{{Otheruses|Aidan (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox Saint
|name=Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
|birth_date=
|death_date={{death date|651|8|31|df=y}}
|feast_day=[[31 August]] (Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion), [[June 9]] (Lutheran Church)
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Anglican Communion]], [[Lutheran Church]]
|image=Aidan of Lindisfarne.jpg
|imagesize=200px
|caption=
|birth_place=[[Ireland]]
|death_place=Parish Churchyard, [[Bamburgh]], [[Northumberland]]
|titles=Bishop
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=Monk holding a flaming torch; stag
|patronage=[[Northumbria]]; [[Firefighter]]s
|major_shrine=originally [[Lindisfarne|Lindisfarne Abbey]], [[Northumberland]]; later disputed between [[Iona Abbey]] & [[Glastonbury Abbey]] (all destroyed).
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}
::"''[[Augustine of Canterbury|Augustine]] was the Apostle of Kent, but Aidan was the Apostle of the English.''" - [[Joseph Barber Lightfoot|Bishop Lightfoot]]

'''Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne''', the '''Apostle of Northumbria''' (died [[651]]), was the founder and first [[bishop]] of the [[monastery]] on the island of [[Lindisfarne]] in [[England]]. A [[Christianity|Christian]] [[missionary]], he is credited with restoring Christianity to [[Northumbria]]. Aidan is the anglified form of the original [[Old Irish]] ''Áedán''.

==Life==

An [[Irish ethnicity|Irishman]], possibly born in [[Connacht]], Aidan was a [[monk]] at the monastery on the island of [[Iona]] in [[Scotland]].

The [[Roman Empire]] had spread Christianity into Britain, but due to its decline, [[paganism]] was seeing a resurgence in some parts. [[Oswald of Northumbria]] had been living at the Iona monastery as a king in exile since [[616]] AD. There he converted to Christianity and was [[baptize|baptised]]. In [[634]] he gained the crown of Northumbria, and was determined to bring Christianity to the mostly pagan people there.

Owing to his past at Iona, he requested missionaries from that monastery instead of the Roman-backed monasteries in England. At first the monastery sent a new bishop named Corman, but he returned to Iona and reported that the Northumbrians were too stubborn to be converted. Aidan criticised Corman's methods and was soon sent as a replacement in [[635]].<ref name=Powicke237>Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 237</ref>

Aidan chose the island of [[Lindisfarne]], close to the royal castle at [[Bamburgh]], as his seat of his [[diocese]]. King Oswald, who spoke Irish, often had to translate for Aidan and his monks, who did not speak English at first. When Oswald died in [[642]], Aidan received continued support from King [[Oswine of Deira]] and the two became close friends.

An inspired missionary, Aidan would walk from one village to another, politely conversing with the people he saw and slowly interesting them in Christianity. According to legend, the king gave Aidan a horse so that he wouldn't have to walk, but Aidan gave the horse to a beggar. By patiently talking to the people on their own level Aidan and his monks slowly restored Christianity to the Northumbrian communities. Aidan also took in twelve English boys to train at the monastery, to ensure that the area's future religious leadership would be English.

In [[651]] a pagan army attacked Bamburgh and attempted to set its walls ablaze. According to legend, Aidan prayed for the city, after which the winds turned and blew the smoke and fire toward the enemy, repulsing them.

Aidan was a member of the [[Celtic Christianity|Irish branch]] of Christianity instead of the Roman branch, but his character and energy in missionary work won him the respect of [[Pope Honorius I]] and [[Felix of Dunwich]].

Aidan's friend Oswine of Deira was murdered in [[651]]. Twelve days later Aidan died, on [[August 31]], in the 17th year of his [[bishop|episcopate]].<ref name=Powicke237/> He had become ill while at the Bamburgh castle and died leaning against the buttress of a church on a royal estate near Bamburgh.

The monastery he founded grew and helped found churches and other monasteries throughout the area. It also became a centre of learning and a storehouse of scholarly knowledge. [[Saint Bede the Venerable]] would later write Aidan's biography and describe the miracles attributed to him. Saint Aidan's feast day is on [[31 August]].

{{start box}}
{{s-ecc}}
{{succession box |
before=--|
title=[[Bishop of Lindisfarne]]|
after=[[Finan of Lindisfarne|Saint Finan]]|
years=[[635]] - [[651]]|
}}
{{end box}}

==See also==
*[[St Aidan's College]] at the [[University of Durham]] is named for Aidan.
*[[St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School]], a private school in Brisbane, Australia which claims its name from this patron saint.
*[[St Aidan's Church, Leeds]] contains celebrated mosaics by [[Frank Brangwyn]] illustrating the life of Aidan.
*[[St Aidans RC School]] in [[Sunderland]], [[Tyne and Wear]], [[England]].
*St Aidan's Chapel at the [[Toowoomba Preparatory School]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
*[[Maurice Powicke|Powicke, F. Maurice]] and E. B. Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961

==External links==
*[http://www.discovertheborders.co.uk/places/images/small/1106-1.jpg Image of a modern statue of Aidan on Lindisfarne]
*[http://www.losgolding.com/aidan.pdf Biography on Aidan of Lindisfarne] by David Golding (PDF)
*[http://www.irelandseye.com/irish/people/saints/aidan.shtm Irelandseye.com biography of Saint Aidan]
*[http://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/general/aidan.htm Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne] by Reverend Canon Kate Tristram
*[http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/aidan.html Early British Kingdoms: St. Aidan]
*[http://www.netacc.net/~mafg/book/v2c3s3.htm A History Of The Church] (around the time of Aidan) by Philip Hughes
*[http://www.pase.ac.uk/pase/apps/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?personKey=358 Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Aidan]

{{Persondata
|NAME=Aidan
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Bishop of Lindisfarne; Saint
|DATE OF BIRTH=
|PLACE OF BIRTH=
|DATE OF DEATH=August 31,651
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aidan}}
[[Category:651 deaths]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon saints]]
[[Category:Bishops of Lindisfarne]]
[[Category:Irish monks]]
[[Category:Irish saints]]
[[Category:Renewers of the church]]
[[Category:Scottish saints]]
[[Category:7th century bishops]]

[[de:Aidan von Lindisfarne]]
[[es:Aidan]]
[[fr:Aidan de Lindisfarne]]
[[it:Sant'Aidan]]
[[sw:Aidan Mtakatifu]]
[[uk:Святий Айден]]