1.
Gloucester Cathedral
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Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of a dedicated to Saint Peter. Wardle records that in 1058 Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester at the time, the foundations of the present church were laid by Abbot Serlo. Walter Frocester the abbeys historian, became its first mitred abbot in 1381, until 1541, Gloucester lay in the see of Worcester, but the separate see was then constituted, with John Wakeman, last abbot of Tewkesbury, as its first bishop. The diocese covers the part of Gloucestershire, with small parts of Herefordshire and Wiltshire. The cathedral has a glass window containing the earliest images of golf. This dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier than the earliest image of golf from Scotland, there is also a carved image of people playing a ball game, believed by some to be one of the earliest images of medieval football. The cathedral, built as the church, consists of a Norman nucleus. It is 420 feet long, and 144 feet wide, with a central tower of the 15th century rising to the height of 225 ft and topped by four delicate pinnacles. The nave is massive Norman with an Early English roof, the crypt, under the choir, aisles and chapels, is Norman, the crypt is one of the four apsidal cathedral crypts in England, the others being at Worcester, Winchester and Canterbury. The south porch is in the Perpendicular style, with a roof, as also is the north transept. The choir has Perpendicular tracery over Norman work, with a chapel on each side. The late Decorated east window is filled with surviving medieval stained glass. Between the apsidal chapels is a cross Lady chapel, and north of the nave are the cloisters, the cloisters at Gloucester are the earliest surviving fan vaults, having been designed between 1351 and 1377 by Thomas de Canterbury. The most notable monument is the shrine of King Edward II of England who was murdered at nearby Berkeley Castle. The building and sanctuary were enriched by the visits of pilgrims to this shrine, in a side-chapel is a monument in coloured bog oak of Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror and a great benefactor of the abbey, who was interred there. Monuments of Bishop Warburton and Dr Edward Jenner are also worthy of note, between 1873 and 1890, and in 1897, the cathedral was extensively restored by George Gilbert Scott. The cathedral has forty-six 14th-century misericords and twelve 19th-century replacements by Gilbert Scott, both types have a wide range of subject matter, mythology, everyday occurrences, religious symbolism and folklore
2.
Dunbar
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Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a royal burgh and gave its name to an ecclesiastical. Until the 1960s the population of the town was more than 3,500. The town is thriving with the most recent population published for the town at 6,940, there are very well regarded primary and secondary schools in town. The town is served by Dunbar railway station with links to Edinburgh. Dunbar is home to the Dunbar Lifeboat Station, the second oldest RNLI station in Scotland, Dunbar is the birthplace of the explorer, naturalist and influential conservationist John Muir. The house in which Muir was born is located on the High Street, there is also a commemorative statue beside the town clock, and John Muir Country Park is located to the northwest of the town. The eastern section of the John Muir Way coastal path starts from the harbour, each year on the last full weekend in September, Dunbar holds a weekend-long traditional music festival sponsored by various local companies. In its present form, the name Dunbar is derived from its Gaelic equivalent and that itself is probably a Gaelicisation of the Cumbric form din-bar, with the same meaning. This form seems to be attested as Dynbaer the seventh-century Vita Sancti Wilfredi, to the north of the present High Street an area of open ground called Castle Park preserves almost exactly the hidden perimeter of an iron age promontory fort. The influential Northumbrian monk and scholar St. Cuthbert, born around 630, was probably from around Dunbar. While still a boy, and employed as a shepherd, one night he had a vision of the soul of Aidan being carried to heaven by angels and thereupon went to the monastery of Old Melrose and it was then a kings vill and prison to Bishop Wilfrid. As a royal holding of the kings of Northumbria, the economy centred on the collecting of food renders and the administration of the northern portion of that kingdom. It was the base of a royal official, a reeve. Danish and Norse attacks on southern Northumbria caused its power to falter, Dunbar was burnt by Kenneth MacAlpin in the 9th century. Scottish control was consolidated in the century and when Lothian was ceded to Malcolm II after the battle of Carham in 1018. Malcolm needed to fill a vacuum on his south-eastern flank. The grant included Dunbar and, it can be deduced, a swath of East Lothian
3.
Kingdom of Northumbria
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The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, which subsequently became an earldom in a unified English kingdom. The name reflects the southern limit to the kingdoms territory. Northumbria was formed by Æthelfrith in central Great Britain in Anglo-Saxon times, at the beginning of the 7th century, the two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were unified. At its height, the kingdom extended at least from just south of the Humber to the River Mersey, the later earldom came about when the southern part of Northumbria was lost to the Danelaw. The earldom was bounded by the River Tees in the south, much of this land was debated between England and Scotland, but the Earldom of Northumbria was eventually recognised as part of England by the Anglo-Scottish Treaty of York in 1237. On the northern border, Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is north of the Tweed but had changed many times, was defined as subject to the laws of England by the Wales. The local Environment Agency office, located in Newcastle Business Park, otherwise, the term is not the official name for the UK and EU region of North East England. See also, List of monarchs of Northumbria and Timeline of Northumbria Northumbria was originally formed from the union of two independent kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira, Bernicia covered lands north of the Tees, while Deira corresponded roughly to modern-day Yorkshire. Bernicia and Deira were first united by Aethelfrith, a king of Bernicia who conquered Deira around the year 604. He was defeated and killed around the year 616 in battle at the River Idle by Raedwald of East Anglia, who installed Edwin, the son of Ælla, a former king of Deira, as king. Edwin, who accepted Christianity in 627, soon grew to become the most powerful king in England, he was recognised as Bretwalda and conquered the Isle of Man and Gwynedd in northern Wales. He was, however, himself defeated by an alliance of the king of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan. After Edwins death, Northumbria was split between Bernicia, where Eanfrith, a son of Aethelfrith, took power, and Deira, cumbria tended to remain a country frontier with the Britons. Both of these rulers were killed during the year that followed, after the murder of Eanfrith, his brother, Oswald, backed by warriors sent by Domnall Brecc of Dál Riata, defeated and killed Cadwallon at the Battle of Heavenfield in 634. He incorporated Gododdin lands northwards up to the Firth of Forth and also extended his reach westward, encroaching on the remaining Cumbric speaking kingdoms of Rheged. Thus, Northumbria became not only part of modern Englands far north, King Oswald re-introduced Christianity to the Kingdom by appointing St. Aidan, an Irish monk from the Scottish island of Iona to convert his people. This led to the introduction of the practices of Celtic Christianity, a monastery was established on Lindisfarne. In 642, Oswald was killed by the Mercians under Penda at the Battle of Maserfield and this battle marked a major turning point in Northumbrian fortunes, Penda died in the battle, and Oswiu gained supremacy over Mercia, making himself the most powerful king in England
4.
Farne Islands
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The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 and 20 islands depending on the state of the tide and they are scattered about 1½–4¾ miles from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group. The two groups are separated by Staple Sound, the highest point, on Inner Farne, is 62 feet above mean sea level. The earliest recorded inhabitants of the Farne Islands were various Culdees and this followed the old Celtic Christian tradition of island hermitages, found in England, Ireland and Scotland. The islands are first recorded in 651, when they became home to Saint Aidan, the islands were used by hermits intermittently from the seventh century. These included Saint Bartholomew of Farne, the last hermit was Thomas De Melsonby, who died on the islands in 1246. A formal monastic cell of Benedictine monks was established on the islands circa 1255, the cell was dependent on Durham Abbey, now Durham Cathedral. A very small cell, it was home to only two monks, although on occasion this rose to as many as six. The cell was dissolved in 1536 as part of King Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries, following the dissolution of the monastic cell on the islands, the islands became the property of the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral, who leased them to various tenants. The islands remained a part of County Durham until 1844. In 1861 the islands were sold to Charles Thorp, who was at the time Archdeacon of Durham, in 1894 the islands were bought by the industrialist William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong. The islands are owned by the National Trust. Remains still exist of the seventh-century anchorite cell used by Saint Aiden and Saint Cuthbert, known as St Cuthberts Chapel, the chapel is described as a single-cell building of four bays. The remains of a second chapel have been incorporated into a later building, the Farne Islands are associated with the story of Grace Darling and the wreck of the Forfarshire. The story of the rescue attracted extraordinary attention throughout Britain and made Grace Darling a heroine who has gone down in British folklore, the pele tower was built c.1500, by or for Thomas Castell, Prior of Durham. The first lighthouse was built on the islands in 1773, former lighthouses on the islands include, Farne Island Lighthouse A minor light was also established on the north west of Farne between 1811 and 1910. Staple Island Lighthouse Brownsman Lighthouse All the operational lighthouses on the Farnes are now automatic and have no resident keepers, the lighthouse is now maintained by Trinity House via its local lighthouse attendant, George Shiel, who provides guided tours inside the lighthouse. Ruins of some of the older lighthouses may be seen, for example on the Brownsman, before the lighthouses there were beacons on several of the islands
5.
Anglicanism
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Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion, the word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
6.
Eastern Orthodox Church
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The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles. It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith, the Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each typically governed by a Holy Synod. It teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, prior to the Council of Chalcedon in AD451, the Eastern Orthodox had also shared communion with the Oriental Orthodox churches, separating primarily over differences in Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. As a result, the term Greek Orthodox has sometimes used to describe all of Eastern Orthodoxy in general. However, the appellation Greek was never in use and was gradually abandoned by the non-Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox churches. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople, there are also many in other parts of the world, formed through immigration, conversion and missionary activity. The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Catholic Church and it is the name by which the church refers to itself in its liturgical or canonical texts, in official publications, and in official contexts or administrative documents. Orthodox teachers refer to the Church as Catholic and this name and longer variants containing Catholic are also recognized and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. The common name of the Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, is a shortened practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use, for this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as Greek, even before the great schism. After 1054, Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople and this identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. Today, many of those same Roman churches remain, while a large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national origin. Eastern, then, indicates the element in the Churchs origin and development, while Orthodox indicates the faith. While the Church continues officially to call itself Catholic, for reasons of universality, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another. Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, thus, almost from the very beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same Church, a number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, not directly from the Orthodox Church, the depth of this meaning in the Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word Orthodox itself, a union of Greek orthos and doxa
7.
Shrine
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A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other objects associated with the figure being venerated. A shrine at which offerings are made is called an altar. Shrines can be found in various settings, such as churches, temples, cemeteries, or in the home, a shrine may become a focus of a cult image. Many shrines are located buildings and in the temples designed specifically for worship, such as a church in Christianity. A shrine here is usually the centre of attention in the building, in such cases, adherents of the faith assemble within the building in order to venerate the deity at the shrine. In classical temple architecture, the shrine may be synonymous with the cella, historically, in Hinduism, Buddhism and Roman Catholicism, and also in modern faiths, such as Neopaganism, a shrine can commonly be found within the home or shop. This shrine is usually a structure or a setup of pictures and figurines dedicated to a deity that is part of the official religion. Small household shrines are common among the Chinese and people from South and Southeast Asia, whether Hindu. Usually a small lamp and small offerings are kept daily by the shrine, Buddhist household shrines must be on a shelf above the head, Chinese shrines must stand directly on the floor. Small outdoor yard shrines are found at the bottom of many gardens, following various religions, including historically. Shrines are found in most, though not all, religions, Shrines therefore attract the practice of pilgrimage. Shrines are found in many, though not all, forms of Christianity, Roman Catholicism, the largest denomination of Christianity, has many shrines, as do Orthodox Christianity and Anglicanism. For a shrine to be described as national, the approval of the Episcopal Conference is necessary, for it to be described as international, the approval of the Holy See is required. Another use of the shrine in colloquial Catholic terminology is a niche or alcove in most – especially larger – churches used by parishioners when praying privately in the church. They were also called Devotional Altars, since they could look like small Side Altars or bye-altars, Shrines were always centered on some image of Christ or a saint – for instance, a statue, painting, mural or mosaic, and may have had a reredos behind them. However, Mass would not be celebrated at them, they were used to aid or give a visual focus for prayers. Side altars, where Mass could actually be celebrated, were used in a way to shrines by parishioners
8.
Durham Cathedral
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The bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD1093. The present cathedral replaced the 10th century White Church, built as part of a foundation to house the shrine of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. The treasures of Durham Cathedral include relics of St Cuthbert, the head of St Oswald of Northumbria, in addition, its Library contains one of the most complete sets of early printed books in England, the pre-Dissolution monastic accounts, and three copies of the Magna Carta. Durham Cathedral occupies a position on a promontory high above the River Wear. From 1080 until the 19th century the bishopric enjoyed the powers of a Bishop Palatine, having military as well as religious leadership, Durham Castle was built as the residence for the Bishop of Durham. The seat of the Bishop of Durham is the fourth most significant in the Church of England hierarchy, signposts for the modern day County Durham are subtitled Land of the Prince Bishops. There are daily Church of England services at the cathedral, with the Durham Cathedral Choir singing daily except Mondays, the cathedral is a major tourist attraction within the region, the central tower of 217 feet giving views of Durham and the surrounding area. The see of Durham takes its origins from the Diocese of Lindisfarne, the see lasted until AD664, at which point it was translated to York. The see was then reinstated at Lindisfarne in AD678 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, after repeated Viking raids, the monks fled Lindisfarne in AD875, carrying St Cuthberts relics with them. The diocese of Lindisfarne remained itinerant until 882, when a community was re-established in Chester-le-Street, the see had its seat here until AD995, when further incursions once again caused the monks to move with the relics. According to local legend, the monks followed two milk maids who were searching for a dun cow and were led into a formed by a loop in the River Wear. At this point Cuthberts coffin became immovable and this trope of hagiography was offered for a sign that the new shrine should be built here. Nevertheless, the leading from The Bailey past the Cathedrals eastern towers up to Palace Green is named Dun Cow Lane due to the miniature cows that used to graze in the pastures nearby. Initially, a simple temporary structure was built from local timber to house the relics of Cuthbert. The shrine was transferred to a sturdier, probably wooden. This church was replaced three years later in 998 by a stone building also known as the White Church, which was complete apart from its tower by 1018. Durham soon became a site of pilgrimage, encouraged by the cult of Saint Cuthbert. King Canute was one early pilgrim, granting privileges and much land to the Durham community
9.
County Durham
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County Durham is a county in North East England. The county town is Durham, a cathedral city, the largest settlement is Darlington, closely followed by Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees. It borders Tyne and Wear to the north east, Northumberland to the north, Cumbria to the west, historically, the county included southern Tyne and Wear, including Gateshead and Sunderland. The county has a mixture of mining and farming heritage, as well as a railway industry. Its economy was based on coal and iron mining. It is an area of regeneration and promoted as a tourist destination, in the centre of the city of Durham, Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral are a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. Many counties are named after their town, and the expected form here would be Durhamshire. Thus County Durham is a form of County of Durham. The situation regarding the name with regards to present-day local government is less clear. The structural change legislation which in 2009 created the present unitary council refers to the county of County Durham, the former postal county was named County Durham to distinguish it from the post town of Durham. The ceremonial county of Durham is administered by four unitary authorities, the ceremonial county has no administrative function, but remains the area to which the Lord Lieutenant of Durham and the High Sheriff of Durham are appointed. The Borough of Hartlepool, until 1 April 1996 the borough was one of four districts in the relatively short-lived county of Cleveland, the part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees that is north of the centre of the River Tees. Stockton was also part of Cleveland until that countys abolition in 1996, the remainder of the borough is part of the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. Durham Constabulary operate in the area of the two districts of County Durham and Darlington. Ron Hogg was first elected the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner for the force on 15 November 2012, the other areas in the ceremonial county fall within the police area of the Cleveland Police. Air Ambulance services are provided by the Great North Air Ambulance, the charity operates 3 helicopters including one at Durham Tees Valley Airport covering the County Durham area. Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team, based at the Durham Constabulary base in Barnard Castle, respond to search, Cuthbert between Tyne and Tees or the Liberty of Haliwerfolc. The bishops special jurisdiction rested on claims that King Ecgfrith of Northumbria had granted a substantial territory to St Cuthbert on his election to the see of Lindisfarne in 684
10.
Calendar of saints
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The word feast in this context does not mean a large meal, typically a celebratory one, but instead an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a Menologion, Menologion may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels. As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to days in some traditions or completely removed. For example, St. Perpetua and Felicity died on 7 March, when the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March. Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, the Roman Catholic calendars of saints in their various forms, which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally, Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title confessor was used for saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, a broader range of titles was used later, such as, Virgin, Pastor, Bishop, Monk, Priest, Founder, Abbot, Apostle, Doctor of the Church. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes, the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs, Pastors, Doctors of the Church, Virgins, some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints days, their works may appear dated as The Feast of Saint Martin. Poets such as John Keats commemorate the importance of The Eve of Saint Agnes, as different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. In the present ordinary form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked as solemnities and those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples. See Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite, in the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are, Great Feasts, middle, each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows, All-Night Vigils, Polyeleos, Great Doxology, Sextuple. There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and Double, in Double Feasts the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon, the liturgy book. In the Church of England, there are Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days, Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations. com
11.
Episcopal Church (United States)
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The Episcopal Church is the United States-based member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The current presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, in 2014, the Episcopal Church had 1,956,042 baptized members. In 2011, it was the nations 14th largest denomination, in 2015, Pew Research estimated that 1.2 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 3 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians/Anglicans. The Episcopal Church describes itself as Protestant, yet Catholic, the Episcopal Church is an apostolic church, tracing its bishops back to the apostles via holy orders. The Book of Common Prayer, a collection of traditional rites, blessings, liturgies, the Episcopal Church was active in the Social Gospel movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 1960s and 1970s, the church has pursued a more liberal course. It has opposed the death penalty and supported the civil rights movement, some of its leaders and priests are known for marching with influential civil rights demonstrators such as Martin Luther King Jr. The Church calls for the legal equality of gay and lesbian people. Due to the process of editing or making additions to the Prayer Book, the BCP still describes marriage as being the union of a man. The Episcopal Church ordains women and LGBT people to the priesthood, the diaconate, in 2003, Gene Robinson was the first non-celibate openly gay person ordained as a bishop in documented Christian history. There are two names of the Episcopal Church specified in its constitution, The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The latter is the commonly used name. In other languages, an equivalent is used, until 1964, the only official name in use was The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. In the 19th century, High Church members advocated changing the name and they were opposed by the churchs evangelical wing, which felt that the Protestant Episcopal label accurately reflected the Reformed character of Anglicanism. After 1877, alternative names were proposed and rejected by the General Convention. A commonly proposed alternative was the American Catholic Church, by the 1960s, opposition to dropping the word Protestant had largely subsided. The 66th General Convention voted in 1979 to use the name The Episcopal Church in the Oath of Conformity of the Declaration for Ordination, the evolution of the name can be seen in the churchs Book of Common Prayer. The alternate name The Episcopal Church in the United States of America has never been a name of the church but is commonly seen in English
12.
Saint symbolism
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Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings. Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life, symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, the study of these forms part of iconography in art history. They were particularly used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene and they are often carried in the hand by the Saint. Attributes often vary with time or geography, especially between Eastern Christianity and the West. Orthodox images more often contained inscriptions with the names of saints, many of the most prominent saints, like Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist can also be recognised by a distinctive facial type – as can Christ. Some attributes are general, such as the palm frond carried by martyrs, the use of a symbol in a work of art depicting a Saint reminds people who is being shown and of their story. The following is a list of some of these attributes, a New Dictionary of Saints, East and West. Catholic Forum Patron Saints Index Saints Badges or Shields On the Canonizations of John Paul II
13.
Patron saint
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Catholics believe that patron saints, having already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges. Historically, a practice has also occurred in many Islamic lands. With regard to the omnipresence of this belief, the late Martin Lings wrote. Traditionally, it has been understood that the saint of a particular place prays for that places wellbeing and for the health. Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active, professions sometimes have a patron saint owing to that individual being involved somewhat with it, although some of the connections were tenuous. Lacking such a saint, an occupation would have a patron whose acts or miracles in some way recall the profession and it is, however, generally discouraged in some Protestant branches such as Calvinism, where the practice is considered a form of idolatry. In Islam, the veneration or commemoration and recognition of saints is found in many branches of traditional Sunnism
14.
Hiberno-Scottish mission
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The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a series of missions and expeditions initiated by various Irish clerics and cleric-scholars who, for the most part, are not known to have acted in concert. The earliest recorded Irish mission can be dated to 563 with the foundation of Iona by the Irish monk Saint Columba, Columba is said by Bede and Adamnán to have ministered to the Gaels of Dál Riada and converted the northern Pictish kingdoms. Over the next centuries more missions followed and spread through Anglo-Saxon England, the Latin term Scotti refers to the Gaelic-speaking people of Ireland and the Irish who settled in western Scotland. In early medieval times Ireland was known not only as Éire but also as Scotia, by the end of the 11th century it generally referred to Scotland, which had become Gaelicised by settlers from Ireland, and from where the name Scotland derives. The Romans also gave Ireland the name Hibernia, thus, the Scots missionaries who were so influential in the early Church history of Germany included men from both modern countries Ireland and Scotland. Irelands sobriquet Island of Saints and Scholars derives from this period, Irish abbot and missionary Columba founded the abbey of Iona off the western coast of modern-day Scotland in 563. Following that was the foundation of Lindisfarne in 635 by the Irish monk Saint Aidan, the missions continued throughout most Anglo-Saxon kingdoms during the following decades, the last pagan Anglo-Saxon king, Arwald of the Isle of Wight, was killed in battle in 686. Columbanus was active in the Frankish Empire from 590, establishing monasteries until his death at Bobbio in 615 and he arrived on the continent with twelve companions and founded Annegray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines in France and Bobbio in Italy. During the 7th century the disciples of Columbanus and other Scottish and Irish missionaries founded several monasteries in what are now France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland. The best known are, St. Gall in Switzerland, Disibodenberg in the Rhine Palatinate, St. Martins at Cologne, in Italy, Fiesole produced Saint Donatus of Fiesole and Andrew the Scot of Fiesole. Another early Schottenkloster was Säckingen in Baden, founded by the Irish missionary Fridolin of Säckingen who is said to have founded another at Konstanz, Hiberno-Scottish activity in Europe gradually declined after the death of Columbanus. There were monastic foundations in Anglo-Saxon England, the first in about 630 at Cnobheresburgh, others such as Malmesbury Abbey, perhaps Bosham, and Glastonbury Abbey had strong Irish links, even if they already existed before the arrival of the Hiberno-Scots. Irish monks known as Papar are said to have present in Iceland before its settlement from 874 AD onwards by the Norse. The oldest source mentioning the Papar is the Íslendingabók, between 1122 and 1133, such figures are also mentioned in the Icelandic Landnámabók which states that the Norse found Irish priests, with bells and crosiers, at Iceland at the time of their arrival. Among the Irish monks who were active in Central Europe were two particularly important theologians, Marianus Scotus and Johannes Scotus Eriugena, legends surrounding Hiberno-Scottish foundations are recorded in a Middle High German text known as Charlemagne and the Scottish Saints. The rule of St. Columbanus, which was followed in most of these monasteries, was soon superseded by that of St. Benedict. Towards the end of the 11th and in the 12th century a number of Schottenklöster, intended for Scottish and Irish monks exclusively, about 1072, three Scottish monks, Marianus, Iohannus, and Candidus, took up their abode at the little Church of Weih-St-Peter at Regensburg. Their number soon increased and a monastery was built for them by Burgrave Otto of Regensburg
15.
Monk
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A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of other monks. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions, in the Greek language the term can apply to women, but in modern English it is mainly in use for men. The word nun is typically used for female monastics, although the term monachos is of Christian origin, in the English language monk tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds. However, being generic, it is not interchangeable terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as cenobite, hermit, anchorite, hesychast. In Eastern Orthodoxy monasticism holds a special and important place. Orthodox monastics separate themselves from the world in order to pray unceasingly for the world and they do not, in general, have as their primary purpose the running of social services, but instead are concerned with attaining theosis, or union with God. However, care for the poor and needy has always been an obligation of monasticism, the level of contact though will vary from community to community. Hermits, on the hand, have little or no contact with the outside world. Orthodox monasticism does not have religious orders as are found in the West, basil the Great and the Philokalia, which was compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth. Hesychasm is of importance in the ascetical theology of the Orthodox Church. Meals are usually taken in common in a dining hall known as a trapeza. Food is usually simple and is eaten in silence while one of the brethren reads aloud from the writings of the Holy Fathers. The monastic lifestyle takes a deal of serious commitment. Within the cenobitic community, all monks conform to a way of living based on the traditions of that particular monastery. In struggling to attain this conformity, the comes to realize his own shortcomings and is guided by his spiritual father in how to deal honestly with them. For this same reason, bishops are almost always chosen from the ranks of monks, Eastern monasticism is found in three distinct forms, anchoritic, cenobitic, and the middle way between the two, known as the skete. One normally enters a community first, and only after testing and spiritual growth would one go on to the skete or, for the most advanced. However, one is not necessarily expected to join a skete or become a solitary, in general, Orthodox monastics have little or no contact with the outside world, including their own families
16.
Bishop
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A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within these churches, bishops are seen as those who possess the full priesthood, Some Protestant churches including the Lutheran and Methodist churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not always understood to be within apostolic succession in the same way. Priests, deacons and lay ministers cooperate and assist their bishop in shepherding a flock, the earliest organization of the Church in Jerusalem was, according to most scholars, similar to that of Jewish synagogues, but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters. In, we see a system of government in Jerusalem chaired by James the Just. In, the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in churches in Anatolia, in Timothy and Titus in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee the local church, Paul commands Titus to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling him to rebuke with all authority. Early sources are unclear but various groups of Christian communities may have had the bishop surrounded by a group or college functioning as leaders of the local churches, eventually, as Christendom grew, bishops no longer directly served individual congregations. Instead, the Metropolitan bishop appointed priests to each congregation. Around the end of the 1st century, the organization became clearer in historical documents. While Ignatius of Antioch offers the earliest clear description of monarchial bishops he is an advocate of monepiscopal structure rather than describing an accepted reality. To the bishops and house churches to which he writes, he offers strategies on how to pressure house churches who dont recognize the bishop into compliance. Other contemporary Christian writers do not describe monarchial bishops, either continuing to equate them with the presbyters or speaking of episkopoi in a city, plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6,1. Your godly bishop — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2,1, therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters. — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7,1. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father, and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13,2. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3,1. Follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles, and to the deacons pay respect, as to Gods commandment — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8,1. He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God, he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9,1
17.
Hermit
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A hermit is a person who lives in seclusion from society. In Christianity, the term was applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction. In the Christian tradition the eremitic life is a form of monastic living that preceded the monastic life in the cenobium. The Rule of St Benedict lists hermits among four kinds of monks, other religions, for example, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Taoism, also have hermits in the sense of individuals living an ascetic form of life. In modern colloquial usage, hermit denotes anyone living apart from the rest of society, or simply participating in social events. In the common Christian tradition the first known Christian hermit in Egypt was Paul of Thebes, an antecedent for Egyptian eremiticism may have been the Syrian solitary or son of the covenant who undertook special disciplines as a Christian. In the Middle Ages some Carmelite hermits claimed to trace their origin to Jewish hermits organized by Elijah, Christian hermits in the past have often lived in isolated cells or hermitages, whether a natural cave or a constructed dwelling, situated in the desert or the forest. They tended to be out for spiritual advice and counsel. Some eventually acquired so many disciples that they had no physical solitude at all, the early Christian Desert Fathers wove baskets to exchange for bread. In medieval times hermits were also found within or near cities where they earn a living as a gate keeper or ferryman. From the Middle Ages and down to modern times eremitical monasticism has also practiced within the context of religious institutes in the Christian West. This applies to both their monks and their nuns, there have also been many hermits who chose that vocation as an alternative to other forms of monastic life. In the 11th century, the life of the hermit gained recognition as a legitimate independent pathway to salvation, many hermits in that century and the next came to be regarded as saints. The term anchorite is often used as a synonym for hermit, not only in the earliest written sources, yet the anchoritic life, while similar to the eremitic life, can also be distinct from it. Anchorites and anchoresses lived the life in the solitude of an anchorhold, usually a small hut or cell. The door of an anchorage tended to be bricked up in a ceremony conducted by the local bishop after the anchorite had moved in. Another window looked out into the street or cemetery, enabling charitable neighbors to deliver food, clients seeking the anchorites advice might also use this window to consult him or her. There are also lay people who follow an eremitic lifestyle
18.
Monastery
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A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone. A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, a monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. These may include a hospice, a school and a range of agricultural and manufacturing such as a barn. In English usage, the monastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage, convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics, historically, a convent denoted a house of friars, now more commonly called a friary. Various religions may apply these terms in specific ways. The earliest extant use of the term monastērion is by the 1st century AD Jewish philosopher Philo in On The Contemplative Life, in England the word monastery was also applied to the habitation of a bishop and the cathedral clergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served by canons secular, however, some were run by monasteries orders, such as York Minster. Westminster Abbey was for a time a cathedral, and was a Benedictine monastery until the Reformation. They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such as St Georges Chapel, in most of this article, the term monastery is used generically to refer to any of a number of types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent in certain branches of Buddhism, there is a more specific definition of the term. Buddhist monasteries are generally called vihara, viharas may be occupied by males or females, and in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by females may often be called a nunnery or a convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple, in Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a monastery is called a wat, in Burma, a monastery is called a kyaung. A Christian monastery may be an abbey, or a priory and it may be a community of men or of women. A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order, in Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community can be called a skete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of a lavra. The great communal life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the life of an anchorite. In Hinduism monasteries are called matha, mandir, koil, or most commonly an ashram, jains use the Buddhist term vihara
19.
Melrose Abbey
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St Marys Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and it was headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Melrose. Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Scotland, the east end of the abbey was completed in 1146. Other buildings in the complex were added over the next 50 years, the abbey was built in the Gothic manner, and in the form of a St. Johns Cross. A considerable portion of the abbey is now in ruins, a structure dating from 1590 is maintained as a museum open to the public. Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried at the abbey, a lead container believed to hold the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce was found in 1921 below the Chapter House site, it was found again in a 1998 excavation. This was documented in records of his death, the rest of his body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey. The abbey is known for its many carved decorative details, including likenesses of saints, dragons, gargoyles, on one of the abbeys stairways is an inscription by John Morow, a master mason, which says, Be halde to ye hende. This has become the motto of the town of Melrose, an earlier monastery was founded by, then later dedicated to, Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne. This was shortly before his death in 651 at Old Melrose, then within the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, set in a bend of the River Tweed, a graveyard marks the site. St. Cuthbert, who grew up nearby, trained at Old Melrose abbey and he was prior from 662 before he was moved to Lindisfarne. The abbey site was raided by Kenneth I of Scotland in 839, Melrose was the first Cistercian abbey in Scotland. King David I wanted the new abbey to be built on the same site and it was said to have been built in ten years. The church of the convent was dedicated to St. Mary on 28 July 1146, the abbey became the mother church of the order in Scotland. Its first community came from Rielvaux, the Yorkshire house colonized from Cîteaux, in the 12th century, around Melrose, the Cistercians implemented new farming techniques and marketed Melrose wool throughout the great trading ports across northern Europe. A town slowly grew up around the abbey, during a time of famine four thousand starving people were fed by the monastery for three months. The monastery had 100 monks, exclusive of the abbot and dignitaries, the last abbot was James Stewart, natural son of James V, who died in 1559. The privileges and possessions of the abbey were very extensive and its founder David endowed it with the lands of Melrose, Eildon, and other places, and the right of fishery on the River Tweed
20.
Lindisfarne
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The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England. It is also known just as Holy Island and it constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a history from the 6th century AD. It was an important centre of Celtic Christianity under Saints Aidan of Lindisfarne, Cuthbert, Eadfrith of Lindisfarne, after the Viking invasions and the Norman conquest of England, a priory was reestablished. A small castle was built on the island in 1550, the island of Lindisfarne appears under the Old Welsh name Medcaut in the 9th century Historia Brittonum. Following up on a suggestion by Richard Coates, Andrew Breeze proposes that the name derives from Latin Medicata. Both the Parker Chronicle and Peterborough Chronicle annals of AD793 record the Old English name, the soubriquet Holy Island was in use by the 11th century when it appears in Latin as Insula Sacra. The reference was to Saints Aidan and Cuthbert, the name Lindisfarne has an uncertain origin. The first part, Lindis-, may refer to people from the Kingdom of Lindsey in modern Lincolnshire, alternatively the name may be Celtic in origin, with the element Lindis- meaning stream or pool. It is not known if this is a reference to the nearby River Low or a lake on the island. The second element, -farne, probably comes from farran, meaning land, There is also a supposition that the nearby Farne Islands are fern like in shape and the name may have come from there. The island measures 3 miles from east to west and 1.5 miles from north to south, the nearest point of the island is about 1 mile from the mainland of England. The island of Lindisfarne is located along the northeast coast of England and it is accessible, most times, at low tide by crossing sand and mud flats which are covered with water at high tides. These sand and mud flats carry an ancient pilgrims path, and in recent times. Lindisfarne is surrounded by the 8, 750-acre Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve, which protects the islands sand dunes, as of 27 March 2011 the island had a population of 180. Warning signs urge visitors walking to the island to keep to the path, check tide times and weather carefully. For drivers, tide tables are prominently displayed at both ends of the causeway and also where the Holy Island road leaves the A1 Great North Road at Beal. The causeway is generally open from about three hours after high tide until two hours before the high tide, but the period of closure may be extended during stormy weather
21.
North East England
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North East England is one of the nine regions of England that are classified at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, the region is home to three large conurbations, Teesside, Wearside, and Tyneside, the latter of which is the largest of the three and the eighth most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom. The city of Durham is the county town of County Durham, other large settlements in the region include Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, South Shields, Stockton-on-Tees and Washington. The region is hilly and sparsely populated in the North and West. The highest point in the region is The Cheviot, in the Cheviot Hills, Peters Church in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland and St. Pauls in Jarrow also hold significant historical value and have a joint bid to become a World Heritage Site. The area has a strong religious past, as can be seen in such as the Lindisfarne Gospels. The work of the 7th-century Cuthbert, Bede and Hilda of Whitby being hugely influential in the church and are still venerated today. Bede is regarded as the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar and his best known work is The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. This body of work is thought to have been done in honour of Cuthbert, British history changed forever that day and three hundred years of Viking raids, battles and settlement were to persist until William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at Hastings in 1066. The last independent Northumbrian king from 947–8 was Eric Bloodaxe who died in battle at the Battle of Stainmore, Westmorland, after Eric Bloodaxes death, all England was ruled by Eadred the grandson of Alfred the Great and so began the machinery of national government. Today the Viking legacy can still be found in the language and place names of Northeast England, the name Newcastle comes from the new castle built shortly after their conquest in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conquerors eldest son. North East England has a climate with narrower temperature ranges than further south in England. Met Office operates several stations in the region. The stations nearest significant urban areas are Durham, Stockton-on-Tees and Tynemouth, the warmest summers in the region are found in Stockton-on-Tees and the Middlesbrough area with a 1981-2010 July average high of 20.4 °C. The summers on the coastlines are clearly cooler than in the southern and central inland areas. Moving further inland, frosts during winter gets more common due to the higher elevation and these companies are members of the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster. The early chemical industry in this region was however primarily Tyneside based and associated with the manufacture of soap and glass. The most important chemical activity in the 18th and 19th centuries was the manufacture of alkali to make soap, what came out of the industrial revolution was a period when the Northeast of Englands economy was dominated by iron and steel, coal mining and shipbuilding
22.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
23.
Saint
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A saint, also historically known as a hallow, is a term used for a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God. Depending on the context and denomination, the term also retains its original Christian meaning, as any believer who is in Christ and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on Earth. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration, the English word saint comes from the Latin sanctus. The word translated the Greek ἅγιος, which derives from the verb ἁγιάζω, the word ἅγιος appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament, and its English translation 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version of the Bible. In the New Testament, saint did not denote the deceased who had recognized as especially holy or emulable. Many religions also use similar concepts to venerate persons worthy of some honor, the anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question Who is a saint. These saintly figures, he asserts, are the points of spiritual force-fields. They exert powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the lives of others in transforming ways as well. In the Bible, only one person is called a saint, They envied Moses also in the camp. The apostle Paul declared himself to be less than the least of all saints in Ephesians 3,8, in the Catholic Church, a saint is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not. There are many persons that the Church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonized, sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ, the Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them. Proofs of heroicity required in the process of beatification will serve to illustrate in detail the general principles exposed above upon proof of their holiness or likeness to God. On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a saint, on the petition of the German ruler, before that time, the popular cults, or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous. Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs, walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope, Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153. Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, one source claims that there are over 10,000 named saints and beatified people from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive head count. Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, including a total of 1,486 saints, the latest revision of this book, edited by Rev. Herbert Thurston, SJ and British author Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints. Monsignor Robert Sarno, an official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, expressed that it is impossible to give an exact number of saints
24.
Northern England
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Northern England or the North of England, also known as the North Country or simply the North, is the northern part of England, when considered as a single cultural area. The area roughly spans from the River Trent and River Dee to the Scottish border in the north, Northern England roughly comprises three statistical regions, the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. These have a population of around 14.9 million as of the 2011 Census. The region has been controlled by groups from the Brigantes. After the Norman conquest in 1066, the Harrying of the North brought destruction, a Council of the North was in place during the Late Middle Ages until the Commonwealth after the Civil War. The area experienced Anglo–Scottish border fighting until the unification of Britain under the Stuarts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the economy of the North was dominated by heavy industry such as weaving, shipbuilding, steelmaking and mining. The deindustrialisation that followed in the half of the 20th century hit Northern England hard. For government and statistical purposes, Northern England is defined as the covered by the three statistical regions of North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber. This definition will be used in article, except when otherwise stated. Using historic county boundaries, the North is generally taken to comprise Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmorland, County Durham, Lancashire and Yorkshire, the Isle of Man is occasionally included in definitions of the North, although it is politically and culturally distinct from England. Additionally, some areas of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have been associated with the North. The geographer Danny Dorling includes most of the West Midlands and part of the East Midlands in his definition of the North, conversely, more restrictive definitions also exist, typically based on the extent of the historical Northumbria, which exclude Cheshire and Lincolnshire. Personal definitions of the North vary greatly and are sometimes passionately debated, when asked to draw a dividing line between North and South, Southerners tend to draw this line further south than Northerners do. Various towns have been described as or promoted themselves as the gateway to the North, including Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent, through the North of England run the Pennines, an upland chain often referred to as the backbone of England. This stretches from the Cheviot Hills on the border with Scotland to the Peak District, the geography of the North has been heavily shaped by the ice sheets of the Pleistocene era, which often reached as far south as the Midlands. On the other side of the Pennines, a glacial lake forms the Humberhead Levels, a large area of fenland which drains into the Humber. This has left the North a region of contrasts, the Lake District includes Englands highest peak, Scafell Pike, which rises to 978 m, its largest lake, Windermere, and its deepest lake, Wastwater. However, dense areas have emerged along the coasts and rivers
25.
Church of England
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The Church of England is the state church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric, although the monarch is the supreme governor, the Church of England is also the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It dates its establishment as a church to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. The English church renounced papal authority when Henry VIII sought to secure an annulment from Catherine of Aragon in the 1530s, the English Reformation accelerated under Edward VIs regents before a brief restoration of papal authority under Queen Mary I and King Philip. This is expressed in its emphasis on the teachings of the early Church Fathers, as formalised in the Apostles, Nicene, in the earlier phase of the English Reformation there were both Catholic martyrs and radical Protestant martyrs. The later phases saw the Penal Laws punish Roman Catholic and nonconforming Protestants, in the 17th century, political and religious disputes raised the Puritan and Presbyterian faction to control of the church, but this ended with the Restoration. Papal recognition of George III in 1766 led to religious tolerance. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has used a liturgy in English, the church contains several doctrinal strands, the main three known as Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical and Broad Church. Tensions between theological conservatives and progressives find expression in debates over the ordination of women and homosexuality, the church includes both liberal and conservative clergy and members. The governing structure of the church is based on dioceses, each presided over by a bishop, within each diocese are local parishes. The General Synod of the Church of England is the body for the church and comprises bishops, other clergy. Its measures must be approved by both Houses of Parliament, according to tradition, Christianity arrived in Britain in the 1st or 2nd century, during which time southern Britain became part of the Roman Empire. The earliest historical evidence of Christianity among the native Britons is found in the writings of such early Christian Fathers as Tertullian, three Romano-British bishops, including Restitutus, are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, Britain was the home of Pelagius, who opposed Augustine of Hippos doctrine of original sin. Consequently, in 597, Pope Gregory I sent the prior of the Abbey of St Andrews from Rome to evangelise the Angles and this event is known as the Gregorian mission and is the date the Church of England generally marks as the beginning of its formal history. A later archbishop, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus, also contributed to the organisation of Christianity in England, the Church of England has been in continuous existence since the days of St Augustine, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its episcopal head. Despite the various disruptions of the Reformation and the English Civil War, while some Celtic Christian practices were changed at the Synod of Whitby, the Christian Church in the British Isles was under papal authority from earliest times. The Synod of Whitby established the Roman date for Easter and the Roman style of monastic tonsure in Britain and this meeting of the ecclesiastics with Roman customs with local bishops was summoned in 664 at Saint Hildas double monastery of Streonshalh, later called Whitby Abbey
26.
Church in Wales
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The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. It defines itself as the ancient Church of this land, catholic and it proclaims and holds fast the doctrine and ministry of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops, the most recent archbishop, Barry Morgan, retired in January 2017 and has not yet been replaced. Unlike the Church of England, the Church in Wales is not an established church, disestablishment was effected in 1920 under the Welsh Church Act 1914. As a province of the Anglican Communion, the Church in Wales recognises the Archbishop of Canterbury as a focus of unity, eighteen cross-border parishes remained in the Church of England and were exempt from disestablishment. The Church in Wales adopted its name by accident, the Welsh Church Act 1914 referred throughout to the Church in Wales, the phrase being used to indicate the part of the Church of England within Wales. In 1920, a convention of the Welsh church considered what name to select, however, there were concerns that adopting a name different from that mentioned in the act might cause legal problems. Given the situation, it seemed sensible to adopt the title the Church in Wales, christianity in Wales can be traced back to the Romano-British period and an organised episcopal church has had continuous existence in Wales since that time. Wales became a refuge for other Britons following the pagan Anglo-Saxon invasion of what became England, the Welsh refused to co-operate with Augustine of Canterburys mission to the Anglo-Saxons. Afterward they were part of the Church of England until disestablishment in 1920, from the time of Henry VIII, Wales had been absorbed into England as a legal entity and the established church in Wales was the Church of England. The bill was fiercely resisted by members of the Conservative Party and blocked in the House of Lords, eventually being passed under the provisions of the Parliament Act 1911. In response to this description, the writer G. K. Chesterton penned the satirical poem Antichrist, or the Reunion of Christendom, An Ode containing the memorable retort Chuck It, Smith. The act both disestablished and disendowed the Church in Wales, the used to define the part of the Church of England which was to be separated. Disestablishment meant the end of the special legal status and Welsh bishops were no longer entitled to sit in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual. As the Church in Wales became independent of the state, tithes were no longer available to the church, endowments before 1662 were to be confiscated, those of later date were to remain. Disestablishment finally came into effect in 1920, the Church in Wales adopted a written constitution and elected a Governing Body which initially met once a year, but now meets twice annually. The Governing Body has ultimate authority to approve liturgies, review organizational structures, today, the Church in Wales is fully independent of both the state and the Church of England. It is an independent member of the Anglican Communion as are the Church of Ireland, in the first years of the 21st century, the Church in Wales has begun to engage in numerous debates
27.
Aidan of Lindisfarne
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Aidan of Lindisfarne was an Irish monk and missionary credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. He is known as the Apostle of Northumbria and is recognised as a saint by the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Bedes meticulous and detailed account of Aidans life provides the basis for most biographical sketches. Aidan was known for his strict asceticism, in the years prior to Aidans mission, Christianity, which had been propagated throughout Britain but not Ireland by the Roman Empire, was being largely displaced by Anglo-Saxon paganism. In the monastery of Iona, the soon found one of its principal exponents in Oswald of Northumbria. Baptized as a Christian, the young king vowed to bring Christianity back to his people—an opportunity that presented itself in 634, owing to his historical connection to Ionas monastic community, King Oswald requested that missionaries be sent from that monastery instead of the Roman-sponsored monasteries of Southern England. At first, they sent him a bishop named Cormán, but he alienated many people by his harshness, Aidan criticised Cormáns methods and was soon sent as his replacement in 635. Allying himself with the king, Aidan chose the island of Lindisfarne. By patiently talking to the people on their own level, Aidan, King Oswald, who after his years of exile had a perfect command of Irish, often had to translate for Aidan and his monks, who did not speak English at first. In his years of evangelism, Aidan was responsible for the construction of churches, monasteries, moreover, he afterwards made many of those he had ransomed his disciples, and after having taught and instructed them, advanced them to the order of priesthood. The monastery he founded grew and helped found churches and other institutions throughout the area. It also served as centre of learning and a storehouse of scholarly knowledge, though Aidan was a member of the Irish branch of Christianity, his character and energy in missionary work won him the respect of Pope Honorius I and Felix of Dunwich. When Oswald died in 642, Aidan received continued support from King Oswine of Deira, as such, the monks ministry continued relatively unchanged until the rise of pagan hostilities in 651. At that time, a pagan army attacked Bamburgh and attempted to set its walls ablaze, according to legend, Aidan saw the black smoke from his cell at Lindisfarne Abbey, immediately recognized its cause, and knelt in prayer for the fate of the city. Miraculously, the winds abruptly reversed their course, blowing the conflagration towards the enemy, around this time, Oswine was betrayed and murdered. Twelve days later Aidan died, on 31 August, in the year of his episcopate. He had become ill while on one of his incessant missionary tours, as Baring-Gould poetically summarizes, It was a death which became a soldier of the faith on his own fit field of battle. After his death, Aidans body was buried at Lindisfarne, beneath the abbey that he had helped found and his feast is celebrated on the anniversary of his death,31 August. Reflecting his Irish origins, his Scottish monasticism and his ministry to the English, today, Aidans significance is still recognized in the following saying by Joseph Lightfoot, Bishop of Durham, Augustine was the Apostle of Kent, but Aidan was the Apostle of the English
28.
Ripon
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Ripon is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. The city is noted for its feature, Ripon Cathedral which is architecturally significant, as well as the Ripon Racecourse. The city itself is just over 1,300 years old and it was for a period under Viking control, and later suffered under the Normans. After a brief period of building projects under the Plantagenets, the city emerged with a prominent wool, Ripon became well known for its production of spurs during the 16th and 17th centuries, but would later remain largely unaffected by the Industrial Revolution. Ripon is the third smallest city in England, according to the 2011 United Kingdom Census it had a population of 16,702, an increase on the 2001 United Kingdom Census figure of 15,922. It is located 11 miles south-west of Thirsk,16 miles south of Northallerton and 12 miles north of Harrogate. As well as its racecourse and cathedral, Ripon is a tourist destination because of its proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage Site which consists of the Studley Royal Park. During its pre-history the area later became Ripon was under the control of the Brigantes. Three miles north at Hutton Moor there is a circular earthwork created by them. The Romans did not settle Ripon, but they had a military outpost around five miles away at North Stainley, solid evidence for the origins of Ripon can be traced back to the 7th century, the time of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. The first structure built in the area, known at the time as Inhrypum, was a Christian church dedicated to St. Peter and this was founded by a Northumbrian nobleman known as Wilfrid, who later became Archbishop of York, he was granted the land by King Alhfrith. The earliest settlers were stonemasons, glaziers and plasterers that Wilfrid brought over to construct the Ripon monastery, from Lyon in Francia. The years following the death of Wilfrid are obscure in Ripons history, after the invasion of the Great Heathen Army of Norse Vikings in Northumbria, the Danelaw was established and the Kingdom of Jórvík was founded in the Yorkshire area. In 937 Athelstan, then King of England, granted the privilege of sanctuary to Ripon, one of his successors was less well-disposed, after the Northumbrians rebelled against English rule in 948, King Edred had the buildings at Ripon burned. Prosperity was restored by the end of the 10th century, as the body of Saint Cuthbert was moved to Ripon for a while, Ripon is thought to have shrunk to a small community around the church following the suppression. Eventually developed in the Gothic style, the project owed much to the work of Roger de Pont LEvêque and Walter de Gray, during the 12th century Ripon built up a booming wool trade, attracting Italian trade merchants, especially Florentines, who bought and exported large quantities. Ripons proximity to Fountains Abbey, where the Cistercians had a tradition of sheep farming
29.
Eata of Hexham
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Eata, also known as Eata of Lindisfarne, was Bishop of Hexham from 678 until 681, and of then Bishop of Lindisfarne from before 681 until 685. He then was translated back to Hexham where he served until his death in 685 or 686 and he was the first native of Northumbria to take the bishopric of Lindisfarne. Eata was originally taken to Lindisfarne as a boy under Aidan and he was chosen as one of the 12 monks selected from Lindisfarne to found the new daughter monastery at Melrose. In 651 he was elected abbot of Melrose, around 658 he left Melrose and founded a new monastery at Ripon in Yorkshire, taking with him the young St Cuthbert, who was his guest-master. In 661 King Alchfrith of Deira expelled Eata from Ripon, because he had appointed Wilfrid as the new abbot, the historian Bede described Eata as a gentle and greatly revered man. As an administrator Eata applied his skills at the time of plague, civil disorders, before Whitby, the abbot of Lindisfarne was also the Bishop of Lindisfarne, after Whitby these two roles were divided. The old abbot, Colman, left Lindisfarne to go back to Iona with 30 English monks, tuda was selected as the next Bishop of Lindisfarne and Eata moved from Melrose to become abbot of Lindisfarne. He appointed Cuthbert as prior at Lindisfarne, in 678, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore split the diocese of Northumbria into two new bishoprics. Bernicia had two episcopal sees, one at Hexham and the other at Lindisfarne, Eata was the bishop of the whole of Bernicia for three years, after which the see of Hexham was assigned to Trumbert, and Lindisfarne to Eata. After the death of Trumbert in 684, Cuthbert was elected Bishop of Hexham, Eata and Cuthbert exchanged sees shortly thereafter, and for the last two years of his life Eata occupied Hexham. He died in 685 or 686, and was buried in the Benedictine Abbey of Hexham, like most of the early saints of the English Church, St. Eata was canonized by general repute of sanctity among the faithful in the regions which he helped to Christianize. The only church dedicated to him in England is St Eatas Church at Atcham in Shropshire, colgrave, Bertram, in Battiscombe, C. F. The Relics of Saint Cuthbert, Oxford,1956 Fryde, E. B, greenway, D. E. Porter, S. Roy, I. A New Dictionary of Saints, East and West, Eata 2 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England Catholic Online Saints and Angels
30.
Wilfrid
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Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. His success prompted the kings son, Alhfrith, to appoint him Bishop of Northumbria, Wilfrid chose to be consecrated in Gaul because of the lack of what he considered to be validly consecrated bishops in England at that time. During Wilfrids absence Alhfrith seems to have led a revolt against his father, Oswiu. Before Wilfrids return Oswiu had appointed Ceadda in his place, resulting in Wilfrids retirement to Ripon for a few years following his back in Northumbria. After becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 668, Theodore of Tarsus resolved the situation by deposing Ceadda, for the next nine years Wilfrid discharged his episcopal duties, founded monasteries, built churches, and improved the liturgy. However his diocese was very large, and Theodore wished to reform the English Church, when Wilfrid quarrelled with Ecgfrith, the Northumbrian king, Theodore took the opportunity to implement his reforms despite Wilfrids objections. After Ecgfrith expelled him from York, Wilfrid travelled to Rome to appeal to the papacy, Pope Agatho ruled in Wilfrids favour, but Ecgfrith refused to honour the papal decree and instead imprisoned Wilfrid on his return to Northumbria before exiling him. Wilfrid spent the few years in Selsey, where he founded an episcopal see. Theodore and Wilfrid settled their differences, and Theodore urged the new Northumbrian king, Aldfrith, Aldfrith agreed to do so, but in 691 he expelled Wilfrid again. Wilfrid went to Mercia, where he helped missionaries and acted as bishop for the Mercian king, Wilfrid appealed to the papacy about his expulsion in 700, and the pope ordered that an English council should be held to decide the issue. This council, held at Austerfield in 702, attempted to confiscate all of Wilfrids possessions and his opponents in Northumbria excommunicated him, but the papacy upheld Wilfrids side, and he regained possession of Ripon and Hexham, his Northumbrian monasteries. Wilfrid died in 709 or 710, after his death, he was venerated as a saint. Historians then and now have been divided over Wilfrid and his followers commissioned Stephen of Ripon to write a Vita Sancti Wilfrithi shortly after his death, and the medieval historian Bede also wrote extensively about him. Wilfrid lived ostentatiously, and travelled with a large retinue and he ruled a large number of monasteries, and claimed to be the first Englishman to introduce the Rule of Saint Benedict into English monasteries. Some modern historians see him mainly as a champion of Roman customs against the customs of the British and Irish churches, during Wilfrids lifetime Britain and Ireland consisted of a number of small kingdoms. Traditionally the English people were thought to have divided into seven kingdoms. Other even smaller groups had their own rulers, but their size means that they do not often appear in the histories, there were also native Britons in the west, in modern-day Wales and Cornwall, who formed kingdoms including those of Dumnonia, Dyfed, and Gwynedd. Between the Humber and Forth the English had formed two main kingdoms, Deira and Bernicia, often united as the Kingdom of Northumbria
31.
Edwin of Northumbria
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Edwin, also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627, after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, Edwin was the son of Ælle king of Deira and seems to have had two siblings. His sister Acha was married to Æthelfrith, king of neighbouring Bernicia, an otherwise unknown sibling fathered Hereric, who in turn fathered Abbess Hilda of Whitby and Hereswith, wife to Æthelric, the brother of king Anna of East Anglia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reported that on Ælles death a certain Æthelric assumed power, the exact identity of Æthelric is uncertain. He may have been a brother of Ælle, a brother of Edwin. Æthelfrith himself appears to have been king of Northumbria—both Deira and Bernicia—by no later than 604, during the reign of Æthelfrith, Edwin was an exile. By the 610s he was certainly in Mercia under the protection of king Cearl, by around 616, Edwin was in East Anglia under the protection of king Raedwald. Bede reports that Æthelfrith tried to have Raedwald murder his rival. Æthelfrith faced Raedwald in battle by the River Idle in 616, Raedwalds son Raegenhere may have been killed at this battle, but the exact date or manner of Raedwalds death are not known. He likely died between the years 616–627, and the efficacy of Edwin’s kingship ostensibly depended greatly on his fealty to Raedwald, Edwin was installed as king of Northumbria, effectively confirming Raedwald as bretwalda, Æthelfriths sons went into exile in Irish Dál Riata and Pictland. Edwins reign marks an interruption of the otherwise consistent domination of Northumbria by the Bernicians and has seen as contrary to the prevailing tendency. Edwin expelled Ceretic from the minor British kingdom of Elmet in either 616 or 626, Elmet had probably been subject to Mercia and then to Edwin. The larger kingdom of Lindsey appears to have taken over c. 625, after the death of king Raedwald, Edwin and Eadbald of Kent were allies at this time, and Edwin arranged to marry Eadbalds sister Æthelburg. Bede notes that Eadbald would agree to marry his sister to Edwin only if he converted to Christianity, the marriage of Eadbalds Merovingian mother Bertha had resulted in the conversion of Kent and Æthelburgs would do the same in Northumbria. Edwins expansion to the west may have begun early in his reign, there is firm evidence of a war waged in the early 620s between Edwin and Fiachnae mac Báetáin of the Dál nAraidi, king of the Ulaid in Ireland. A lost poem is known to have existed recounting Fiachnaes campaigns against the Saxons, and this should presumably be placed in the context of Edwins designs on the Isle of Man, a target of Ulaid ambitions. The routine of kingship in Edwins time involved regular, probably annual, wars with neighbours to obtain tribute, submission, and slaves
32.
Paulinus of York
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Paulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. Little is known of Paulinus activities in the two decades. After some years spent in Kent, perhaps in 625, Paulinus was consecrated a bishop and he accompanied Æthelburg of Kent, sister of King Eadbald of Kent, on her journey to Northumbria to marry King Edwin of Northumbria, and eventually succeeded in converting Edwin to Christianity. Paulinus also converted many of Edwins subjects and built some churches, one of the women Paulinus baptised was a future saint, Hilda of Whitby. Following Edwins death in 633, Paulinus and Æthelburg fled Northumbria, leaving behind a member of Paulinus clergy, Paulinus returned to Kent, where he became Bishop of Rochester. He received a pallium from the pope, symbolizing his appointment as Archbishop of York, after his death in 644, Paulinus was canonized as a saint and is now venerated in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican Churches. He was probably an Italian by birth, the second group of missionaries arrived in Kent by 604, but little is known of Paulinus further activities until he went to Northumbria. Paulinus remained in Kent until 625, when he was consecrated as bishop by Justus and he then accompanied Æthelburg, the sister of King Eadbald, to Northumbria where she was to marry King Edwin. A condition of the marriage was that Edwin had promised that he would allow Æthelburg to remain a Christian, Bede, writing in the early 8th century, reports that Paulinus wished to convert the Northumbrians, as well as provide religious services to the new queen. The historian Henry Mayr-Harting agrees with Kirbys reasoning, another historian, Peter Hunter Blair, argues that Æthelburg and Edwin were married before 625, but that she did not go to Northumbria until 625. If Kirbys arguments are accepted, then the date of Paulinus consecration needs to be changed by a year, to 21 July 626. Bede describes Paulinus as a man tall of stature, a stooping, with black hair and a thin face. Bede relates that Paulinus told Edwin that the birth of his, the birth coincided with a foiled assassination attempt on the king by a group of West Saxons from Wessex. Edwin promised to convert to Christianity and allow his new daughter Eanflæd to be baptised if he won a victory over Wessex, in this dream, according to Bede, a stranger told Edwin that power would be his in the future when someone laid a hand on his head. As Paulinus was revealing the dream to Edwin, he laid his hand on the kings head and it is unlikely that it was supernatural affairs and Paulinus persuasion alone that caused Edwin to convert. The Northumbrian nobles seem to have been willing and the king also received letters from Pope Boniface V urging his conversion, eventually convinced, Edwin and many of his followers were baptised at York in 627. One story relates that during a stay with Edwin and Æthelburg at their palace in Yeavering, Paulinus also was an active missionary in Lindsey, and his missionary activities help show the limits of Edwins royal authority. Pope Gregorys plan had been that York would be Englands second metropolitan see, although built of stone, no trace of it has been found
33.
Gregorian mission
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The Gregorian mission or Augustinian mission was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to convert Britains Anglo-Saxons. Headed by Augustine of Canterbury, by the death of the last missionary in 635 the mission had established Christianity in southern Britain, along with the Irish and Frankish missions it converted other parts of Britain as well and influenced the Hiberno-Scottish missions to Continental Europe. In the late 6th century Pope Gregory sent a group of missionaries to Kent to convert Æthelberht, King of Kent, whose wife, Bertha of Kent, was a Frankish princess and practising Christian. Augustine was the prior of Gregorys own monastery in Rome and Gregory prepared the way for the mission by soliciting aid from the Frankish rulers along Augustines route, in 597 the forty missionaries arrived in Kent and were permitted by Æthelberht to preach freely in his capital of Canterbury. Soon the missionaries wrote to Gregory telling him of their success, the exact date of Æthelberhts conversion is unknown but it occurred before 601. A second group of monks and clergy was dispatched in 601 bearing books, before Æthelberhts death in 616 a number of other bishoprics had been established but after that date, a pagan backlash set in and the see, or bishopric, of London was abandoned. Æthelberhts daughter, Æthelburg, married Edwin, the king of the Northumbrians, and by 627 Paulinus, the bishop who accompanied her north, had converted Edwin, when Edwin died, in about 633, his widow and Paulinus were forced to flee to Kent. By the 4th century the Roman province of Britannia was converted to Christianity and had produced its own heretic in Pelagius. Britain sent three bishops to the Synod of Arles in 314, and a Gaulish bishop went to the island in 396 to help settle disciplinary matters, lead baptismal basins and other artefacts bearing Christian symbols testify to a growing Christian presence at least until about 360. There is no evidence that these native Christians tried to convert the Anglo-Saxon newcomers, the Anglo-Saxon invasions coincided with the disappearance of most remnants of Roman civilisation in the areas held by the Anglo-Saxons, including the economic and religious structures. Whether this was a result of the Angles themselves, as the medieval writer Gildas argued. The archaeological evidence suggests much variation in the way that the tribes established themselves in Britain concurrently with the decline of urban Roman culture in Britain, the net effect was that when Augustine arrived in 597 the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had little continuity with the preceding Roman civilisation. In the words of the historian John Blair, Augustine of Canterbury began his mission with an almost clean slate, most of the information available on the Gregorian mission comes from the medieval writer Bede, especially his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, or Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Other sources are biographies of Pope Gregory, including one written in Northern England around 700 as well as a 9th-century life by a Roman writer. Gregorys entry in the Liber Pontificalis is short and of little use, in addition, over 850 of Gregorys letters survive. A few later writings, such as letters from Boniface, an 8th-century Anglo-Saxon missionary, some of these letters, however, are only preserved in Bedes work. Bede represented the native British church as wicked and sinful, in order to explain why Britain was conquered by the Anglo-Saxons, he drew on the polemic of Gildas and developed it further in his own works. Although he found some native British clergy worthy of praise he nevertheless condemned them for their failure to convert the invaders and this bias may have resulted in his understating British missionary activity
34.
Oswald of Northumbria
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Oswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is venerated as a saint, of whom there was a particular cult in the Middle Ages. After eight years of rule, in which he was the most powerful ruler in Britain and it would, however, be anachronistic to refer to a Northumbrian people or identity at this early stage, when the Bernicians and the Deirans were still clearly distinct peoples. Oswalds mother, Acha, was a member of the Deiran royal line whom Æthelfrith apparently married as part of his acquisition of Deira or consolidation of power there. Oswald was apparently born in or around the year 604, since Bede says that he was killed at the age of 38 in 642, Æthelfriths acquisition of Deira is also believed to have occurred around 604. Æthelfrith, who was for years a successful war-leader, especially against the native British, was killed in battle around 616 by Raedwald of East Anglia at the River Idle. This defeat meant that a member of the Deiran royal line, Edwin, became king of Northumbria, Oswald. Oswald thus spent the remainder of his youth in the Scottish kingdom of Dál Riata in northern Britain and he may also have fought in Ireland during this period of exile. It has been considered that Oswald is one of the three Saxon princes mentioned in the Irish poem Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, being named as Osalt in that work. Oswalds brother Eanfrith became king of Bernicia, but he was killed by Cadwallon in 634 after attempting to negotiate peace, subsequently, Oswald, at the head of a small army, met Cadwallon in battle at Heavenfield, near Hexham. Before the battle, Oswald had a cross erected, he knelt down. He then prayed and asked his army to join in, adomnán in his Life of Saint Columba offers a longer account, which Abbot Ségéne had heard from Oswald himself. Oswald, he says, had a vision of Columba the night before the battle, in which he was told Be strong, behold, I will be with thee. Oswald described his vision to his council and all agreed that they would be baptised, in the battle that followed, the British were routed despite their superior numbers, Cadwallon himself was killed. Following the victory at Heavenfield, Oswald reunited Northumbria and re-established the Bernician supremacy which had been interrupted by Edwin, Bede says that Oswald held imperium for the eight years of his rule, and was the most powerful king in Britain. In the 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he is referred to as a Bretwalda, adomnán describes Oswald as ordained by God as Emperor of all Britain. Oswald seems to have widely recognized as overlord, although the extent of his authority is uncertain. It may have been to appease Oswald that Penda had Eadfrith, to the north, it may have been Oswald who conquered the Gododdin. Oswald seems to have been on terms with the West Saxons, he stood as sponsor to the baptism of their king, Cynegils
35.
Iona
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Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for four centuries and is renowned for its tranquility. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats and its modern Gaelic name means Iona of Columba. The Hebrides have been occupied by the speakers of languages since the Iron Age. Nonetheless few, if any, can have accumulated so many different names over the centuries as the now known in English as Iona. The earliest forms of the name enabled place-name scholar William J. Watson to show that the name meant something like yew-place. The element Ivo-, denoting yew, occurs in Ogham inscriptions and in Gaulish names and it is possible that the name is related to the mythological figure, Fer hÍ mac Eogabail, foster-son of Manannan, the forename meaning man of the yew. The possible confusion results from ì, despite its original etymology, eilean Idhe means the isle of Iona, also known as Ì nam ban bòidheach. The modern English name comes of yet another variant, Ioua, iouas change to Iona, attested from c.1274, results from a transcription mistake resulting from the similarity of n and u in Insular Minuscule. Iona lies about 2 kilometres from the coast of Mull and it is about 2 kilometres wide and 6 kilometres long with a resident population of 125. The geology of the island consists mainly of Precambrian Lewisian gneiss with Torridonian sedimentary rocks on the eastern side, like other places swept by ocean breezes, there are few trees, most of them are near the parish church. Ionas highest point is Dùn Ì,101 metres, an Iron Age hill fort dating from 100 BC – AD200. Ionas geographical features include the Bay at the Back of the Ocean and Càrn Cùl ri Éirinn, the main settlement, located at St. Ronans Bay on the eastern side of the island, is called Baile Mòr and is also known locally as The Village. The primary school, post office, the two hotels, the Bishops House and the ruins of the Nunnery are here. The Abbey and MacLeod Centre are a short walk to the north, port Bàn beach on the west side of the island is home to the Iona Beach Party. The steamer Cathcart Park carrying a cargo of salt from Runcorn to Wick ran aground on Soa on 15 April 1912, in the early Historic Period Iona lay within the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The island was the site of an important monastery during the Early Middle Ages. Columba and twelve companions went into exile on Iona and founded a monastery there, many satellite institutions were founded, and Iona became the centre of one of the most important monastic systems in Great Britain and Ireland
36.
Celtic Christianity
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Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. Scholars now reject the notion, but note that there were certain traditions. These include a system for determining the dating of Easter, a style of monastic tonsure, a unique system of penance. Additionally, there were other practices that developed in parts of Britain or Ireland. The term therefore denotes regional practices among the churches and their associates. The term Celtic Church is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unified, others prefer the term Insular Christianity. As Patrick Wormald explained, One of the common misconceptions is that there was a Roman Church to which the Celtic was nationally opposed, in German, the term Iroschottisch is used, with Lutz von Padberg placing the same caveat about a supposed dichotomy between Irish-Scottish and Roman Christianity. Nonetheless, some distinctive traditions developed and spread to both Ireland and Great Britain, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries. Some elements may have introduced to Ireland by the Briton St. Patrick. The histories of the Irish, Welsh, Scots, Breton, Cornish, later interest in the subject has led to a series of Celtic Christian revival movements, which have shaped popular perceptions of the Celts and their religious practices. Celtic Christianity has been conceived of in different ways at different times, One particularly prominent feature ascribed to Celtic Christianity is that it is supposedly inherently distinct from – and generally opposed to – the Catholic Church. Others have been content to speak of Celtic Christianity as consisting of certain traditions, however, modern scholars have identified problems with all of these claims, and find the term Celtic Christianity problematic in and of itself. The idea of a Celtic Church is roundly rejected by modern scholars due to the lack of substantiating evidence, indeed, there were distinct Irish and British church traditions, each with their own practices, and there was significant local variation even within the individual Irish and British spheres. While there were some known to have been common to both the Irish and British churches, these were relatively few. Even these commonalities did not exist due to the Celticity of the regions, additionally, the Christians of Ireland and Britain were not anti-Roman, the authority of Rome and the papacy were venerated as strongly in Celtic areas as they were in any other region of Europe. Caitlin Corning further notes that the Irish and British were no more pro-women, pro-environment, Corning notes that scholars have identified three major strands of thought that have influenced the popular conceptions of Celtic Christianity. The first arose in the English Reformation, when the Church of England declared itself separate from papal authority, Protestant writers of this time popularised the idea of an indigenous British Christianity that opposed the foreign Roman church and was purer in thought. The English church, they claimed, was not forming a new institution, ideas of Celtic Christianity were further influenced by the Romantic movement of the 18th century, in particular Romantic notions of the noble savage and the intrinsic qualities of the Celtic race
37.
Synod of Whitby
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The synod was summoned at Hildas double monastery of Streonshalh, later called Whitby Abbey. There are two sources for the synod. The first source, the Life of Wilfrid, is a work written by Stephen of Ripon, often identified as Eddius Stephanus. The second source is the Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum by the Venerable Bede, one of Bedes sources was the Life of Wilfrid itself, but he also had access to people who knew participants in the synod. For example, Bede knew Acca of Hexham, and dedicated many of his works to him. Acca was a companion of Wilfrids on some of his journeys to Rome, both accounts basically agree, though Bede gives a much lengthier discourse on the debate. Further, the motivations of the authors influenced how they presented the material, however, Bedes accuracy as a historian has been well regarded by Anglo-Saxon scholars, and historians have generally been comfortable following Bedes basic presentation of the synod. Stephens text has found more criticism, and Reginald Poole identified many of his inaccuracies, Christianity in Britain during the seventh century existed in two forms distinguished by differing liturgical traditions, labelled the Ionan and Roman traditions. The Ionan practice was that of the Irish monks who resided in a monastery on the isle of Iona, in the kingdom of Northumbria, these two traditions coexisted, and each had been encouraged by different royal houses. Edwin of Northumbria had converted to Christianity under the influence of missionaries sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great, however, following his death and a year of political instability, Oswald of Northumbria gained the throne. One of the differences between the two traditions, and hence a source of controversy, was the proper calculation of Easter. Calculating the proper date was a process, and different calculation tables developed which resulted in different dates for the celebration of Easter. Around 602, the Irish missionary St Columbanus had already been condemned by a synod of French clerics for following his homelands Easter calculations, columbanuss appeals to Pope Gregory I had gone unanswered and he had been compelled to remove himself from the bishops jurisdiction. Both the Victorian and the Dionysian calculations were more exact than the calendar. Political and ecclesiastical concerns over the authority to change longstanding traditions, however, could cloud the issue, while one royal faction was celebrating Easter, the other would still be fasting during Lent. Nonetheless, the disunity did not result in problems as long as the well-respected Aidan was alive, after his death, his successor Finan found himself challenged by a monk named Ronan, an Irishman who had been trained in Rome and who wished to see the Roman Easter established. It was only in the time of Colmán, the third Ionan monk elected Bishop of Northumbria, an important figure in the convocation of the synod was Alchfrith, Oswius son and sub-king in Deira. Henry Mayr-Harting considered him the cause of trouble which led to the Synod
38.
Firth of Forth
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The Firth of Forth is the estuary of the River Forth in Scotland, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north and Lothian to the south. It was known as Bodotria in Roman times, in the Norse sagas it was known as the Myrkvifiörd. Geologically, the Firth of Forth is a fjord, formed by the Forth Glacier in the last glacial period, the Kincardine Bridge, the Clackmannanshire Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge carry traffic across the firth. Queensferry Crossing, alongside the Forth Road Bridge, was expected to open in 2016 but has since been delayed until May 2017. From 1964 to 1982, a tunnel existed under the Firth of Forth, the shafts leading into the tunnel were filled and capped with concrete when the tunnel was closed, and it is believed to have filled with water or collapsed in places. In July,2007, a passenger service completed a two-week trial between Portobello, Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy, Fife. The trial of the service was hailed as an operational success. It was estimated the service would decrease congestion for commuters on the Forth road, despite the initial success, the project was cancelled in December,2011. Historic villages line the Fife shoreline, Limekilns, Charlestown and Culross, established in the 6th century, the firth is important for nature conservation and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Firth of Forth Islands SPA is home to more than 90,000 breeding seabirds every year, there is a bird observatory on the Isle of May. The youngest person to swim across the Firth of Forth was 13-year-old Joseph Feeney, in 2008, a controversial bid to allow oil transfer between ships in the firth was refused by Forth Ports. SPT Marine Services had asked permission to transfer 7.8 million tonnes of oil per year between tankers, but the proposals were met with determined opposition from conservation groups
39.
Angel
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An angel, especially according to Abrahamic religions and Zoroastrianism, is a spiritual being superior to humans in power and intelligence. Most of them either as intermediaries between Heaven and Earth, or as guardian spirits. They are studied in the doctrine of angelology. In Christian Science, the angel is used to refer to an inspiration from God. In fine art, angels are depicted as having the shape of human beings of extraordinary beauty, they are often identified using the symbols of bird wings, halos. The word angel in English is a blend of Old English engel, both derive from Late Latin angelus messenger, which in turn was borrowed from Late Greek ἄγγελος ángelos. According to R. S. P. Beekes, ángelos itself may be an Oriental loan, the words earliest form is Mycenaean a-ke-ro attested in Linear B syllabic script. The ángelos is the default Septuagints translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mal’ākh denoting simply messenger without specifying its nature. In the Latin Vulgate, however, the meaning becomes bifurcated, if the word refers to some supernatural being, the word angelus appears. Such differentiation has been taken over by later vernacular translations of the Bible, early Christian and Jewish exegetes, in Zoroastrianism there are different angel-like figures. For example, each person has one guardian angel, called Fravashi and they patronize human beings and other creatures, and also manifest Gods energy. In the commentaries of Proclus on the Timaeus of Plato, Proclus uses the terminology of angelic, according to Aristotle, just as there is a First Mover, so, too, must there be spiritual secondary movers. The Torah uses the terms מלאך אלהים, מלאך יהוה, בני אלהים and הקודשים to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angels, later texts use other terms, such as העליונים. The term מלאך is also used in books of the Tanakh. Depending on the context, the Hebrew word may refer to a messenger or to a supernatural messenger. Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name, mentioning Gabriel in Daniel 9,21 and these angels are part of Daniels apocalyptic visions and are an important part of all apocalyptic literature. One of these is hāšāṭān, a figure depicted in the Book of Job, philo of Alexandria identifies the angel with the Logos inasmuch as the angel is the immaterial voice of God. The angel is something different from God himself, but is conceived as Gods instrument, in post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels took on particular significance and developed unique personalities and roles
40.
Boisil
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Saint Boisil was a monk of Melrose Abbey, an offshoot of Lindisfarne, then in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, but now in Scotland, where he must have been one of the first generation of monks. He probably moved to the new foundation of Melrose when it was started, almost all that is known of Saint Boisil is learned from Bede. He derived his information from Sigfrid, a monk of Jarrow, st Boisils fame is mainly due to his connection with his great pupil, Saint Cuthbert, but it is plain that the master was worthy of the disciple. Saint Boisil was prior of this house under the holy abbot Eata and it was Boisils evident sanctity, which drew the young Saint Cuthbert to Melrose Abbey, rather than the more famous Lindisfarne, in AD651. By chance, the prior was standing by the gate when Cuthbert arrived. Abbot Eata soon gave permission for Cuthbert to enter the community and it was from the Prior that Cuthbert learned the sacred scriptures, pupil and teacher becoming great friends. Both were given to travelling amongst the villages neighbouring Melrose and preaching to the local people, the sick and ailing were brought to Boisil from far and near to be cured by his herbal remedies, and by the healing properties of the two local springs containing iron salts. Contemporaries were deeply impressed with Boisils supernatural intuitions, three years beforehand, he foretold the great pestilence of 664, and that he himself should die of it, but that Eata, the abbot, should outlive it. When in the great pestilence Cuthbert was stricken down, Boisil declared he would certainly recover and he is believed, on somewhat dubious authority, to have written certain theological works, but they have not been preserved. St Boswells in Roxburghshire commemorates his name and his relics, like those of Saint Bede, were carried off to Durham in the 11th century by the priest, Alfred Westow. In the early Calendars, his day is assigned to 23 February, the Bollandists treat of him on 9 September but his feast is generally accepted as 7 July, with a translation on 8 June. Boisil 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
41.
Aldfrith of Northumbria
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Aldfrith was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by writers such as Bede, Alcuin. Some of his works and some letters written to him survive and his reign was relatively peaceful, marred only by disputes with Bishop Wilfrid, a major figure in the early Northumbrian church. Aldfrith was born on a date to Oswiu of Northumbria. Oswiu later became King of Northumbria, he died in 670 and was succeeded by his son Ecgfrith, Aldfrith was educated for a career in the church and became a scholar. However, in 685, when Ecgfrith was killed at the battle of Nechtansmere, Aldfrith was recalled to Northumbria, reportedly from the Hebridean island of Iona, and became king. In his early-8th-century account of Aldfriths reign, Bede states that he restored the shattered fortunes of the kingdom. His reign saw the creation of works of Hiberno-Saxon art such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Codex Amiatinus, by the year 600, most of what is now England had been conquered by invaders from the continent, including Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Bernicia and Deira, the two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the north of England, were first united under a ruler in about 605 when Æthelfrith, king of Bernicia. Over the course of the 7th century, the two kingdoms were ruled by a single king, and sometimes separately. The combined kingdom became known as the kingdom of Northumbria, it stretched from the River Humber in the south to the River Forth in the north, in 616, Æthelfrith was succeeded by Edwin of Northumbria, a Deiran. Edwin banished Æthelfriths sons, including both Oswald and Oswiu of Northumbria, both spent their exile in Dál Riata, a kingdom spanning parts of northeastern Ireland and western Scotland. Oswiu was a child when he came to Dál Riata, and he became a fluent speaker of Old Irish, and may have married a princess of the Uí Néill dynasty, probably Fín the daughter of Colmán Rímid. Aldfrith was a child of this marriage, but his date of birth is unrecorded and he was probably thus a cousin or nephew of the noted scholar Cenn Fáelad mac Aillila, and perhaps a nephew of Bishop Finan of Lindisfarne. Irish law made Fíns kin, the Cenél nEógain of the northern Uí Néill, the relationship between Aldfriths father and mother was not considered a lawful marriage by Northumbrian churchmen of his day, and he is described as the son of a concubine in early sources. Oswald and Oswiu returned to Northumbria after Edwins death in 633, and between them they ruled for much of the middle of the 7th century. Oswius overlordship was ended in 658 by the rise of Wulfhere of Mercia, but his reign continued until his death in 670, when Ecgfrith, one of his sons by his second wife, Eanflæd, succeeded him. Ecgfrith was unable to recover Oswius position in Mercia and the southern kingdoms, Ecgfrith sent an army under his general, Berht, to Ireland in 684 where he ravaged the plain of Brega, destroying churches and taking hostages
42.
Deira
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Deira was a kingdom in Northern England that probably emerged when Anglian warriors conquered the Derwent Valley in the third quarter of the fifth century. It extended from the Humber to the Tees, and from the sea to the edge of the Vale of York. It later merged with the kingdom of Bernicia, its northern neighbour, according to Simeon of Durham, it extended from the Humber to the Tyne, but the land was waste north of the Tees. After the Brythonic kingdom centred on Eboracum, which may have been called Ebrauc, was taken by King Edwin, the city of Eboracum became its capital and was called Eoforwic by the Angles. The first Anglian king of Deira of whom we have any record is Ælla, after his death, Deira was subject to king Æthelfrith of Bernicia, who united the two kingdoms into Northumbria. Æthelfrith ruled until the accession of Ællas son Edwin, in 616 or 617, osric, the nephew of Edwin, ruled Deira after Edwin, but his son Oswine was put to death by Oswiu in 651. For a few years subsequently, Deira was governed by Æthelwald son of Oswald of Bernicia, bede wrote of Deira in his Historia Ecclesiastica. The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350–1100, ISBN 0-86299-730-5 Mackenzie, E. Ross, M. An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham, I, Newcastle upon Tyne, Mackenzie and Dent, p. xi, retrieved 2008-07-23 Geake, Helen & Kenny, Jonathan. Early Deira, Archaeological studies of the East Riding in the fourth to ninth centuries AD
