is a
Diocese of the
Church Of England . Originally much larger, today it covers just the
Isle Of Man and its adjacent islets.
The
Norwegian diocese of Sodor was formed
1154 , covering the
Hebrides and the other islands along the west coast of
Scotland . The name in the original
Norse was ''Súðreyjar'' or ''Sudreys'', or "southern isles", in contrast to the ''Norðreyjar'', the "northern isles" of
Orkney and
Shetland . The Isle of Man was included in with these southern isles. This diocese was a part of the
Archdiocese of
Trondheim .
Norway controlled all these islands until
1266 , when they were ceded to Scotland. The
Isle Of Man was detached from the Scottish islands and came under the suzerainty of the Kings of England in 1334. Thereafter it was held by feudal Lords of Man (the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, from 1406 to 1736 and the Dukes of Atholl from 1736) until the lordship was purchased by the
British Crown in 1765. The right to appoint the Bishop of Sodor and Man belonged to the Lords of Man, and continued to be exercised by the Dukes of Atholl after the 'revestment' in 1765 until it was surrendered to the Crown in 1828.
The cathedral of the Diocese of Sodor and Man was on
St Patrick's Isle at
Peel (the only city on Man). It is possible that the origin of the name "Sodor" was lost and its meaning was applied to this islet as the seat of the bishop. The termination "and Man" appears to have been added in the
17th Century by a legal draughtsman ignorant of the proper application of the name of Sodor to the bishopric of Man. By the latter part of the
16th Century the terms "Sodor" and "Man" had become interchangeable, the bishopric being spoken of as that of Sodor or Man. Until
1604 the bishops invariably signed themselves "Sodorensis"; between that date and
1684 , sometimes they used "Soderensis" and sometimes "Sodor and Man"; and since
1684 all bishops have invariably signed "Sodor and Man".
The present cathedral of the Diocese of Sodor and Man is the parish church of St German in Peel, which was constituted the cathedral by Act of
Tynwald in 1980.
Since Man is outside of the
United Kingdom , the Bishop does not count as a
Lord Spiritual and does not sit in the
House Of Lords of the
United Kingdom . However, he is a member of the
Legislative Council Of The Isle Of Man .
