The consecration of St Cuthbert, in a twelfth-century fresco in the Church of St Laurence, Pittington.
A twelfth-century fresco in the Church of St Laurence in Pittington, near Durham, showing the consecration of St Cuthbert (lower left) as Bishop of Lindisfarne. After his death in 687, Cuthbert was laid to rest in the monastery on Lindisfarne, but Viking raids drove the monks out. His body was carried around the north for generations before finding a permanent home at Durham in the eleventh century. There he remained until the Reformation. For what happened next, see Cvthbertvs.
NOT long after, in a full synod,* Archbishop Theodore of blessed memory presiding in the presence of God’s chosen servant, the holy King Ecgfrith, Cuthbert was unanimously elected to the bishopric of the see of Lindisfarne.*
But, although they sent many messengers and letters to him, he could not by any means be drawn from his habitation, until the king himself sailed to the island* attended by the most holy Bishop Trumwine,* and by as many other religious and influential men as he could: they all went down on their knees before him, and adjured him by the Lord, with tears and entreaties, until they drew him away from his retirement with tears in his eyes, and took him to the synod.
When arrived there, although much resisting, he was overcome by the unanimous wish of all, and compelled to submit to undertake the duties of the bishopric; yet the consecration did not take place immediately, but at the termination of the winter which was then beginning.*
The Synod met in Twyford, which is commonly believed to be Alnmouth, a few miles south of Lindisfarne. As Bede says, King Ecgfrith of Northumbria was there but the synod was chaired by Archbishop Theodore, a Greek from Tarsus – St Paul’s birthplace. At this time, Rome was still part of the Roman (‘Byzantine’) Empire, and from 678 to 752 no fewer than eleven of the thirteen popes were Greeks, from places such as the Greek colony on Sicily, Thrace, Syria and Asia Minor. Constantinople had been the capital of the Roman Empire since 330. See How Benedict Biscop brought Byzantium to Britain.
More precisely, Cuthbert was elected Bishop of Hexham, but when it became clear he would not move from the Farne Islands, his mentor Bishop Eata of Lindisfarne was translated to the much more prestigious and busy Hexham, and Cuthbert reluctantly allowed himself to be consecrated Bishop of Lindisfarne in Eata’s place.
Inner Farne is one of the Farne Islands just off the Northumberland coast near Bamburgh. See photos at Geograph ® Britain and Ireland.
Bishop of Abercorn in what is now Scotland, then a town in Northumbria’s territory among the Picts. He was the only bishop to hold the short-lived See.
Cuthbert was consecrated on March 26th, 685, at York, the capital of Northumbria. He founded a monastery at nearby Crayke as a quiet place to stay whenever he had no choice but to visit the capital. See Crayke Abbey
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