In the 7th century Northumbrian King Oswald who ruled from Bamburgh, invited an Ioan monk named Aidan to establish a settlement on the island of Lindisfarne and it was from here that the most famous of the Northumbrian saints, Aidan and Cuthbert, converted the Pagan North of England to Christianity. The Lindisfarne Gospel was created by the island’s Holy Order around 698 in honour of St. Cuthbert. It is now kept in the British Museum and is the finest surviving example of Celtic religious artwork.
The island was an easy target for invasion from the sea and suffered numerous devastating Viking attacks resulting in the Holy Order leaving in 875 to settle in Durham for more than two centuries. They returned towards the end of the 11th century, renaming Lindisfarne Holy Island due to the amount Christian blood that had been spilt there defending the faith. Around the same time Lindisfarne Priory was rebuilt in honour of St. Cuthbert.
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