Nocturns ( Latin : nocturni or nocturna ) is a Christian canonical hour said in the nighttime.
137-404: Cædmon ( / ˈ k æ d m ən , ˈ k æ d m ɒ n / ; fl. c. 657–684) is the earliest English poet whose name is known. A Northumbrian cowherd who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey ) during the abbacy of St. Hilda , he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream, according to
274-509: A feria or a vigil day, there is no division into nocturns and the 12 psalms and 3 readings are treated as a single nocturn. In comparison with the post-Vatican II revision, the readings are very brief. In 1911 Pope Pius X introduced a radical revision of the psalter of the Roman Breviary . He ended many of the previous repetitions of the same psalms day after day. For instance, Psalms 148–150, which previously were said every day at
411-585: A 16th-century edition by Flacius Illyricus , both are usually assumed on semantic and grammatical grounds to be of medieval composition. This apparent debt to the Cædmon story agrees with semantic evidence attested to by Green demonstrating the influence of Old English biblical poetry and terminology on early continental Germanic literatures. In contrast to his usual practice elsewhere in the Historia ecclesiastica , Bede provides no information about his sources for
548-565: A back-translation from Bede's Latin, and that there is no surviving witness to the original text. All copies of Hymn are found in manuscripts of the Historia ecclesiastica or its translation, where they serve as either a gloss to Bede's Latin translation of the Old English poem, or, in the case of the Old English version, a replacement for Bede's translation in the main text of the History. Despite this close connection with Bede's work,
685-530: A band attacked Lindisfarne in 793. After this initial catastrophic blow, Viking raids in Northumbria were either sporadic for much of the early ninth century or evidence of them was lost. However, in 865 the so-called Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and began a sustained campaign of conquest. The Great Army fought in Northumbria in 866–867, striking York twice in less than one year. After
822-639: A buffer between the Norse in southern Northumbria and the Anglo-Saxons who continued to hold the north. North of the Tyne , Northumbrians maintained partial political control in Bamburgh. The rule of kings continued in that area with Ecgberht I acting as regent around 867 and the kings Ricsige and Ecgberht II immediately following him. According to twelfth-century historian Symeon of Durham , Ecgberht I
959-532: A day "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion." With respect to midnight prayer and the ablutions preceding it, Hippolytus wrote: Around midnight rise and wash your hands with water and pray. If you are married, pray together. But if your spouse is not yet baptized, go into another room to pray, and then return to bed. Do not hesitate to pray, for one who has been joined in marital relations
1096-407: A group: "Let there be no failure of prayers in the hours of night — no idle and reckless waste of the occasions of prayer"( nulla sint horis nocturnis precum damna, nulla orationum pigra et ignava dispendia ). The Apostolic Tradition speaks of prayer at midnight and again at cockcrow, but seemingly as private, not communal, prayer. Prayer at midnight and at cockcrow was associated with passages in
1233-467: A king named Soemil was the first to separate Bernicia and Deira, which could mean that he wrested the kingdom of Deira from the native British. The date of this supposed separation is unknown. The first Deiran king to make an appearance in Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum is Ælla , the father of the first Christian Northumbrian king Edwin . A king of Bernicia, Ida's grandson Æthelfrith ,
1370-479: A monk at York. Oswulf was murdered the next year and Æthelwald Moll of Northumbria seized the throne, which he occupied for seven years until he was deposed by Alhred . Æthelred I of Northumbria , son of Æthelwald, reigned for 10 interrupted years to 796. Halfdan Ragnarsson was a Viking leader of the Great Heathen Army which invaded England in 865. He allegedly wanted revenge against Northumbria for
1507-421: A pagan shrine, animal sacrifice, and ritual burials. The first King of Northumbria to convert to Christianity was King Edwin . He was baptized by Paulinus in 627. Shortly thereafter, many of his people followed his conversion to the new religion, only to return to paganism when Edwin was killed in 633. Paulinus was Bishop of York , but only for a year. The lasting conversion of Northumbria took place under
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#17327902549581644-434: A period of heavy consideration and after consulting numerous advisors. Edwin fell in battle in 633 against Cadwallon of Gwynedd and the pagan Penda of Mercia . He was venerated as a saint and martyr after his death. Oswald was a king of Bernicia, who regained the kingdom of Deira after defeating Cadwallon in 634. Oswald then ruled Northumbria until his death in 642. A devout Christian, Oswald worked tirelessly to spread
1781-463: A possible onomastic allusion to ' Adam Kadmon ' in the poet's name, perhaps suggesting that the entire story is allegorical. No other independent accounts of Cædmon's life and work are known to exist. The only other reference to Cædmon in English sources before the 12th century is found in the 10th-century Old English translation of Bede's Latin Historia . Otherwise, no mention of Cædmon is found in
1918-516: A saint. The Christianity culture of Northumbria was influenced by the continent as well as Ireland . In particular, Wilfrid travelled to Rome and abandoned the traditions of the Celtic church in favour of Roman practices. When he returned to England , he became abbot of a new monastery at Ripon in 660. Wilfrid advocated acceptance of the authority of Rome at the Synod of Whitby . The two-halves of
2055-457: A short eulogistic poem praising God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Upon awakening the next morning, Caedmon remembered everything he had sung and added additional lines to his poem. He told his foreman about his dream and gift and was taken immediately to see the abbess , believed to be St Hilda of Whitby . The abbess and her counsellors asked Cædmon about his vision and, satisfied that it
2192-612: A single group and followed by only three readings. It was planned to proceed also to a revision of the readings at matins in view of the excessive abbreviation of the scriptural readings and the inclusion of unhistorical content in the accounts of the saints. This revision was not in fact carried out until after the Second Vatican Council , but concrete work on it had already begun under Pope Pius XII . The 1960 Code of Rubrics of Pope John XXIII specified what celebrations had three nocturns: The Code of Rubrics removed
2329-568: A style of artistic and literary production. Eadfrith of Lindisfarne produced the Lindisfarne Gospels in an Insular style. The Irish monks brought with them an ancient Celtic decorative tradition of curvilinear forms of spirals, scrolls, and doubles curves. This style was integrated with the abstract ornamentation of the native pagan Anglo-Saxon metalwork tradition, characterized by its bright colouring and zoomorphic interlace patterns. Insular art, rich in symbolism and meaning,
2466-546: Is Cædmon's Hymn . Cynewulf , prolific author of The Fates of the Apostles , Juliana , Elene , and Christ II , is believed to have been either Northumbrian or Mercian . From around 800, there had been waves of Danish raids on the coastlines of the British Isles. These raids terrorized the populace, but exposure to Danish society brought new opportunities for wealth and trade. In 865, instead of raiding,
2603-476: Is attached to many different nouns, such as nocturnae horae (the hours of the night), nocturna tempora (nocturnal times), which are not necessarily connected with religion and are unrelated to the subject of this article. The phrase hora nocturna (night hour) may refer to the canonical hour of vigils or matins, but not to the individual nocturns into which vigils or matins may be divided. In Oriental Orthodox Christianity and Oriental Protestant Christianity ,
2740-654: Is characterized by its concern for geometric design rather than naturalistic representation, love of flat areas of colour, and use of complicated interlace patterns. All of these elements appear in the Lindisfarne Gospels (early eighth century). The Insular style was eventually imported to the European continent, exercising great influence on the art of the Carolingian empire . Usage of the Insular style
2877-555: Is conservatively estimated to be around nine-hundred in standard English but rises to the thousands in some dialects. 55°00′N 2°30′W / 55.000°N 2.500°W / 55.000; -2.500 Nocturns In the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church , nocturns refer to the sections into which the canonical hour of matins was divided from the fourth or fifth century until after
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#17327902549583014-414: Is found in two dialects and five distinct recensions (Northumbrian aelda , Northumbrian eordu , West-Saxon eorðan , West-Saxon ylda , and West-Saxon eorðe ), all but one of which are known from three or more witnesses. It is one of the early attested examples of written Old English and one of the early recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language . Together with
3151-470: Is his Hymn ( audio version ). The poem is known from 21 manuscript copies, making it the best-attested Old English poem after Bede's Death Song (with 35 witnesses ) and the best attested in the poetic corpus in manuscripts copied or owned in the British Isles during the Anglo-Saxon period. The Hymn also has by far the most complicated known textual history of any surviving Old English poem. It
3288-511: Is not impure. Those who have bathed have no need to wash again, for they are pure. By catching your breath in your hand and signing yourself with the moisture of your breath, your body is purified, even to the feet. For the gift of the Spirit and the outpouring of the baptism, proceeding from the heart of the believer as though from a fountain, purifies the one who has believed. Thus it is necessary to pray at this hour. For those elders who handed down
3425-402: Is often listed as a saint, this is not confirmed by Bede and it has been argued that such assertions are incorrect. The details of Bede's story, and in particular of the miraculous nature of Cædmon's poetic inspiration, are not generally accepted by scholars as being entirely accurate, but there seems no good reason to doubt the existence of a poet named Cædmon. Bede's narrative has to be read in
3562-731: Is related in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") by Bede, who wrote, "[t]here was in the Monastery of this Abbess a certain brother particularly remarkable for the Grace of God, who was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture , he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in Old English , which
3699-648: Is richly decorated with carvings of mythical beasts, Norse gods, and Christian symbolism. Stone sculpture was not a practice of native Scandinavian culture, and the proliferation of stone monuments within the Danelaw shows the influence that the English had on Viking settlers. On one side of the Gosforth Cross is a depiction of the Crucifixion; whilst on the other are scenes from Ragnarok. The melding of these distinctive religious cultures can further be seen in
3836-409: Is scarce, but it seems Eric pushed out the joint English-Viking rulers of Northumbria in 947, who then regained the land in 948 or 949. Eric took back the throne in 952, only to be deposed again in 954. Eric was the last Viking king of Northumbria and his authority only extended to the southern kingdom of York . In 954 he was murdered, allegedly with the connivance of Oswulf , the Anglo-Saxon ruler of
3973-892: The Angles were the predominant Germanic immigrants, who settled north of the Humber and gained political prominence during this period. While the British natives may have partially assimilated into the Northumbrian political structure, relatively contemporary textual sources such as Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People depict relations between Northumbrians and the British as fraught. The Anglo-Saxon states of Bernicia and Deira were often in conflict before their eventual semi-permanent unification in 651. Political power in Deira
4110-528: The Battle of the Winwaed , making him the first Northumbrian King also to control the kingdom of Mercia . During his reign, he presided over the Synod of Whitby , an attempt to reconcile religious differences between Roman and Celtic Christianity, in which he eventually backed Rome. Oswiu died from illness in 670 and divided Deira and Bernicia between two of his sons. His son Aldfrith of Northumbria took over
4247-751: The Celtic Languages , such as the Common Brittonic language of the Britons, and the Old Irish of the Irish missionaries , into Old English were few, some place-names such as Deira and Bernicia derive their names from Celtic tribal origins. In addition to the five languages present in Bede's day, Old Norse was added during the ninth century. This was due to the settlements of the Norse in
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4384-520: The Gosforth Cross . During the ninth and tenth centuries, there was an increase in the number of parish churches , often including stone sculptures incorporating Scandinavian designs. The Christian culture of Northumbria, fuelled by influences from the continent and Ireland, promoted a broad range of literary and artistic works. The Irish monks who converted Northumbria to Christianity, and established monasteries such as Lindisfarne , brought
4521-491: The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark . On the basis of the Gospel of Luke too, prayer at any time of the night was also seen as having eschatological significance. The quotation above from Tertullian refers to the all-night vigil service held at Easter. A similar service came to be held in the night that led to any Sunday. It corresponded in a way to the later early-night vespers , midnight vigil and dawn lauds and
4658-476: The Historia ecclesiastica appears to suggest that Cædmon's death occurred at about the same time as the fire at Coldingham Abbey , an event dated in the E text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to 679, but after 681 by Bede. The reference to his temporibus "at this time" in the opening lines of Chapter 25 may refer more generally to Cædmon's career as a poet. However, the next datable event in
4795-482: The Historia ecclesiastica is King Ecgfrith 's raid on Ireland in 684 (Book IV, Chapter 26). Taken together, this evidence suggests an active period beginning between 657 and 680 and ending between 679 and 684. The only biographical or historical information that modern scholarship has been able to add to Bede's account concerns the Brittonic origins of the poet's name. Although Bede specifically notes that English
4932-700: The Humber . His rule was notable for his numerous victories over the Britons and the Gaels . Edwin , like Æthelfrith, was king of both Deira and Bernicia and ruled them from 616 to 633. Under his reign, the Isle of Man and the lands of Gwynedd in Northern Wales were incorporated into Northumbria. Edwin married Æthelburh , a Christian Princess from Kent in 625. He converted to Christianity two years later after
5069-523: The Hymn does not appear to have been transmitted with the Historia ecclesiastica regularly until relatively late in its textual history. Scribes other than those responsible for the main text often copy the vernacular text of the Hymn in manuscripts of the Latin Historia. In three cases, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud Misc. 243 , Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 43 , and Winchester, Cathedral I ,
5206-463: The Iron Age at around the first century. In addition to signs of Roman occupation, the site contains evidence of timber buildings that pre-date Germanic settlement in the area that are probably signs of British settlement. Moreover, Brian Hope-Taylor has traced the origins of the name Yeavering, which looks deceptively English, back to the British gafr from Bede's mention of a township called Gefrin in
5343-615: The Kingdom of York . The rump Earldom of Bamburgh maintained control of Bernicia for a period of time; however, the area north of the Tweed was eventually absorbed into the medieval Kingdom of Scotland while the portion south of the Tweed was absorbed into the Kingdom of England as the county of Northumberland and County Palatine of Durham . The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was originally two kingdoms divided approximately around
5480-657: The New Testament and a reading by the abbot from the Gospels. Within the Carolingian Empire (800–888), a form of the liturgy of the hours , described by Amalarius , was imposed that can be called the "Roman-Benedictine Office". In this form, the first nocturn of the Sunday vigil or matins had twelve psalms sung in three groups of four psalms, each group treated as a single psalm with a single doxology at
5617-681: The Office of Readings and to it were assigned two substantial readings, one from Scripture, the second from the Fathers of the Church or other writers, and only three psalms or portions of psalms. This contrasted strongly with the arrangement to which the Rule of Saint Benedict gave witness: twelve complete psalms, to which on Sundays three canticles were added. In the Benedictine system, the psalms and
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5754-522: The Old and New Testaments , and songs about the "terrors of future judgment, horrors of hell, ... joys of the heavenly kingdom, ... and divine mercies and judgments." Of this corpus, only his first poem survives. While vernacular poems matching Bede's description of several of Cædmon's later works are found in London, British Library, Junius 11 , traditionally referred to as the "Junius" or "Cædmon" manuscript,
5891-687: The River Tees : Bernicia was to the north of the river and Deira to the south. It is possible that both regions originated as native Celtic British kingdoms, which the Germanic settlers later conquered, although there is very little information about the infrastructure and culture of the British kingdoms themselves. Much of the evidence for them comes from regional names that are British rather than Anglo-Saxon in origin. The names Deira and Bernicia are likely British in origin, for example, indicating that some British place names retained currency after
6028-651: The River Tweed . Under Roman rule, some Britons north of the Humber practised Christianity. York had a bishop as early as the fourth century. After the Romans left Britain in the early fifth century, Christianity did not disappear, but it existed alongside Celtic paganism, and possibly many other cults. Anglo-Saxons brought their own Germanic pagan beliefs and practices when they settled there. At Yeavering , in Bernicia , excavations have uncovered evidence of
6165-607: The Roman Curia the texts and rubrics of the various books used for the celebration of the liturgy of the hours were combined at the beginning of the thirteenth century into the Breviarium secundum usum Romanae Curiae . A revision of this under Pope Honorius III was adopted by the Franciscans and by them popularized throughout Europe. It introduced many hymns but also led to celebration being spoken rather than sung. It
6302-674: The Second Vatican Council . A nocturn consisted of psalms accompanied by antiphons and followed by readings, which were taken either from Scripture or from the Church Fathers or similar writings. Matins was composed of one to three nocturns. Originating in a prayer service celebrated by early Christians at night, the liturgical office of matins was originally in Latin called vigilia (vigil, watch). The plural form, vigiliae (vigils, watches), also came into use. The Latin adjective nocturnus corresponds to English "nocturnal" and
6439-463: The Synod of Whitby , the role of the European continent gained importance in Northumbrian culture. During the end of the eighth century, the scriptorium at Monkwearmouth–Jarrow was producing manuscripts of his works for high demand on the Continent. Northumbria was also home to several Anglo-Saxon Christian poets . Cædmon lived at the double monastery of Streonæshalch ( Whitby Abbey ) during
6576-570: The 8th-century Christian historian and saint Bede . He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational Christian poet. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church , Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism, with a feast day on 11 February. Cædmon is one of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets identified in mediaeval sources, and one of three of these for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived. His story
6713-762: The 920s and was in constant conflict with the West-Saxon expansionists from the south, it survived until 954 when the last Scandinavian king Eric, who is usually identified as Eric Bloodaxe , was driven out and eventually killed. In contrast, the Great Army was not as successful in conquering territory north of the River Tees. There were raids that extended into that area, but no sources mention lasting Norse occupation and there are very few Scandinavian place names to indicate significant Norse settlement in northern regions of Northumbria. The political landscape of
6850-464: The Anglo-Saxon migrations to Northumbria. There is also some archeological evidence to support British origins for the polities of Bernicia and Deira. In what would have been southern Bernicia, in the Cheviot Hills , a hill fort at Yeavering Bell contains evidence that it was an important centre for first the British and later the Anglo-Saxons. The fort is originally pre- Roman , dating back to
6987-672: The Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to 939. The shift in his title reflects that in 927, Æthelstan conquered the Viking Kingdom of York , previously part of the Northumbrian Kingdom. His reign was quite prosperous and saw great strides in many fields such as law and economics, but was also characterized by frequent clashes with the Scots and the Vikings. Æthelstan died in 939, which led to
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#17327902549587124-477: The Cædmon story or to demonstrate that its details were so commonplace as to hardly merit consideration as legitimate historiography, subsequent research has instead ended up demonstrating the uniqueness of Bede's version: as Lester shows, no "analogue" to the Cædmon story found before 1974 mirrors Bede's chapter in more than about half its main properties; the same observation can be extended to cover all analogues since identified. Bede's account indicates that Cædmon
7261-501: The Cædmon story. Since a similar paucity of sources is also characteristic of other stories from Whitby Abbey in his work, this may indicate that his knowledge of Cædmon's life was based on tradition current at his home monastery in (relatively) nearby Wearmouth-Jarrow . Perhaps as a result of this lack of documentation, scholars have devoted considerable attention since the 1830s to tracking down possible sources or analogues to Bede's account. These parallels have been drawn from all around
7398-523: The Danelaw, and examples of such synthesis can be seen in previous examples, such as the Franks Casket. The Franks Casket , believed to have been produced in Northumbria, includes depictions of Germanic legends and stories of the founding Roman and the Roman Church and is dated to the early eighth century. The Gosforth Cross, dated to the early tenth century, stands at 14 feet (4.4 m) and
7535-921: The Danes landed a large army in East Anglia, and had conquered a territory known as the Danelaw , including Northumbria, by 867. At first, the Scandinavian minority, while politically powerful, remained culturally distinct from the English populace. For example, only a few Scandinavian words, mostly military and technical, became part of Old English . By the early 900s, however, Scandinavian-style names for both people and places became increasingly popular, as did Scandinavian ornamentation on works of art, featuring aspects of Norse mythology, and figures of animals and warriors. Nevertheless, sporadic references to "Danes" in charters, chronicles, and laws indicate that during
7672-401: The Danish rule of Northumbria (see Danelaw ) were often either kings of a larger North Sea or Danish empire, or were installed rulers. Succession in Northumbria was hereditary, which left princes whose fathers died before they could come of age particularly susceptible to assassination and usurpation. A noteworthy example of this phenomenon is Osred, whose father Aldfrith died in 705, leaving
7809-399: The English People . Information on the early royal genealogies for Bernicia and Deira comes from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People and Nennius' Historia Brittonum . According to Nennius, the Bernician royal line begins with Ida , son of Eoppa . Ida reigned for twelve years (beginning in 547) and was able to annex Bamburgh to Bernicia. In Nennius' genealogy of Deira,
7946-400: The English from Wessex absorbed the Danish-ruled territories south of the Tees, Scots invasions reduced the rump Northumbria to an earldom stretching from the Tyne to the Tweed. The surviving Earldom of Northumbria, alongside the Haliwerfolk between the Tyne and Tees, were then disputed between the emerging kingdoms of England and Scotland , with the Earldom being split roughly in half along
8083-500: The Irish, was illegitimate and therefore unfit to rule. The Viking invasions of the ninth century and the establishment of the Danelaw once again divided Northumbria. Although primarily recorded in the southern provinces of England , the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (particularly the D and E recensions) provide some information on Northumbria's conflicts with Vikings in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. According to these chronicles, Viking raids began to affect Northumbria when
8220-532: The Latin Historia sometimes contain very different versions of the Old English poem. With the exception of the Old English translation, no single recension of the Historia ecclesiastica is characterised by the presence of a particular recension of the vernacular poem. The oldest known version of the poem is the Northumbrian aelda recension . The surviving witnesses to this text, Cambridge, University Library, Kk. 5. 16 (M) and St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, lat. Q. v. I. 18 (P), date to at least
8357-406: The Latin-Church Liturgy of the Hours, involving among other things distribution of the psalms over a period of four weeks instead of the previous arrangement whereby they were said within a single week. In line with the decision of the Second Vatican Council that matins, while retaining its character of nocturnal praise should become a prayer for any hour of the day, that canonical hour was renamed
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#17327902549588494-416: The Liturgy of the Hours. It fell to Pope Pius V to put into effect the Council's desire. In the Roman Breviary as arranged by Pope Pius V in 1568, Sunday matins has three nocturns, the first with 12 independent psalms, the second and third with 3 psalms each, and each nocturn has 3 readings. Feasts of double or semidouble rank have 3 nocturns, each with 3 psalms and 3 readings. On a feast of simple rank,
8631-559: The Northumbrian throne despite initial attempts on Deira's part to pull away again. The last independent king of Deira was Oswine . He was murdered by Oswiu in 651, and Northumbria was thereafter united under Bernician rule. While violent conflicts between Bernicia and Deira played a significant part in determining which line ultimately gained supremacy in Northumbria, marriage alliances also helped bind these two territories together. Æthelfrith married Edwin's sister Acha , although this marriage did little to prevent future squabbles between
8768-411: The Old English translator's practice in reworking Bede's Latin original, however, and need not, as Wrenn argues, suggest the existence of an independent English tradition of the Cædmon story. A second, possibly pre-12th-century allusion to the Cædmon story is found in two Latin texts associated with the Old Saxon Heliand poem. These texts, the Praefatio (Preface) and Versus de Poeta (Lines about
8905-422: The Synod of Whitby to determine whether to follow Roman or Irish customs. Since Northumbria was converted to Christianity by the Celtic clergy, the Celtic tradition for determining the date of Easter and Irish tonsure were supported by many, particularly by the Abbey of Lindisfarne . Roman Christianity was also represented in Northumbria, by Wilfrid , Abbot of Ripon . By the year 620, both sides were associating
9042-483: The Vikings' retaking of York. Æthelstan is widely considered one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon kings for his efforts to consolidate the English kingdom and the prosperity his reign brought. In the early twentieth century, historians identified Eric of York with the Norwegian king Eric Bloodaxe, although more recent scholarship has challenged this association. He held two short terms as King of Northumbria, from 947 to 948 and 952 to 954. Historical documentation on his reign
9179-416: The abbacy (657–680) of St. Hilda (614–680). According to Bede, he "was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture , he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in English , which was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven." His sole surviving work
9316-544: The animals at the monastery Streonæshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey ). One evening, while the monks were feasting, singing, and playing a harp, Cædmon left early to sleep with the animals because he knew no songs. The impression clearly given by St. Bede is that he lacked the knowledge of how to compose the lyrics to songs. While asleep, he had a dream in which "someone" ( quidam ) approached him and asked him to sing principium creaturarum , "the beginning of created things." After first refusing to sing, Cædmon subsequently produced
9453-424: The area north of the Tees during the Viking conquest of Northumbria consisted of the Community of St. Cuthbert and the remnants of the English Northumbrian elites. While the religious Community of St. Cuthbert "wandered" for a hundred years after Halfdan Ragnarsson attacked their original home of Lindisfarne in 875, The History of St. Cuthbert indicates that they settled temporarily at Chester-le-Street between
9590-485: The bridegroom is coming! Arise to meet him!'" And he adds, saying, "Watch, therefore, for you do not know when the hour is coming." The early-Christian custom of praying at night is mentioned by Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 240), who speaks of their "nocturnal convocations" and their "absence all the night long at the paschal solemnities" ( nocturnae convocationes , sollemnibus Paschae abnoctantes ) Cyprian (c. 200 – 258) also speaks of praying at night, but not of doing so as
9727-430: The brothers-in-law and their descendants. The second intermarriage was more successful, with Oswiu marrying Edwin 's daughter and his own cousin Eanflæd to produce Ecgfrith , the beginning of the Northumbrian line. However, Oswiu had another relationship with an Irish woman named Fina which produced the problematic Aldfrith. In his Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert , Bede declares that Aldfrith, known as Fland among
9864-454: The centre for religion in Northumbria. The bishopric would not leave Lindisfarne and shift back to its original location at York until 664. Throughout the eighth century, Lindisfarne was associated with important figures. Aidan, the founder, Wilfrid , a student, and Cuthbert , a member of the order and a hermit, all became bishops and later Saints. Aidan assisted Heiu to found her double monastery at Hartlepool . She too came to be venerated as
10001-513: The city. After King Alfred re-established his control of southern England, the Norse invaders settled into what came to be known as the Danelaw in the Midlands , East Anglia , and the southern part of Northumbria. In Northumbria, the Norse established the Kingdom of York whose boundaries were roughly the River Tees and the Humber, giving it approximately the same dimensions as Deira. Although this kingdom fell to Hiberno-Norse colonisers in
10138-515: The context of the Christian belief in miracles, and it shows at the very least that Bede, an educated and intelligent man, believed Cædmon to be an important figure in the history of English intellectual and religious life. Bede gives no specific dates in his story. Cædmon is said to have taken holy orders at an advanced age and it is implied that he lived at Streonæshalch at least in part during Hilda's abbacy (657–680). Book IV Chapter 25 of
10275-432: The corpus of surviving Old English. The Old English translation of the Historia ecclesiastica does contain several minor details not found in Bede's Latin original account. Of these, the most significant is that Cædmon felt "shame" for his inability to sing vernacular songs before his vision, and the suggestion that Hilda's scribes copied down his verse æt muðe "from his mouth". These differences are in keeping with
10412-460: The creation of a distinctive Anglo-Scandinavian culture. Consequently, this indicates that conversion not only required a change in belief, but also necessitated its assimilation, integration, and modification into existing cultural structures. Northumbria's economy centred around agriculture, with livestock and land being popular units of value in local trade. By the mid 800s, the Open field system
10549-528: The death of his father, who was supposedly killed by Ælla of Northumbria . While he himself only ruled Northumbria directly for about a year in 876, he placed Ecgberht on the throne as a client-king, who ruled from 867 to 872. Halfdan was killed in Ireland in 877 whilst trying to regain control over Dyflin (Dublin) , a land he had ruled since 875. There were no further Viking kings in Northumbria until Guthfrith took over in 883. Æthelstan ruled as King of
10686-402: The depiction of Mary Magdalene as a valkyrie, with a trailing dress and long pigtail. Although one can read the iconography as the triumph of Christianity over paganism, it is possible that in the process of gradual conversion the Vikings might have initially accepted the Christian god as an addition to the broad pantheon of pagan gods. The inclusion of pagan traditions in visual culture reflects
10823-408: The double monastery Monkwearmouth–Jarrow were founded by the nobleman Benedict Biscop in 673 and 681. Biscop became the first abbot of the monastery, and travelled to Rome six times to buy books for the library. His successor, Abbot Ceolfrith , continued to add to the library until by one estimate the library at Monkwearmouth–Jarrow had over two hundred volumes. One who benefited from this library
10960-467: The earliest attested example of Old English poetry . It is also one of the early recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language. In 1898, Cædmon's Cross was erected in his honour in the graveyard of St Mary's Church in Whitby . The sole source of original information about Cædmon's life and work is Bede 's Historia ecclesiastica . According to Bede, Cædmon was a lay brother who cared for
11097-488: The end of lauds and which may have given that hour the name of "lauds", were each said only once in the week and no longer together. The longer psalms were divided into portions, which in many cases were assigned to different hours and days. In his completely new arrangement, matins always had nine psalms or portions of psalms, whether distributed in groups of three among three nocturns, each nocturn of which had three readings, or, on liturgically less important days, recited as
11234-399: The end. This was followed by three readings, each with a responsory. In each of the other two nocturns the readings and responsories were also three, but each nocturn had only three individual psalms instead of three groups of four. The ferial vigil had only one nocturn, composed of six groups of two psalms, followed by three readings with their responsories. On the basis of the practice of
11371-573: The faith in his traditionally pagan lands. It was during his reign that the monastery at Lindisfarne was created. Oswald fell in the Battle of Maserfield against Penda of Mercia in 642 but his influence endured because, like Edwin, Oswald was venerated as a saint after his death. Oswiu was the brother of Oswald and succeeded him after the latter's defeat in Maserfield . Oswiu succeeded where Edwin and Oswald failed as, in 655, he slew Penda during
11508-499: The first king of Northumbria in 651, and Eric Bloodaxe , the last king of Northumbria in 954, there were forty-five kings, meaning that the average length of reign during the entire history of Northumbria is only six and a half years. Of the twenty-five kings before the Danish rule of Northumbria, only four died of natural causes. Of those that did not abdicate for a holy life, the rest were either deposed, exiled, or murdered. Kings during
11645-415: The first nocturn were replaced by an Old Testament passage recited by heart. On Sundays, the monks rose earlier. The first nocturn had four readings instead of three, and the second nocturn also had four readings instead of recitation by heart of a passage of Saint Paul. Then followed a third nocturn, which instead of six psalms had three Old Testament canticles . These were followed by four readings from
11782-569: The guidance of the Irish cleric Aidan . He converted King Oswald of Northumbria in 635, and then worked to convert the people of Northumbria. King Oswald moved the bishopric from York to Lindisfarne . The monastery at Lindisfarne was founded by Aidan in 635, and based on the practices of the Columban monastery in Iona, Scotland. The location of the bishopric shifted to Lindisfarne, and it became
11919-486: The heavenly kingdom, the match is not exact enough to preclude independent composition. As Fritz and Day have shown, Bede's list itself may owe less to direct knowledge of Cædmon's actual output than to traditional ideas about the subjects fit for Christian poetry or the order of the catechism . Similar influences may, of course, also have affected the makeup of the Junius volume. The only known survivor from Cædmon's oeuvre
12056-537: The initial attack the Norse left to go north, leaving Kings Ælle and Osberht to recapture the city. The E recension of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests that Northumbria was particularly vulnerable at this time because the Northumbrians were once again fighting amongst themselves, deposing Osberht in favour of Ælle. In the second raid, the Vikings killed Kings Ælle and Osberht whilst recapturing
12193-608: The late 600s, Northumbrian coins featured kings' names, indicating royal control of currency. Royal currency was unique in Britain for a long time. King Aldfrith (685–705) minted Northumbria's earliest silver coins, likely in York. Later royal coinage bears the name of King Eadberht (738–758), as well as his brother, Archbishop Ecgbert of York . These coins were primarily small silver sceattas , more suitable to small, everyday transactions than larger gold Frankish or Roman coins. During
12330-413: The lifetime of the Kingdom of Northumbria, most inhabitants of northeast England did not consider themselves Danish, and were not perceived as such by other Anglo-Saxons. The synthesis of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian and Christian and Pagan visual motifs within the Danelaw can be illustrated by an examination of stone sculpture. However, the tradition of mixing pagan and Christian motifs is not unique to
12467-401: The likely pronunciation of the text in the early 8th-century Northumbrian dialect in which the text is written is included, along with a modern English translation. Bede's Latin version runs as follows: Northumbria Northumbria ( / n ɔːr ˈ θ ʌ m b r i ə / ; Old English : Norþanhymbra rīċe [ˈnorˠðɑnˌhymbrɑ ˈriːt͡ʃe] ; Latin : Regnum Northanhymbrorum )
12604-421: The mid-8th century. M in particular is traditionally ascribed to Bede's own monastery and lifetime, though there is little evidence to suggest it was copied much before the mid-8th century. The following text, first column on the left below, has been transcribed from M (mid-8th century; Northumbria). The text has been normalised to show a line-break between each line and modern word-division. A transcription of
12741-439: The multiplicity of nocturns from matins of Sundays, apart from those that were I class feasts (Easter and Pentecost). This required a reduction in the number of readings. The three former scriptural readings were combined into two, and the first part of the homily in the previous third nocturn became the new third reading. With his apostolic constitution Laudis canticum of 1 November 1970, Pope Paul VI announced his revision of
12878-488: The night") and ending in winter well before dawn (leaving an interval in which the monks were to devote themselves to study or meditation) but having to be curtailed in summer in order to celebrate lauds at daybreak. In the writings of John Cassian (c. 360–435) is found the earliest mention of dividing the vigil service into three parts, thus breaking the monotony of the long night prayer. The Peregrinatio ad loca sancta of about 380 still gave no evidence of any division of
13015-449: The north and east of England, an area that became the Danelaw . This language had a strong influence on the dialect of Northumbria. These settlers gave the region many place-names from their language as well as contributing to the vocabulary, syntax, and grammar of Old English. Similarities in basic vocabulary between Old English and Old Norse may have led to the dropping of their different inflectional endings. The number of borrowed words
13152-566: The northern Northumbrian territory of Bamburgh. King Eadred was the half-brother of Æthelstan and full brother of Edmund , all of whom were sons of King Edward the Elder . Eadred inherited the rule of Northumbria, but like Edmund lost it soon afterwards. When Eadred finally regained control in 954, he appointed Oswulf earl of the whole of Northumbria. Between the years of AD 737 and 806, Northumbria had ten kings, all of whom were murdered, deposed, or exiled or became monks. Between Oswiu ,
13289-560: The office is prayed at 12 am, being known as Lilio in the Syriac and Indian traditions; it is prayed facing the eastward direction of prayer by all members in these denominations, both clergy and laity, being one of the seven fixed prayer times . From the time of the early Church , the practice of seven fixed prayer times have been taught; in Apostolic Tradition , Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times
13426-616: The office of vigils whether on Sundays or on weekdays. Saint Benedict of Nursia (480 – c. 543 or 547) gives a detailed description of the division of vigils into two parts (for which he does not use the name "nocturns") on ordinary days, and three on Sundays and feast-days. The term nocturnus (nocturnal) appears nine times in his Rule . As an adjective four times (chapters 9, 10, 16 and 43) qualifying vigiliae (vigils), once (chapter 9) qualifying psalmi (psalms), once (chapter 10) qualifying laus (praise), and once (chapter 42) qualifying hora (hour). It appears twice (chapters 15 and 17) in
13563-591: The older traditional attribution of these texts to Cædmon or Cædmon's influence cannot stand. The poems show significant stylistic differences both internally and with Cædmon's original Hymn , and there is nothing about their order or content to suggest that they could not have been composed and anthologised without any influence from Bede's discussion of Cædmon's oeuvre. The first three Junius poems are in their biblical order and, while Christ and Satan could be understood as partially fitting Bede's description of Cædmon's work on future judgment, pains of hell and joys of
13700-640: The other's Easter observance with the Pelagian Heresy. The King decided at Whitby that Roman practice would be adopted throughout Northumbria, thereby bringing Northumbria in line with Southern England and Western Europe. Members of the clergy who refused to conform, including the Celtic Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne, returned to Iona. The episcopal seat of Northumbria transferred from Lindisfarne to York, which later became an archbishopric in 735. The Viking attack on Lindisfarne in 793
13837-418: The plural form, nocturni , with no express mention of a qualified noun, and thus practically as itself a noun equivalent to vigiliae . Psalmi (psalms) may be the masculine plural noun that it was originally understood as qualifying. In chapter 17, the phrase used is nocturni vel matutini , mentioned in relation to the psalms of the two hours that were later called matins and lauds, as a prelude to speaking of
13974-497: The poem is copied by scribes working a quarter-century or more after the main text was first set down. Even when the poem is in the same hand as the manuscript's main text, there is little evidence to suggest that it was copied from the same exemplar as the Latin Historia : nearly identical versions of the Old English poem are found in manuscripts belonging to different recensions of the Latin text; closely related copies of
14111-625: The poet), explain the origins of an Old Saxon biblical translation (for which the Heliand is the only known candidate) in language strongly reminiscent of, and indeed at times identical to, Bede's account of Cædmon's career. According to the prose Praefatio , the Old Saxon poem was composed by a renowned vernacular poet at the command of the emperor Louis the Pious . The text then adds that this poet had known nothing of vernacular composition until he
14248-573: The psalms in the six other canonical hours. Leonard J. Doyle's English version of the Rule of St Benedict translates horis nocturnis in chapter 42 as "the hours of the night", but elsewhere uses "the Night Office" to represent the entirety of each phrase in the Rule consisting of one of the nouns vigiliae , laus , hora , qualified by nocturnus ; to render an isolated nocturnus in chapters 15 and 17; and to translate vigiliae wherever it appears unaccompanied by nocturnus . Nowhere does it use
14385-515: The publication in 1535, and the widespread printing of the drastically modified breviary of Cardinal Francisco de Quiñones , which restored generally the weekly recitation of the whole psalter and the reading of the major part of the Bible in a year, but which provoked a reaction that led to the determination of the Council of Trent to restore a somewhat purified form of the previously existing form of
14522-560: The readings were distributed among two or three nocturns. Between Benedict and Paul VI the two-nocturns arrangement had been done away with, and on days when matins was not divided into three nocturns it was spoken of as being of a single "nocturn". With the reform of Paul VI, the term "nocturns", whether in the singular or the plural form, ceased to be used. In the Syriac Orthodox Church and Indian Orthodox Church (both of which are Oriental Orthodox Churches ), as well as
14659-498: The reign of King Eanred the silver content of the coins declined until they were produced in copper alloy, these coins are commonly known as stycas , but the term is an antiquarian invention. Stycas remains in use throughout the kingdom until at least the 860s and possibly later. Larger bullion values can be seen in the silver ingots found in the Bedale Hoard , along with sword fittings and necklaces in gold and silver. In
14796-475: The reign of Ecgberht II, Eadwulf "King of the North Saxons" (r. 890–912) succeeded him for control of Bamburgh, but after Eadwulf's death rulership of this area switched over to earls who were possible kinsmen or direct descendants of the royal Northumbrian house. Æthelfrith was the first Anglo-Saxon leader to hold the thrones of both Deira and Bernicia , and so he ruled over all the people north of
14933-454: The runic Ruthwell Cross and Franks Casket inscriptions, Cædmon's Hymn is one of three candidates for the early attested example of Old English poetry . There is continuing critical debate about the status of the poem as it is now available to us. While some scholars accept the texts of the Hymn as more or less accurate transmissions of Cædmon's original, others argue that they originated as
15070-429: The same area. Yeavering continued to be an important political centre after the Anglo-Saxons began settling in the north, as King Edwin had a royal palace at Yeavering. Overall, English place-names dominate the Northumbrian landscape, suggesting the prevalence of an Anglo-Saxon elite culture by the time that Bede – Anglo-Saxon England's most prominent historian – was writing in the eighth century. According to Bede,
15207-573: The seventh century ended with the murder of the last king of Deira in 651, and Northumbria was thereafter unified under Bernician kings. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber , Peak District and the River Mersey on the south to the Firth of Forth on the north. Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century when Deira was conquered by the Danes and formed into
15344-445: The throne upon his death. Eadberht of Northumbria , the brother of Ecgbert , Archbishop of York , is seen by some historians as a return to the imperial ambitions of seventh-century Northumbria and his reign may represent a period of economic prosperity. He faced internal opposition from rival dynasties and at least two actual or potential rivals were killed during his reign. In 758 he abdicated in favour of his son Oswulf and became
15481-472: The time of Bede , there were five languages in Britain: English , British , Irish , Pictish , and Latin . Northumbrian was one of four distinct dialects of Old English , along with Mercian , West Saxon , and Kentish . Analysis of written texts, brooches, runes and other available sources shows that Northumbrian vowel pronunciation differed from West Saxon. Although loans borrowed from
15618-487: The tradition to us taught us that in this hour every creature hushes for a brief moment to praise the Lord. Stars and trees and waters stand still for an instant. All the host of angels serving him, together with the souls of the righteous, praise God. This is why it is important that all those who believe make certain to pray at that hour. Testifying to this, the Lord says thus, "Behold, a cry was made at midnight, saying, 'Behold
15755-420: The word "nocturns". The Rule of St Benedict laid down that on ordinary days, after the introductory psalms, there were two nocturns. The first consisted of six psalms followed by three reading, each of which was accompanied by a sung responsory . The second nocturn had another six psalms followed by a passage from Saint Paul recited by heart and by some prayers. In the shorter summer months the three readings of
15892-635: The world, including biblical and classical literature , stories told by the aboriginal peoples of Australia , North America and the Fiji Islands , mission-age accounts of the conversion of the Xhosa in Southern Africa , the lives of English romantic poets , and various elements of Hindu and Muslim scripture and tradition. Although the search was begun by scholars such as Sir Francis Palgrave , who hoped either to find Bede's source for
16029-749: The years 875–883 on land granted to them by the Viking King of York, Guthred . According to the twelfth-century account Historia Regum , Guthred granted them this land in exchange for establishing him as king. The land extended from the Tees to the Tyne and anyone who fled there from either the north or the south would receive sanctuary for thirty-seven days, indicating that the Community of St. Cuthbert had some juridical autonomy. Based on their positioning and this right of sanctuary, this community probably acted as
16166-697: The years immediately following visually rich works like the Easby Cross were still being produced. The Venerable Bede (673–735) is the most famous author of the Anglo-Saxon Period, and a native of Northumbria. His Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ( Ecclesiastical History of the English People , completed in 731) has become both a template for later historians and a crucial historical account in its own right, and much of it focuses on Northumbria. He's also famous for his theological works, and verse and prose accounts of holy lives. After
16303-490: The young boy to rule. He survived one assassination attempt early in his rule, but fell victim to another assassin at the age of nineteen. During his reign he was adopted by Wilfrid, a powerful bishop. Ecclesiastical influence in the royal court was not an unusual phenomenon in Northumbria, and usually was most visible during the rule of a young or inexperienced king. Similarly, ealdorman, or royal advisors, had periods of increased or decreased power in Northumbria, depending on who
16440-457: Was Bede. In the early seventh century in York, Paulinus founded a school and a minster but not a monastery. The School at York Minster is one of the oldest in England. By the late eighth century, the school had a noteworthy library, estimated at one hundred volumes. Alcuin was a student and teacher at York before he left for the court of Charlemagne in 782. In 664, King Oswiu called
16577-419: Was Cædmon's "own" language, the poet's name is of Celtic origin: from Proto-Welsh * Cadṽan (from Brythonic * Catumandos ). Several scholars have suggested that Cædmon himself may have been bilingual on the basis of this etymology, Hilda's close contact with Celtic political and religious hierarchies, and some (not very close) analogues to the Hymn in Old Irish poetry. Other scholars have noticed
16714-666: Was a client-king for the Norse. The Northumbrians revolted against him in 872, deposing him in favour of Ricsige. Although the A and E recensions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle report that Halfdan was able to take control of Deira and take a raiding party north of the River Tyne to impose his rule on Bernicia in 874, after Halfdan's death ( c. 877 ) the Norse had difficulty holding on to territory in northern Bernicia. Ricsige and his successor Ecgberht were able to maintain an English presence in Northumbria. After
16851-442: Was a gift from God, gave him a new commission, this time for a poem based on "a passage of sacred history or doctrine", by way of a test. When Cædmon returned the next morning with the requested poem, he was invited to take monastic vows . The abbess ordered her scholars to teach Cædmon sacred history and doctrine, which after a night of thought, Bede records, Cædmon would turn into the most beautiful verse. According to Bede, Cædmon
16988-544: Was an early medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South Scotland . The name derives from the Old English Norþanhymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the people south of the Humber Estuary . What was to become Northumbria started as two kingdoms, Deira in the south and Bernicia in the north. Conflict in the first half of
17125-444: Was an influx of Scandinavian immigrants. Their religion was pagan and had a rich mythology. Within the Kingdom of York, once the raids and war were over, there is no evidence that the presence of Scandinavian settlers interrupted Christian practice. It appears that they gradually adopted Christianity and blended their Scandinavian culture with their new religion. This can be seen in carved stone monuments and ring-headed crosses, such as
17262-752: Was concentrated in the East Riding of Yorkshire , which included York , the North York Moors, and the Vale of York. The political heartlands of Bernicia were the areas around Bamburgh and Lindisfarne , Monkwearmouth and Jarrow , and in Cumbria , west of the Pennines in the area around Carlisle . The name that these two states eventually united under, Northumbria, might have been coined by Bede and made popular through his Ecclesiastical History of
17399-419: Was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven." Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn , a nine-line alliterative vernacular praise poem in honour of God. The poem is one of the early attested examples of Old English and is, with the runic Ruthwell Cross and Franks Casket inscriptions, one of three candidates for
17536-465: Was likely the pre-eminent mode of farming. Like much of eastern England, Northumbria exported grain, silver, hides, and slaves. Imports from Frankia included oil, luxury goods, and clerical supplies in the 700s. Especially after 793, raids, gifts, and trade with Scandinavians resulted in substantial economic ties across the North Sea . When coinage (as opposed to bartering) regained popularity in
17673-477: Was not limited to manuscript production and metalwork. It can be seen in and sculpture, such as the Ruthwell Cross and Bewcastle Cross . The devastating Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793 marked the beginning of a century of Viking invasions that severely limited the production and survival of Anglo-Saxon material culture. It heralded the end of Northumbria's position as a centre of influence, although in
17810-405: Was ordered to translate the precepts of sacred law into vernacular song in a dream. The Versus de Poeta contain an expanded account of the dream itself, adding that the poet had been a herdsman before his inspiration and that the inspiration itself had come through the medium of a heavenly voice when he fell asleep after pasturing his cattle. While our knowledge of these texts is based entirely on
17947-467: Was responsible for a large number of splendid vernacular poetic texts on a variety of Christian topics. After a long and zealously pious life, Cædmon died like a saint : receiving a premonition of death, he asked to be moved to the abbey's hospice for the terminally ill where, having gathered his friends around him, he died after receiving the Holy Eucharist, just before nocturns . Although he
18084-435: Was responsible for the composition of a large oeuvre of vernacular religious poetry. In contrast to Saints Aldhelm and Dunstan , Cædmon's poetry is said to have been exclusively religious. Bede reports that Cædmon "could never compose any foolish or trivial poem, but only those which were concerned with devotion", and his list of Cædmon's output includes work on religious subjects only: accounts of creation, translations from
18221-541: Was ruling at the time. Warfare in Northumbria before the Danish period largely consisted of rivalries with the Picts to the north. The Northumbrians were successful against the Picts until the Battle of Dun Nechtain in 685, which halted their expansion north and established a border between the two kingdoms. Warfare during the Danish period was dominated by warfare between the Northumbrians and other English Kingdoms. After
18358-400: Was sometimes referred to as three vigils or watches ( vigiliae ), as by Methodius of Olympus and Jerome . By the fourth century this Sunday vigil had become a daily observance, but no longer lasted throughout the night. What had been an all-night vigil became a service only from cockcrow to before dawn. Saint Benedict wrote about it as beginning at about 2 in the morning ("the eighth hour of
18495-471: Was the first of many raids on monasteries of Northumbria. The Lindisfarne Gospels survived, but monastic culture in Northumbria went into a period of decline in the early ninth century. Repeated Viking assaults on religious centres were one reason for the decrease in production of manuscripts and communal monastic culture. After 867, Northumbria came under control of the Scandinavian forces, and there
18632-546: Was the first ruler to unite the two polities under his rule. He exiled the Deiran Edwin to the court of King Rædwald of East Anglia in order to claim both kingdoms, but Edwin returned in approximately 616 to conquer Northumbria with Rædwald's aid. Edwin, who ruled from approximately 616 to 633, was one of the last kings of the Deiran line to reign over all of Northumbria. Oswald's brother Oswiu eventually succeeded him to
18769-543: Was the main basis of Pope Pius V 's Roman Breviary of 1568, the contents of which became much more the private prayer of the clergy than the communal prayer of the Christian people, and the canonical hours became disassociated from particular times of the day. This tendency of viewing the Liturgy of the Hours as edification and spiritual nourishment of individual clergy rather than a form of worship had been strengthened by
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