Lindisfarne (monastery)

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Ruins of the monastery

The monastery Lindisfarne is a former monastery on the island of Lindisfarne off the northeast coast of England in the county of Northumberland .

The Anglo-Saxon monastery

In 635, Scottish monks under the leadership of St. Aidan founded an abbey on the island of Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island . It was continued by Saint Cuthbert , who also became the first bishop of Lindisfarne . After his death, the Lindisfarne Gospels , a gospel book , were made (until about 715–721), and the monastery became a place of pilgrimage . Soon Lindisfarne was a center of Celtic monastic culture, a place of faith, art and learning, famous for its writing school. From the island, the monks promoted the Christianization of England, but soon came into conflict with Roman missionaries commissioned directly by the Pope. The Irish Scottish convent left the monastery after the Synod of Whitby .

On June 8, 793 Lindisfarne was attacked by Vikings . This raid marks the beginning of the Viking Age , although it already 742 the attack on the Pictish Burghead Fort and 787 in Dorset had been in southern England. 793 was Bishop Higbald in the monastery Lindisfarne in office (781-803).

In 875, Bishop Eardulf left the monastery on Lindisfarne with the monks for fear of further Viking raids. They took away the remains of Saints Cuthbert , Aidan , Eadberht , Eadfrith , Æthelwald and the Book of Lindisfarne .

The second monastery

Church ruins and parish church
The interior of the monastery church in 1797. Painting by Thomas Girtin

Benedictine monks did not return for a short time until 1069-1090 . In the 12th century, a new monastery was founded on the island next to the remains of the old one. The parish church of St. Mary, which was built around the same time as the new abbey church in the 12th century, stands on the site of the original monastery.

Initially associated with the Kingdom of Scotland , Lindisfarne was conquered by Edward I in 1296 and subsequently developed into an English border fortress. In 1385 the monks asked Richard II to demolish the fortifications, as they had previously had to pay for the costs of the royal garrison. The monastery itself enjoyed some prosperity despite the border location and was further expanded.

Decay

In 1536 the monastery was dissolved but not demolished. The island was expanded again to a fortress in 1542–1545 with earthworks .

In the 18th century there was tourist interest in the monastery. The exterior of the buildings was probably still intact until the crossing tower collapsed in 1820 . Despite beginning efforts by the private owner of the property to maintain the building, the west facade also collapsed in the 1850s. Excavations and securing work were carried out at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Lindisfarne Stone

The Lindisfarne Stone (also known as the Viking Domesday stone ) was probably erected to commemorate the victims of the Viking raid on the monastery in 793. The preserved fragment is only the upper part of the original stone and shows seven figures wielding weapons on the reverse, which are supposed to represent the Vikings who attacked the monastery. The other side is understood as “Judgment Day”.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jennifer Wenner: The early Christian mission in the British Isles and their influence on the continent . In: Erbe und Einsatz , Vol. 94 (2018), pp. 248–259, here p. 256.
  2. ↑ Saint Mary's Parish Church, Holy Island ( Memento from July 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/history/

Web links

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

Coordinates: 55 ° 40 ′ 9 ″  N , 1 ° 48 ′ 3 ″  W.