By Thomas Bainbridge
By the early Middle Ages, the schisms that are so common within Christianity had led to a wide divergence of practices and doctrines.
Among these offshoots was the Celtic Church. Having been separated from communion with Rome after the fall of the Empire, it had preserved an old method of calculating the date of Easter. Then however, with the reassertion of the Roman faith by Saint Augustine of Canterbury, aided by Paulinus, this became a critical issue.
Across the British Isles, one or the other method was adopted, so that there was no uniform celebration of Easter. Nowhere was this division more pronounced than in the Northumbrian royal house. King Oswy followed the Celtic example, while his son, Alhfrith, appointed as a sub-king over Deira, favoured Rome. Clashes on the matter led to the calling of the Synod, with both men joining their respective camps across the aisle at Whitby.
Today we might view differing observances of the date of Easter a social peculiarity, but in the 600s this involved some of the most important articles of faith, perhaps even who would enter Heaven or Hell. If a belief was deemed heretical, however innocuous, it was abominable. Wars had been fought over such matters, and indeed this may have been the cause of future conflict between father and son, in which Alhfrith was deposed from the throne of Deira and thus expunged from the historical record.
An Almighty Meeting
In 664, a great council was convened at the seat of Abbess Hilda at Streanæshalch, now Whitby, to settle the Easter problem.
Here were collected the great temporal and spiritual figures of the kingdoms. Oswy was eager to demonstrate his piety and would adjudicate over the matter.
The representatives of the Celtic and Roman traditions arrayed themselves, preparing for a debate that would determine the direction of Christian belief for centuries to come. In the former camp was Colman, Bishop of Lindisfarne, who had been brought up in the example of his predecessors, Aidan and Columba.
In the latter Roman camp were the Frankish Bishop, Agilbert and his protégé, Abbot Wilfrid. Both these men would later become saints.
The disputation began with the oratorical flourish of Colman, who asserted that the Celtic date of Easter was the same as that recorded by John as the date of the crucifixion, and that the Roman dating was instead a newer development.
- Celtic System: Easter falls on the Sunday between 14 and 21 days after the beginning of the lunar month following the vernal equinox, which was fixed at March 25th, giving an 84-year cycle. This was concurrent with the Jewish Passover.
- Roman System: Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after March 21st, giving a 19-year cycle. This was set by the Council of Nicaea in 325.
No doubt Colman seated himself with pride after his opening foray. However, this would not last long. Agilbert, as the leader of his party began by requesting that Wilfrid speak in his place, as he was a native of Northumbria and so did not require an interpreter. Though he had been tutored in the bosom of the Celtic faith on Lindisfarne, Wilfrid had since travelled widely throughout Europe, including Francia and Italy, and had there fully adopted the Roman outlook. Thus, he rose and began a powerful tirade against Colman.
Wilfrid Speaks
The speech was electrifying. In each point, Wilfrid demolished the Irish Bishop’s claims, showing that it was Colman who was in error: John the Apostle had adopted the method for certain purposes, of which Colman was ignorant, and that John had been superseded by the superior authority of Paul and Peter, who had observed an alternative method, which had then become established in Rome via the Church of Alexandria.
Colman tried to parry Wilfrid’s retort. He said that, by Wilfrid’s logic, Columba and Aidan had been heretics, though they were men loved by God. Wilfrid replied, according to Bede’s account:
“I will not deny that those who in their rude simplicity loved God with pious intent, were indeed servants of God and beloved by Him. Nor do I think that this observance did much harm to them while no one had come to show them a more perfect rule to follow.”
Wilfrid continued that now there was no excuse, since a more perfect rule had appeared.
The King’s Verdict
Oswy was impressed. He asked the Bishop to reply, but Colman no longer had an answer.
Oswy then stated that he should not dare to question the validity of the word of Christ’s Apostle, Peter, “since he is the doorkeeper, I will not contradict him”, and so accepted Wilfrid’s argument.
With this, the final decision was taken, and the Roman manner adopted in Northumbria, much to the chagrin of Colman, who resigned his bishopric. Scorning the decision, he returned to the misty Hebrides, taking with him all the Ionans who would still follow his heterodox example.
Haircuts
More comically, another debate within the Synod regarded the style of tonsure, or style of baldness, that was to be worn by monks.
Where the Irish brothers preferred a head that was shaved completely from the front up to the ears, the Roman method was to shave the area around the crown, leaving hair surrounding it. Though of lesser importance, it still animated the discussion.
On this question of grooming Oswy also decreed that the Roman method was to be adopted. But the Ionans likewise ignored the decision and maintained their peculiar hairstyle upon retreating to their distant island.
Following the Synod
Ironically, Wilfrid would later take up Colman’s position as the Bishop of Northumbria, though as a result of the Synod the seat was moved from Lindisfarne to York, perhaps to remove it from the taint of the Celtic Church.
Most clergy, including the pious Hilda and a young monk at Melrose called Cuthbert, who had fervently followed the Celtic rule, accepted the decision and adopted the new method.
Soon, the Roman calendar was disseminated throughout England, and before long the entirety of the British Isles, there to remain for almost a millennium until another great religious convulsion would shake its foundations.
