Benedict Biscop
Encyclopedia
Benedict Biscop also known as Biscop Baducing, was an Anglo-Saxon
abbot
and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory (where he also founded the famous library) and was considered a saint after his death.
n family and was for a time a thegn
of King Oswiu
. At the age of 25 Benedict made the first of five trips to Rome
, accompanying his friend Saint Wilfrid the Elder
. However Wilfrid was detained in Lyon
en route. Benedict completed the journey on his own and, when he returned to England, he was "full of fervour and enthusiasm ... for the good of the English Church."
Benedict made a second journey to Rome twelve years later, this time accompanied by Alchfrith of Deira
, a son of King Oswiu. On this trip he met Acca
and Wilfrid
. On his return journey to England Benedict stopped at Lérins
, a monastic island off the Mediterranean coast of Provence. During his two-year stay there, from 665 to 667, he underwent a course of instruction, taking monastic vows and the name of "Benedict".
Following the two years in Lérins Benedict made his third trip to Rome. At this time he was commissioned by the pope to accompany Archbishop Theodore of Tarsus
back to Canterbury
in 669. On their return Benedict was appointed abbot of SS. Peter and Paul's
, Canterbury
, by Archbishop Theodore, a role he held for two years.
granted Benedict land in 674 for the purpose of building a monastery
. He went to the Continent to bring back masons who could build a monastery in the Romanesque style
. Benedict made his fifth and final trip to Rome in 679 to bring back books for a library, saintly relics, stonemasons, glaziers, and a grant from Pope Agatho
granting his monastery certain privileges. Benedict made five overseas voyages in all to stock the library.
In 682 Benedict appointed Easterwine
as his coadjutor and the King was so delighted at the success of St Peter's, he gave him more land in Jarrow and urged him to build a second monastery. Benedict erected a sister foundation (St Paul) at Jarrow
. He appointed Ceolfrid
as the superior, who left Wearmouth with 20 monks to start the foundation in Jarrow. Bede
, one of Benedict's pupils, tells us that he brought builders and glass-workers from Francia to erect the buildings in stone.
Benedict's idea was to build a model monastery for England, sharing his knowledge of the experience of the Church in Europe. It was the first ecclesiastical building in Britain to be built in stone, and the use of glass was a novelty for many in 7th-century England. It eventually possessed what was a large library for the time – several hundred volumes – and it was here that Benedict's student Bede wrote his famous works. The library became world-famous and manuscripts that had been copied there became prized possessions throughout Europe, including especially the Codex Amiatinus
, the earliest surviving manuscript of the complete Bible in the Latin Vulgate version.
Churches and threatened by a resurgent paganism
to becoming a strong, united and growing Roman Catholic Church, united with the worldwide church. He is recognized as a saint
by the Christian Church, which holds his feast day on 12 January.
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory (where he also founded the famous library) and was considered a saint after his death.
Early career
Benedict was born of a noble NorthumbriaNorthumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n family and was for a time a thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
of King Oswiu
Oswiu of Northumbria
Oswiu , also known as Oswy or Oswig , was a King of Bernicia. His father, Æthelfrith of Bernicia, was killed in battle, fighting against Rædwald, King of the East Angles and Edwin of Deira at the River Idle in 616...
. At the age of 25 Benedict made the first of five trips to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, accompanying his friend Saint Wilfrid the Elder
Wilfrid
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
. However Wilfrid was detained in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
en route. Benedict completed the journey on his own and, when he returned to England, he was "full of fervour and enthusiasm ... for the good of the English Church."
Benedict made a second journey to Rome twelve years later, this time accompanied by Alchfrith of Deira
Alchfrith of Deira
Alhfrith or Ealhfrith was a son of King Oswiu of Northumbria and Rieinmelth of Rheged.In around 655 Alhfrith was appointed by his father as sub-king of Deira, the southern part of the Northumbrian kingdom. He replaced his cousin Æthelwold, who had supported Oswiu's enemy Penda of Mercia in the...
, a son of King Oswiu. On this trip he met Acca
Acca of Hexham
Acca , Bishop of Hexham.Born in Northumbria, Acca first served in the household of Bosa, the future Bishop of York, but later attached himself to Saint Wilfrid, possibly as early as 678, and accompanied him on his travels. On the return from their second journey to Rome in 692, Wilfrid was...
and Wilfrid
Wilfrid
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
. On his return journey to England Benedict stopped at Lérins
Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community....
, a monastic island off the Mediterranean coast of Provence. During his two-year stay there, from 665 to 667, he underwent a course of instruction, taking monastic vows and the name of "Benedict".
Following the two years in Lérins Benedict made his third trip to Rome. At this time he was commissioned by the pope to accompany Archbishop Theodore of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus
Theodore was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury, best known for his reform of the English Church and establishment of a school in Canterbury....
back to Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
in 669. On their return Benedict was appointed abbot of SS. Peter and Paul's
St Augustine's Abbey
St Augustine's Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Canterbury, Kent, England.-Early history:In 597 Saint Augustine arrived in England, having been sent by Pope Gregory I, on what might nowadays be called a revival mission. The King of Kent at this time was Æthelberht, who happened to be married to a...
, Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, by Archbishop Theodore, a role he held for two years.
Founder
Ecgfrith of NorthumbriaEcgfrith of Northumbria
King Ecgfrith was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat in which he lost his life.-Early life:...
granted Benedict land in 674 for the purpose of building a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
. He went to the Continent to bring back masons who could build a monastery in the Romanesque style
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
. Benedict made his fifth and final trip to Rome in 679 to bring back books for a library, saintly relics, stonemasons, glaziers, and a grant from Pope Agatho
Pope Agatho
-Background and early life:Little is known of Agatho before his papacy. A letter written by St. Gregory the Great to the abbot of St. Hermes in Palermo mentions an Agatho, a Greek born in Sicily to wealthy parents. He wished to give away his inheritance and join a monastery, and in this letter...
granting his monastery certain privileges. Benedict made five overseas voyages in all to stock the library.
In 682 Benedict appointed Easterwine
Easterwine
Eosterwine was the second Anglo-Saxon Abbot of Wearmouth in Northumbria .Eosterwine was the cousin of Saint Benedict Biscop. Descended from the noblest stock of Northumbria, as a young man he led the life of a soldier in the army of King Egfrid, the son of Oswy...
as his coadjutor and the King was so delighted at the success of St Peter's, he gave him more land in Jarrow and urged him to build a second monastery. Benedict erected a sister foundation (St Paul) at Jarrow
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
. He appointed Ceolfrid
Ceolfrid
Saint Ceolfrid was an Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot and saint. He is best known as the warden of Bede from the age of seven until his death in 716. He was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and a major contributor to the project Codex Amiatinus...
as the superior, who left Wearmouth with 20 monks to start the foundation in Jarrow. Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, one of Benedict's pupils, tells us that he brought builders and glass-workers from Francia to erect the buildings in stone.
Benedict's idea was to build a model monastery for England, sharing his knowledge of the experience of the Church in Europe. It was the first ecclesiastical building in Britain to be built in stone, and the use of glass was a novelty for many in 7th-century England. It eventually possessed what was a large library for the time – several hundred volumes – and it was here that Benedict's student Bede wrote his famous works. The library became world-famous and manuscripts that had been copied there became prized possessions throughout Europe, including especially the Codex Amiatinus
Codex Amiatinus
The Codex Amiatinus, designated by siglum A, is the earliest surviving manuscript of the nearly complete Bible in the Latin Vulgate version, and is considered to be the most accurate copy of St. Jerome's text. It is missing the Book of Baruch. It was produced in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of...
, the earliest surviving manuscript of the complete Bible in the Latin Vulgate version.
Death
For the last three years of his life Benedict was bed-ridden. He suffered his affliction with great patience and faith. He died on 12 January 690.Overview
In Benedict's lifetime he had seen the Church change from being divided between the Roman and CelticCeltic Christianity
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...
Churches and threatened by a resurgent paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
to becoming a strong, united and growing Roman Catholic Church, united with the worldwide church. He is recognized as a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
by the Christian Church, which holds his feast day on 12 January.
Sources
- Wikisource:Ecclesiastical History of the English People/Book 4#18
- Wikisource:Ecclesiastical History of the English People/Book 5#19
- Wikisource:Ecclesiastical History of the English People/Book 5#21
- HAbb Bede, Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow
- Catholic Online
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
- Bede's World guidebook, 2004
- AVCeol: Anonymous, "Life of Abbot Ceolfrith" in Webb & Farmer (eds), The Age of Bede. London: Penguin, 1983. ISBN 0-14-044727-X
- Blair, Peter Hunter, The World of Bede. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970. ISBN 0-521-39138-5.
- Benedict Biscop at Catholic Forum