Medieval monasteries in England

Lindisfarne, also called the Santo Island, is located on the northeast coast of England that is connected to the mainland by a rock that is cut twice a day by the tides.

El Lindisfarne Monastery was founded by Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona on the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria, at the request of King Oswald around the year 635. Monks from the community of Iona settled on the island, and it became the base of Christian missions in the north of England and also sent a successful mission to Mercia.

There, the patron saint of Northumberland, Saint Cuthbert, was a monk and later abbot of the Lindisfarne monastery, and later became bishop of Lindisfarne.

Starting in the early 700's, the community monks produced the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels. It began as an illustrated American copy of the Gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew and John, then in 900 a monk named Eadfrith added an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) gloss to the Latin text, producing one of the first Old English copies of the Gospels.

The Lindisfarne Gospels are illustrated in a Celtic style and were covered with a fine metal casing made by a hermit. This, however, was lost when Viking raids in 793 sacked the monastery, killed many of the community, and forced the monks to flee (taking with them the body of Saint Cuthbert, which is now buried in Durham Cathedral ).

The Lindisfarne Gospels now reside in the British Library in London, much to the chagrin of some Northumbrians.

The convent was reestablished in Norman times as a Benedictine monastery and continued until its suppression in 1536 under Henry VIII. It is now a ruin in the care of English Heritage, which also runs a nearby visitor center. The neighboring parish church is still in use.

Recently Lindisfarne has become the center for the renewal of Celtic Christianity in the north of England, the minister of the church is not a well known author of Celtic Christian books and prayers. Lindisfarne has become a popular retirement center as well as a vacation destination.

Lindisfarne was primarily a fishing community for many years, but tourism grew steadily throughout the 20th century, and is now a very popular destination. By staying on the island while the tide is out (weather permitting) the non-resident visitor can experience the island in a much calmer frame of mind, as most visitors leave when the tide is rising. again.

It is possible, the weather and the tide permitting, to walk at low tide through the sands following the crossing line better known as Camino de los Peregrinos and marked with messages, it also has shelter boxes for those who have not let it cross too late.

The story goes that Lindisfarne had a large limeburning industry and the kilns are among the most complex in Northumberland. There are still some remains of the piers through which the coal was imported and the lime exported near the at the foot of the cliffs.


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