Lindisfarne Gospels - Historical Context

Historical Context

Lindisfarne, also known as “Holy Island,” is located off the coast of Northumberland in northern England (Chilvers 2004). In around 635 AD, the Irish missionary Aidan founded the Lindisfarne monastery on “a small outcrop of land” on Lindisfarne. King Oswald of Northumbria sent Aidan from Iona to preach to and baptize the pagan Anglo-Saxons, following the conversion to Christianity of the Northumbrian monarchy in 627. By Aiden’s death in 651, the Christian faith was becoming well-established in the area.

In the tenth century Aldred, a priest, recorded the creators of the Lindisfarne Gospels. About 250 years after the production of the book Aldred added an Old English translation between the lines of the Latin text, and in his colophon he recorded the names of the four men who helped contribute to the production of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne, was credited with writing the manuscript, Ethelwald, Bishop of the Lindisfarne islanders was credited with binding it, Billifrith, an anchorite, was credited with ornamenting the manuscript, and finally Aldred includes himself as the person who glossed it in Anglo-Saxon English. Some scholars have argued that Eadfrith and Ethelwald did not produce the manuscript but commissioned someone else to do so. However, Janet Backhouse argues for the validity of the statement by pointing out that, "there is no reason to doubt statement" because he was "recording a well established tradition". Eadfrith and Ethelwald were both bishops at the monastery of Lindisfarne where the manuscript was produced. As Alan Thacker notes, the Lindisfarne Gospels are "undoubtedly the work of a single hand," and Eadfrith remains regarded as "the scribe and painter of the Lindisfarne Gospels".