath. Encycl. I. 692/1 To-day archbishops cannot visit a suffragan diocese, unless [etc.]. 1913 T. F. Tout in Reg. J. de Halton Introd. 24 The see of Sodor, which, until the fifteenth century, was supposed to be suffragan to..Trondhjem. |
| fig. 1784 H. Walpole Let. to H. S. Conway 14 Aug., That the King of Spain, now he has demolished Algiers, the metropolitan see of thieves, will come and bombard Richmond, Twickenham, and all the suffragan cities that swarm with pirates and banditti. |
Hence
ˈsuffraganal a., pertaining to a suffragan bishop;
ˈsuffraganate, the seat of a suffragan bishop;
ˈsuffragancy, the office or tenure of a suffragan;
ˈsuffraganship, the office or status of a suffragan.
| 1892 Times 14 Oct. 11/2 The *suffraganal or nominal sees are as absolute shams as Wiseman's original Bishopric of Melipotamos in partibus infidelium. |
| 1879 Echo 11 July 2/5 Bedford is the town nearest to London that is mentioned in the Act of Henry VIII. as a suitable place for a *suffraganate. 1888 Guardian 8 Feb. 186/2 The appointment of Sir Lovelace Stamer to the Suffraganate of Shrewsbury. |
| 1864 Spectator 25 June 742 The refusal of the Presbyteral Council of Paris to renew the ‘*suffragancy’ of the younger Athanase Coquerel. |
| 1549 Latimer 5th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 135, I meane not hallowers of belles, nor Christiners of belles, that is a popysh *suffraganship. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. i. 5 b, There were certaine Suffraganeships of cathedral churches conuerted into Bishopricks. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Cumbld. (1662) 220 He was..made Episcopus Pissinensis..and therewith held the Suffraganeship under Henry Beaufort Bishop of Lincoln. |