HATFIELD, BISHOPS, a town of Hertfordshire, 19 miles north from London. It was called Bishop Hatfield, because it belonged to the bishops of Ely. Theodore archbishop of Canterbury held a synod here, anno 681, against the Eutychean heresy. Here was once a royal palace, from whence both Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth were conducted to the throne. King James I. exchanged the manor with Sir Robert Cecil, afterwards earl of Salisbury, for Theobald's, in the parish of Cheshunt in this county; and the lordship still remains in that noble family, who have a very fine seat here. Population 2677 in 1811.