Eata of Hexham

Eata (died 26 October 686), also known as Eata of Lindisfarne, was bishop of Lindisfarne from 678 until 685, and of Hexham from then until his death.^[1] He was the first native of Northumbria to take the bishopric of Lindisfarne.

Eata was originally taken to Lindisfarne as a boy under Aidan and trained as a monk He was chosen as one of the 12 monks selected from Lindisfarne to found the new daughter monastery at Melrose. In 651 he was elected abbot of Melrose. Around 658 he left Melrose and founded a new monastery at Ripon in Yorkshire, he took with him Cuthbert, later regarded as a saint. In 661 King Alchfrith of Deira expelled Eata from Ripon, because Alhfrith had appointed Wilfrid as the new abbot.^[2][3] Eata returned to Melrose.

In 663 Alhfrith and Wilfrid persuded King Oswiu to hold the Synod of Whitby to decide which variety of Christainty, Celtic or Catholic, would take priority in Northumbria. The synod decided on the Catholic position on Easter.^[4]

Before Whitby, the abbot of Lindisfarne was also the Bishop of Lindisfarne, after Whitby these two roles were divided. The old abbot, Colman, left Lindifarne to go back to Iona with 30 English monks. Tuda was selected as the next Bishop of Lindisfarne and Eata moved from Melrose to become abbot of Lindisfarne. He appointed Cuthbert as prior at Lindisfarne.^[5]

In 678, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore split the diocese of Northumbria into two new bishoprics. Eata became bishop of Bernicia. Bernicia had two episcopal sees, one at Hexham and the other at Lindisfarne. Eata was the bishop of the whole of Bernicia for three years, after which the see of Hexham was assigned to Trumbert, and Lindisfarne to Eata.^[1] After the death of Trumbert in 684, Cuthbert was elected Bishop of Hexham. Eata and Cuthbert exchanged sees shortly thereafter, and for the last two years of his life Eata occupied Hexham. He died of dysentery in 686,^[1] and was buried in the Benedictine Abbey of Hexham.^[2]

The only church dedicated to him in England is in Atcham, Shropshire.

Notes

References

• Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961
• Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oats 2007 ISBN 0-86012-438-X

External links

• Biography at the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Catholic Online Saints and Angels
• Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Eata