Aidan from Lindisfarne

Aidan of Lindisfarne , the Apostle of Northumbria (* probably in Connacht , Ireland ; † August 31, 651 in Bamburgh ) was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in Northumbria . He was a Christian missionary and saint who rechristianized Northumbria, which had fallen back into paganism.

Aidan is the anglicized form of the name of the old Irish Aodhán ("small fire").

Life

Aidan was probably in Connacht ( Ireland born). He first studied as a monk with St. Senan on Iniscathay ( Scattery Island ) before becoming Bishop of Clogher .

In 630 he resigned his episcopate and went back to Iona as a monk in the course of missionary work in Scotland .

When Oswald of Northumbria returned home in 634 after a long exile under the Christian Picts and Irish and took control of the northern angles, he decided to introduce the Christianity that had become known to him in his country and therefore turned to the abbot Segene / Segenius. First Cormán was sent as a missionary, but he soon gave up his missionary work without any results and returned to Iona. Aidan reprimanded his methods and was appointed bishop himself in 635. He settled on the small island of Lindisfarne in Oswald's home country Bernicia , near the royal castle of Bamburgh . On the island, Aidan founded a monastery with 12 Scottish monks in the same year as a bishopric and began the Christianization of Northumbria. Aidan initially preached in Scottish Gaelic and King Oswald translated for his Anglic court.

When King Oswald died in 642, his successor Oswine continued the Christianization. A deep friendship developed between the two men. Through gentle conversation and great empathy, Aidan and his monks brought Christianity to the communities of Northumbria. Legend has it that the king gave Aidan a horse so that he no longer had to walk. But Aidan gave the horse to a beggar. The theologian Beda Venerabilis praised Aidan's humility, faith, moderation, and zeal in proclaiming the faith. Beda's only criticism of Aidan was that he had adhered to the Celtic Easter celebration, contrary to the Roman custom.

The Lindisfarne monastery flourished and became a center of Christian art and culture. His writing school was famous, where talented boys like Eata were brought up by Hexham so that the country's Christian elite would be made up of locals in the future. All Northumbrian churches and monasteries originated here.

Legend has it that King Penda of Mercia attacked Bamburgh in 651 and tried to burn down the fortifications. Aidan prayed for the city, whereupon the wind turned and blew smoke and fire towards the enemy. Penda then left.

Aidan died in Bamborough on August 31, 651, 12 days after the murder of his friend Oswine, in the 17th year of his tenure as bishop. He was buried in Lindisfarne.

Aftermath

Some of his bones were transferred to Scotland in 664 by Coloman (Abbot of Lindisfarne 661-664). The bones that remained in Lindisfarne were brought to safety by Bishop Eardulf of Lindisfarne in 875 after a long wandering from the Danes in the coffin from St. Cuthbert to Newfield (Chester-le-Street) .

Catholic Remembrance Day: August 31 (ng Remembrance Day in England and Ireland)
Orthodox Memorial Day: August 31st (transfer of the bones: October 8th)
Protestant Memorial Day: June 9 ( Evangelical Lutheran Church in America )
Anglican Memorial Day: August 31
Patron of the firefighters
Apostles from Northumbria

swell

anonymous, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Beda Venerabilis , Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
Symeon of Durham , History of the Church of Durham

literature

Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz : Aidan. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 68. ( Article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Aidan von Lindisfarne - Collection of images, videos and audio files

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in Project Gutenberg (English)
Aidan in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c Symeon of Durham, History of the Church of Durham
↑ ^a ^b Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum Book 3
↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
^ Beda Venerabilis, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum III (English) at Fordham University, NY
^ Edition: J. Stevenson (translator): The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham . (Church Historians of England; Vol. III, part II). Seeley's, 1855 ( digitized version )

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Bishop of Lindisfarne 635–651	St. Finan

personal data
SURNAME	Aidan from Lindisfarne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bishop in Northumbria
DATE OF BIRTH	6th century or 7th century
PLACE OF BIRTH	unsure: Connacht
DATE OF DEATH	August 31, 651
Place of death	Bamburgh

[sym-1] A ^b ^c Symeon of Durham, History of the Church of Durham

[beda-2] Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum Book 3

[3] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

[4] Beda Venerabilis, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum III (English) at Fordham University, NY

[5] Edition: J. Stevenson (translator): The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham . (Church Historians of England; Vol. III, part II). Seeley's, 1855 ( digitized version )