A fusion of faith

One book, one faith

In Bede's day, the Vulgate translation, a single Latin translation of nearly all the Bible's books, was still only 300 years old. The oldest complete surviving copy of the Vulgate translation is the Codex Amiatinus – handwritten by the monks at Wearmouth-Jarrow. This is one of three huge and impressive copies of the complete Bible made at the monastery at a time when few complete copies of the Bible were made at all. One copy was for each house of the monastery and one was sent to Rome as a gift to the Pope - and more than a gift; a sign that Northumbrian Christianity would follow Roman, not the Irish Christian practices which had previously been established.

The single path

Not far from Wearmouth and Jarrow – 60 miles down the coast, in fact – stands the site of the monastery at Whitby. Here, in AD 664, a meeting called by King Oswiu decided that the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria would follow Roman Christian practices, including the date of Easter and the style of the tonsure, not those introduced to Northumbria by the Irish monks of Iona when, in 635, they had founded the monastery at Lindisfarne. So when, ten years after the meeting at Whitby, Benedict Biscop founded the twin monastery, he introduced a strong Roman style and influence, firmly bringing Northumbria into the single Christian culture that spanned not just Britain but much of Western Europe.

Faith over 1300 years

Connected to fellow-believers across Europe, Biscop's foundation quickly put down deep, strong roots. Christianity became part, literally, of the local landscape. Even though pagan Viking raiders destroyed much of Wearmouth-Jarrow, the Viking kingdom accepted Christianity, and shortly after the Norman Conquest monasteries were rebuilt at both sites, dependent on Durham Cathedral. The remains of the medieval monastery at Jarrow are the earliest from post-Conquest Northumbria. The two churches still serve living Christian communities today.

One monastery, Two places

Wearmouth-Jarrow, functioned as "a twin monastery". St. Paul's, at Jarrow, was built just 7 miles from St. Peter's, at Wearmouth. As a single institution, the two houses shared lands and resources and had a single abbot. Bede wrote that, on his deathbed, Benedict Biscop insisted that '…the two houses should be bound together by the one spirit of peace and harmony and united by continuous friendship and goodwill. As the body cannot be separated from the head, through which it receives the breath of life, and as the head dare not ignore the body or it would die, so neither was anyone to attempt to disturb the brotherly love that would unite the two houses just as it had bound together the two chief apostles, Peter and Paul.'

Light of the North

Remarkable as the twin monastery was in itself, its legacy was even greater. To create the Codex Amiatinus and its two sister volumes, Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith brought the most accurate available 'new translation' of the Bible from Italy, and new images, which were used in the making of the magnificent Lindisfarne Gospels. More importantly still, they were a seed of belief and learning that would grow into the Christian heritage of Northern England,and inspire the world. New copies of Bede's works have been made internationally every century from his death, right up to the present day, and his works inspire study across the world.

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