At the head of the Roman Catholic hierarchy are the archbishops of Scutari (with three suffragans), Prizren and Durazzo; the mitred abbot of St Alexander is the spiritual chief of the Mirdites.
The church of St Mary and St German belonged to a Benedictine abbey founded under a grant from William the Conqueror in 1069 and raised to the dignity of a mitred abbey by Pope Alexander II.
At provincial synods archbishops wear the pretiosa, bishops the auriphrygiata, and mitred abbots the simplex.
The first known instance of a mitred abbot is Egelsinus of St Augustine's, Canterbury, who received the honour from Pope Alexander II.
Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1908 Next to the cathedral, the most interesting building in York is St Mary's Abbey, situated in Museum Gardens, founded for Benedictines by Alan, lord of Richmond, in 1078, its head having the rank of a mitred abbot with a seat in parliament.