Saint Benedict Bascop - The Traveling Saint From England

SAINT BENEDICT BISCOP (c. 628 – 690)

Veneration
- Roman Catholic Church
- Church of England (Anglicans)
- Eastern Orthodox Church

We will view his life as travel chronology, because this man never stayed in place for too long!

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Born to one of Northumbria's* noble families, Biscop Baducing — Benedict's original name — initially served as a thane of the local king, Oswiu.
A “thane” was a freeman in Anglo-Saxon England, one between an ordinary freeman and a nobleman, who was granted land by the king in return for military service.
* (Northumbria at the time encompassed that part of England stretching from York to Edinburgh.)

653 ... 1st Trip to Rome

In this year, 25 year old Biscop left the Kings service, and gave up his estate to pursue an interest in the church. He traveled to Rome's holy sites, and found that Christianity in his native Northern England was quite different from the European mainstream version found in Rome.
Christianity in his home range derived from Irish sources, and Rome was unlike what he knew. But it was apparently to his liking, because he pledged himself to it and would remain tied to it for the rest of his life.

664 … Back to England

Benedict returned to Northumbria after this first trip to Rome.
With a companion called Wilfrid, he spent the next 2 years promoting the Roman form of Christianity, which led Oswiu in 664 to turn his kingdom from the Irish, to the Roman forms.

666 – 668 ... 2nd Trip to Rome, Lerins, and 3rd Trip to Rome

By 666, Benedict had returned to Rome, and then joined the monastery on Lerins, an island to the south of France. It was here that Biscop Baducing changed his name to Benedict.
In 668 he returned to Rome, intending to further study the ways of Roman Christianity and Monasticism.

669 – 671 … Back to England

While in Rome, Benedict was asked by Pope Vitalian to accompany Theodore of Tarsus to England: Theodore had been appointed England's Archbishop, but was Greek and had never even been to the island. On their arrival in 669, Theodore appointed Benedict abbot of the Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul in Canterbury, a position he held for two years.

671- 673 … 4th Trip to Rome, Return to England

In 671, Benedict returned to Rome yet again, this time to learn more about Monastic practice and the mainland traditions. Benedict returned to Northumbria, once more, and secured permission to establish a monastery in the kingdom from Oswiu's successor, King Ecgfrith — along with a hefty endowment to found it on.

To say Benedict was well traveled is an understatement, that's for sure. And he kept it up!

674-679 …. England

The monastery of St. Peter, as it was called, was begun in Wearmouth in 674. Its structure was modeled after the continental monastic traditions Benedict had seen throughout his many European junkets. Masons and glaziers were hired from France to build a stone church with glass windows in the Roman style, the first ecclesiastical building to built of these materials in England.

The Benedictine Rule for operating monasteries was introduced, and the books Benedict had collected in his travels formed the library. But, this clearly wasn't sufficient for a man who had such wide experience.

679 … 5th Trip to Rome

After five years developing the monastery, Benedict went BACK to Rome on a mission to equip his monastery with relics, art, and quality manuscripts, as well as to study vestments, practice and learn new ideas. He returned with, not only these resources, but Rome's head of liturgy to teach, and privileges granted by the the Pope, St. Agatho.

680 – 682... Back to England

Benedict was back in England by 680, and in 681, a second endowment from Ecgfrith enabled Benedict to found a twin house dedicated to St. Paul in Jarrow (also in Northumbria), prompting another journey to Rome in 682.

682 – 686... 6th Trip to Rome, Back to England

Benedict stayed in Rome for four years, this time, and his return again enriched the houses with important manuscripts and knowledge.

686-690... England and his Death

Sadly, age and the rigors of travel in the Medieval World (on foot, horseback, or wagon cart, and braving the elements, robbers, deprivation, and exertion) took their toll on Benedict's health.
He fell ill and was bedridden from 686 to 689, and while it is reported that he endured his infirmities with stoic good cheer and piety, he never recovered.
He died, frail but spiritually satisfied, on January 12, 690 AD.

Benedict's role in establishing the Roman church in northern England can't be underestimated. By importing continental ideas, and creating a considerable library and art collection for his monastery, he transformed it into a focus for brilliant scholarship which enthused the region with new thought.
Indeed, one of Benedict's earliest intakes, Bede, grew in these rich surroundings to become the period's greatest scholar, sending new ideas from England back into Europe.

One of Bede's works was, 'The Lives of The Holy Abbots of Weremouth and Jarrow,' a self-explanatory account which begins thus:

“The pious servant of Christ, Biscop, called Benedict, with the assistance of the Divine grace, built a monastery in honour of the most holy of the apostles, St. Peter, near the mouth of the river Were, on the north side.

The venerable and devout king of that nation, Egfrid, contributed the land; and Biscop, for the space of sixteen years, amid innumerable perils in journeying, and in illness, ruled this monastery with the same piety that stirred him up to build it.

If I may use the words of the blessed Pope Gregory, in which he glorifies the life of the abbot of the same name, he was a man of a venerable life, blessed (Benedictus) both in grace and in name; having the mind of an adult even from his childhood, surpassing his age by his manners, and with a soul addicted to no false pleasures. 
He was descended from a noble lineage of the Angles, and by corresponding dignity of mind, he was worthy to be exalted into the company of the angels 
Lastly, he was the minister of King Oswy, and by his gift enjoyed an estate suitable to his rank; but at the age of twenty five years he despised such transitory wealth, that he might obtain that which is eternal. He made light of our temporal warfare with a donation that will decay, so that he might serve under the true King, and earn an everlasting kingdom in the heavenly city. 
He left his home, his kinsmen and country, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, that he might receive a hundredfold and enjoy everlasting life....

—Excerpted from, “The Lives of The Holy Abbots of Weremouth and Jarrow” by Bede, translated by J. Giles


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Patronage: English Benedictines; musicians; painters; City of Sunderland
Stained glass: St. Benedict is considered the one who brought stained glass to England.
Read the history of stained glass. https://stainedglass.org/resources/history-of-stained-glass/

Symbols and Representation: Benedictine abbot dressed as a bishop standing by the Tyne with two monasteries nearby; pictured with the Venerable Bede

Highlights and Things to Do:




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