Eata of Hexham

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Eata of Hexham
Catholic
Sainthood
Feast day26 October

Eata (died 26 October 686), also known as Eata of Lindisfarne, was

Bishop of Lindisfarne from before 681 until 685.[2] He then was translated back to Hexham where he served until his death in 685 or 686.[1] He was the first native of Northumbria
to occupy the bishopric of Lindisfarne.

Life

Eata was originally taken to Lindisfarne as a boy under

Alchfrith of Deira expelled Eata from Ripon, replacing him with Wilfrid as the new abbot.[4][5]
Eata returned to Melrose.

The historian Bede described Eata as a gentle and greatly revered man. As an administrator Eata applied his skills at the time of plague, civil disorders and major ecclesiastical change.[6]

In 663 Alhfrith and Wilfrid persuaded King

clerical tonsure and the date of Easter; the synod decided to accept the arguments of Wilfrid and the king for the universal Church traditions using the Roman Rite, to which Eata, unlike Colmán of Lindisfarne, acquiesced.[7]

Before Whitby, the abbot of Lindisfarne was also the Bishop of Lindisfarne, after Whitby these two roles were divided. The old abbot, Colman, left Lindisfarne to go back to

Bishop of Lindisfarne and Eata moved from Melrose to become abbot of Lindisfarne. He appointed Cuthbert as prior at Lindisfarne.[8]

In 678, the

Benedictine Abbey of Hexham.[4]

Like most of the early saints of the English Church, St. Eata was canonized by general repute of sanctity among the faithful in the regions which he helped to Christianize.[3]

Legacy

Eata is remembered in St. Eats' Chapel and St. Eata's Well, both in Alvie, on the south shore of Loch Alvie, in Scotland.[10]

The only church dedicated to him in England is St Eata's Church at Atcham in Shropshire, where he is depicted in one of the stained glass windows.[6]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 217
  2. ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 219
  3. ^ a b c Macpherson, Ewan. "St. Eata." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 12 May 2013
  4. ^ a b Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints p. 166
  5. ^ Stephanus Vita Wilfridi 8
  6. ^ a b St. Eata's, Atcham, Shrewsbury Archived 4 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Bede Ecclesiastical History of England Chapter 25
  8. ^ Bede Ecclesiastical History of England Chapter 26
  9. ^ a b Odden, Per Einer. "Den hellige Eata av Hexham (d. 686)", Den katolske kirke, February 1, 2000
  10. ^ "Eata Bishop of Hexham", Saints in Scottish Place-Names

References

  • Colgrave, Bertram (1956). Battiscombe, C. F. (ed.). The Relics of Saint Cuthbert. Oxford.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. .
  • Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. London: Burns & Oats. .

External links

Christian titles
New diocese
sub-divided from York
Bishop of Bernicia
678–681
sub-divided into
Lindisfarne and Hexham
New diocese
sub-divided from Bernicia
Bishop of Lindisfarne

681–685
Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Hexham
685–686
Succeeded by