Boisil (died 661) was a monk of Melrose Abbey, an offshoot of

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...

, then in the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

Kingdom of Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

, but now in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, where he must have been one of the first generation of monks. He probably moved to the new foundation of Melrose when it was started, some time in the late 640s.

Life

Almost all that is known of Boisil is learned from

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

.''

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' (), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the growth of Christianity. It was composed in Latin, and ...

'', IV, xxvii, and Vita Cuthberti He derived his information from Sigfrid, a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and the Boldons as ...

, who had previously been trained by Boisil at Melrose. Boisil was the teacher of

Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne () ( – 20 March 687) was a saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monastery, monasteries of Melrose Abbey#Histo ...

. Boisil was prior of this house under the abbot Eata, both of whom seem to have been trained in monastic discipline by Aidan.Butler, Alban. ''The Lives of the Saints'', Vol. II, 1866
/ref> It was Boisil's evident sanctity, which drew the young Cuthbert to Melrose Abbey, rather than the more famous Lindisfarne, in AD 651."Northern Saints", 'This is Durham', Durham County Council
/ref> By chance, the prior was standing by the abbey gate when Cuthbert arrived. The latter entered the church to pray and, Bede documents that "Boisil had an intuition of the high degree of holiness to which the boy would rise", and said just this single phrase to the monks with whom he was standing: "Behold the servant of the Lord". Abbot Eata soon gave permission for Cuthbert to enter the community, Boisil succeeded Eata as abbot in 659. It was from Boisil that Cuthbert learned the scriptures, pupil and teacher becoming friends. Both travelled among the villages neighbouring Melrose and preached to the local people. The sick and ailing were brought to Boisil from far and near seeking to be cured by his herbal remedies, and by the healing properties of the two local springs containing iron salts."St. Boisil - Confessor". Parish of Oystermouth, Swansea
/ref> Contemporaries were deeply impressed with Boisil's supernatural intuitions. Three years beforehand, he foretold the great pestilence of 664, and that he himself should die of it, but that Eata, the abbot, should outlive it. When in the great pestilence Cuthbert was stricken down, Boisil declared he would certainly recover. Somewhat later Boisil himself as he had foretold three years before, fell a victim to this terrible epidemic, but before the end came he predicted that Cuthbert would become a bishop and would effect great things for the Church. After his death, Boisil appeared twice in a vision to a monk he had known, concerning the future Bishop Ecgberht of Ripon, who was instructed to concentrate on existing monasteries rather than missionary activity on the Continent. He is believed, on somewhat dubious authority, to have written certain theological works, but they have not been preserved. St Boswells in

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

commemorates his name. His relics, like those of Bede, were carried off to Durham in the 11th century by the priest, Alfred Westow. In the early calendars, his day is assigned to 23 February. The

Bollandist The Bollandist Society (; ) is an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christia ...

s treat of him on 9 September but his feast is generally accepted as 7 July, with a translation on 8 June.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boisil 664 deaths Northumbrian saints 7th-century Christian saints 7th-century Irish abbots 7th-century deaths from plague (disease) Year of birth unknown