Lindisfarne, later known as Holy Island, was one of the most important monasteries in
Anglo-Saxon England. It was founded in 635 by St. Aidan, first bishop of the northern
Northumbrians. Aidan was an Irish monk who was summoned by King Oswald of
Northumbria to be the first bishop of Bernicia, as the northern part of his kingdom was
then known. Coming from the Island monastery of Iona (in what is now southwest
Scotland), Aidan may have been drawn to this Island site off the Northumberland coast.
The ascetic tradition of Irish monasticism was continued at Lindisfarne. Bede later called
the regime “frugal and austere.” Aidan’s buildings probably were small and simple,
consisting of individual cells housing one or two monks grouped irregularly around the
church. Outlying hermitages were established from the earliest days (for example St.
Cuthbert’s Island, which is visible on the second map below).
Cuthbert trained in the monastery of Melrose (now in southern Scotland) under its abbot,
Eata, who in turn had been trained by Aidan himself. When Eata became abbot of
Lindisfarne. Cuthbert went with him there and served as prior. In the Irish tradition,
Cuthbert combined monastic duties with periods of isolation as a hermit on the Inner
Farne (which was thought of as a wild and dangerous place, the preserve of evil spirits).
Much against his will, Cuthbert eventually succeeded Eata as bishop in 685. After his
death in 687 he was buried in the abbey church. Eleven years later, in 698, monks dug up
the remains, expecting to find bones and dust enough to fill a small casket. Instead, much
to their surprise, they discovered Cuthbert’s body completely undecayed! The monastery
thus became a cult center based on the fame of its great saint, Cuthbert. Lindsfarne
became a major pilgrimage center, and numerous miracles were reported at Cuthbert’s
shrine. Parts of the coffin into which the incorrupt body of Cuthbert was placed have
survived to the present day, along with numerous other objects associated with Cuthbert.
They can be seen today in a museum in the Durham Cathedral.
The Lindisfarne Gospels were probably produced either for the enshrinement of Cuthbert
or in response to it. The scribe was a monk named Eadfrith, who became bishop of
Lindisfarne in ca. 698. The number of calf-hides to produce the parchment on which it
was written – perhaps one for every two of its 258 pages – indicates the substantial
resources at the disposal of the monastery at this time.
Increased wealth resulting from the fame of Cuthbert, and the need to entertain wealthy
noble guests at the popular pilgrimage center, ay have led to a decline in the standard of
monastic observance during the 8th century. When the Vikings raided Lindisfarne in 793,
some observers (such as Alcuin) interpreted it as God’s punishment for the luxurious life
style of the monks. Lindisfarne was one of the very first site of cultural importance in
Christendom to fall prey to the raids of the Vikings. Monks had to seek safety on the
mainland, and they took the body of Cuthbert with them (it was later enshrined in the
cathedral of Durham).
Monks from Durham re-established a religious community on the Island in the 12th
century. The ruins of this monastic settlement – the Priory – can still be seen (see the
short videos below). Monks continued to live here until the dissolution in 1537.