A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



He exercised his metropolitan prerogative in consecrating the fifth Archbishop 

 of Canterbury at Lincoln ; but the death of Eadwine at Hatfield (633) gave 

 Northumbria back to paganism for a time. Paulinas accompanied Queen 

 Ethelburga in her flight to Kent, and remained there as Bishop of Rochester. 

 In Swaledale James the Deacon remained, preaching, baptizing, and teaching 

 his converts the music of the liturgy." When Christianity recovered ground 

 under Oswald the scene of its activity was transferred to Bernicia. Aidan, 

 a monk from Zona, was sent into Northumbria by the Scottish bishops, of 

 whom Oswald asked aid, and fixed his see in the monastery of Lindisfarne.*" 

 Oswald re-united the two provinces of Eadwine's kingdom, but it is doubt- 

 ful how far Scottish Christianity extended into Deira. On Oswald's death, 

 his kingdom was again divided. His brother Oswiu ruled in Bernicia ; 

 Oswin, son of a cousin of Eadwine, became king of Deira. Dissension 

 between them developed into open war, and Oswin, in the hour of defeat, 

 was murdered treacherously at Gilling near Richmond (642)." For some 

 time after the accession of Oswiu to the undivided throne, the Scottish 

 mission maintained its ascendancy in Northumbria. Oswiu founded a 

 monastery on the site of Oswin's murder. Missionaries from Northumbria 

 went, under his sanction, to convert the Middle Anghan kingdom,^' and Cedd 

 was sent by him, at King Sigeberht's request, to preach Christianity to the 

 East Saxons.'' iEthelwald, Oswiu's nephew, who ruled Deira under him, 

 granted Cedd, as a place of retirement, the site on which rose the monastery 

 of Lastingham.'* In 655, Oswiu avenged the deaths of Eadwine and Oswald 

 at the battle of Winwasd. One result of the victory was the foundation, by 

 Oswiu, of six monasteries in Deira." 



About this time, Hilda, a princess of the house of Eadwine, founded 

 the monastery of Streoneshalh, afterwards known as Whitby. Here, in 664, 

 the future of Northumbrian Christianity was decided. The Scottish episco- 

 pate of Northumbria had been continued from Aidan to Finan, and from Finan 

 to Colman, who appears to have included Deira in his jurisdiction.'" The 

 Scottish celebration of Easter, a week in advance of the Roman, held the 

 field. James the Deacon, and Oswiu's queen, Eanfled, followed the Roman 

 use." Oswiu's son Alchfrith, who shared his father's throne, had learned 

 the Roman custom from his friend Wilfrid.'* Wilfrid, born about 634, 

 had been educated at Lindisfarne, but drawn by a natural attraction to 

 Rome, had unlearned Scottish usages there. In Gaul he received minor 

 orders, and narrowly escaped sharing the martyrdom of his friend, the Arch- 

 bishop of Lyons. Returning to Northumbria, he gained the close friendship 

 of Alchfrith, and received from him the grant of the monastery of Ripon, 

 where he replaced a Scottish abbot and his monks." Here he was ordained 

 priest by the Frankish bishop, Agilberht. He came forward at the Council 

 of Whitby as the spokesman of the Roman party against his Scottish teachers. 

 His victory was complete ; Oswiu decided to follow the Roman use, and 



" Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. ii, cap. 20. " Ibid, iii, 3. " Ibid. 14. 



"Ibid. 21. 'Mbid. 22. "Ibid. 23." "Ibid. 24. 



"Ibid. 25. Eddius Stephanus, 'Vita Wilfridi ' {Hist. Ch. York [Rolls Ser.], i, 14), calls him 

 ' Eboracae civitatis episcopi metropolitani.' 

 " Bede, op. cit. iii, 25. 



" Ibid. ; cf. Eddius, Hist. Ch. York (Rolls Ser.), i, 12. 



" Bede, op. cit. iii, 25. Eddius, the chief authority for the life of Wilfrid, does not mention this fact. 



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