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Eata (died 26 October 686), also known as Eata of Lindisfarne, was Bishop of Hexham from 678 until 681,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 217 and of then Bishop of Lindisfarne from before 681 until 685.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 219 He then was translated back to Hexham where he served until his death in 685 or 686. He was the first native 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 ...
to occupy the bishopric of Lindisfarne.


Life

Eata was originally taken to Lindisfarne as a boy under Aidan and trained as 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 ...
. He was chosen as one of the 12 monks selected from Lindisfarne to found the new daughter
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
at Melrose.Macpherson, Ewan. "St. Eata." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 12 May 2013
/ref> In 651 he was elected
abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
of Melrose. Around 658 he left Melrose and founded a new monastery at Ripon in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, taking with him the young St
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 ...
, who was his guest-master. In 661 King Alchfrith of Deira expelled Eata from Ripon, replacing him with Wilfrid as the new abbot.Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 166Stephanus ''Vita Wilfridi 8'' Eata returned to Melrose. The historian
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 ...
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. In 663 Alhfrith and Wilfrid persuaded King Oswiu to hold the
Synod of Whitby The Synod of Whitby was a Christianity, Christian administrative gathering held in Northumbria in 664, wherein King Oswiu ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Roman Catholic, Ro ...
to decide whether the local Church, English and Irish, would come into line with the traditions of the universal Church and would practice the Roman ka WesternRite of that Church, or would continue to diverge from it where it clashed with Irish traditions as practised in Northumbria. Thus it would decide whether Roman traditions, would take priority in Northumbria over matters such as the 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.Bede ''Ecclesiastical History of England'' Chapter 25 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 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 The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...
at Lindisfarne.Bede ''Ecclesiastical History of England'' Chapter 26 In 678, the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
, Theodore split the diocese 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 ...
into two new bishoprics. Eata became bishop of
Bernicia Bernicia () was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English cou ...
. 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. After the death of Trumbert in 684, Cuthbert was elected Bishop of Hexham, but was reluctant to leave his hermitage on Inner Farne. Following his consecration at York on Easter 685, Cuthbert went to see Eata, who was at Melrose. Eata and Cuthbert exchanged sees shortly thereafter, and for the last year of his life Eata occupied Hexham.Odden, Per Einer. "Den hellige Eata av Hexham (d. 686)", Den katolske kirke, February 1, 2000
/ref> Eata died of dysentery at Hexham in 686, and was buried in the
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
Abbey of Hexham. 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.


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."Eata Bishop of Hexham", Saints in Scottish Place-Names
/ref> The only church dedicated to him in England is St Eata's Church at
Atcham Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5 road (Great Britain), A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the villag ...
in
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
, where he is depicted in one of the stained glass windows.


Citations


References

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External links

*
St. Eata on Catholic Online Saints and Angels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eata 686 deaths Northumbrian saints Bishops of Lindisfarne Bishops of Hexham 7th-century English bishops English Christian monks 7th-century Christian saints Burials at Hexham Abbey Year of birth unknown