1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 18… (1911)
“ Metropolitans first appear in the East in the 4th century as presiding over a province (provincia or ἐπαρχία) , and their see is fixed in the principal town (μητροπόλις) of the province, which remains the normal custom both in East and West. In Africa, however, the metropolitan jurisdiction was exercised by the senior bishop (primas, primae sedis episcopus, senex) for the time being, a custom which prevailed for a time also in Spain. Thus, too, in the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Protestant Episcopal Church of America there are no metropolitans, the primas being the senior bishop. ”
