01 — Foundations
The historical and ecclesial ground on which the mission of St. Aidan of Lindisfarne stands: the divided, half-converted Northumbria of the early seventh century; the exile of the royal prince Oswald among the Irish of Dál Riata and on Iona, his baptism there, and his victory at Heavenfield; his appeal to Iona for a bishop to convert his people; and the tradition — preserved by Bede — that a first, sterner bishop tried and failed before Aidan was chosen for his gentleness. These files establish why an Irish monk from a Scottish island came to refound the church of the English north, and how securely that story can be told.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (pre-Schism; Celtic; apostle of Northumbria)
Aidan did not come to Northumbria out of nowhere. He came as the answer to a request, sent by a community, into a political and religious situation that had been prepared by a generation of conquest, exile, and conversion. This section sets that scene: the kingdom of Northumbria and its fragile, twice-interrupted Christianity; the formation of King Oswald in the Irish Christianity of Iona during his years of exile; and the moment, after Oswald’s victory, when he turned not to Canterbury but to the island monastery that had baptized him and asked for a bishop. It closes with the story that frames Aidan’s whole character in Bede — the failed first mission and the synod on Iona at which Aidan’s gentleness marked him out for the work.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Northumbria and the Ionan Mission | Seventh-century Northumbria; the Roman mission under Paulinus and its collapse after Edwin’s death; Oswald’s exile among the Irish and on Iona, his baptism, and the victory at Heavenfield (634) that returned him to the throne and made him seek an Irish, not a Roman, mission. |
| The Sending from Iona | Oswald’s request to Iona; the tradition of the first, austere bishop who returned defeated, judging the English “ungovernable”; the synod on Iona at which Aidan’s gentle rebuke marked him as the right man; his consecration and sending — attestation-pinned to Bede III.5. |
See Also
- The Island See (635) — where the sending from Iona came to rest
- Oswald and the Bishop — the partnership the sending created
- Bede’s Ecclesiastical History — the source on which this whole section depends
- St. Columba of Iona — the founder of the sending community
- The Pre-Schism Church — the undivided Church of Aidan’s world
References
- Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People II.9–20, III.1–5. Ed. and trans. Bertram Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
- Mayr-Harting, Henry. The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. 3rd ed. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991.
- Stancliffe, Clare, and Eric Cambridge, eds. Oswald: Northumbrian King to European Saint. Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1995.