The story of Durham Cathedral begins 80 miles away in the Lindisfarne Monastery, founded by Irish monks around 635. Lindisfarne island housed the famous monastery where monks copied the gospels, adorning some pages with exquisite illustrations. One of the illuminated manuscripts is known today as the Lindisfarne Gospels, created in honor of Lindisfarne’s most famous bishop, Saint Cuthbert.
The ascetic Saint Cuthbert (634-687) evangelized Northumbria and helped foster a reconciliation between Celtic and Roman Catholic Christians. He entered the Melrose Abbey as a novice at age 16, where soon Cuthbert and the other monks exchanged their Celtic tonsures for the Roman tonsure. Eventually he became the Melrose Abbey Prior and later Abbot of Lindisfarne. Cuthbert traveled on foot to remote locations to preach and administer the sacraments. Though known for his humility, generosity to the poor, love of animals, and an ability to heal and perform miracles, he sought a more reclusive life. His reputation, however, earned the attention of church leaders and King Ecgfrith, who recruited him to become bishop.
Cuthbert served as Lindisfarne’s bishop starting in 684, but resigned two years later. He died months after resigning and the monks buried Cuthbert at Lindisfarne. Per the custom of the times, his body remained in its grave for several years to allow the soft tissues to disintegrate. After that time, the monks would open the grave and wash the bones in preparation for veneration. In 698, eleven years after his death, however, the monks found his body perfectly preserved. Cuthbert was formally declared a saint and pilgrims soon traveled to his shrine seeking miracles and donating gifts to the monastery. It is probably during this time that the monks created the Lindisfarne Gospels, perhaps to accompany Cuthbert’s tomb.
Lindisfarne monastery lives in history for another reason. In 793, Vikings savagely attacked the monastery, murdering many of the monks and destroying or stealing religious treasures. The monks eventually returned, but their unease remained unabated as Vikings attacked other monasteries. Wanting to protect the remains of Northern England’s most beloved saint, the monks fled in 875 with Cuthbert’s relics, the Lindisfarne Gospels, and other treasures, wandering Northumbria for about seven years in search of safety. They settled in Chester-le-Street, near the city of Durham, around 883. As battles with both Vikings and the nearby Scots continued, the monks sought safer ground and wandered again with their treasures. In 995, the roaming monks reported that Cuthbert’s coffin became too heavy to move further and they concluded that Saint Cuthbert’s spirit had selected his body’s eternal resting place. They were in Durham.
Durham’s Saxon Christian church, known as the White Church, housed Saint Cuthbert’s shrine. Life changed, though, when William, Duke of Normandy, took control of England in 1066 and became forever known to history as William the Conqueror, King of England. He brought master masons from the Normandy and started a massive building campaign of castles and cathedrals. With support from Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury (1070 – 1089), the Norman conquerors built new cathedrals over the remains of the Saxon churches.
Durham retained strategic military value due to its proximity to Scotland and a steady assault of Scottish soldiers. Thus, the Bishop built a defensive castle in 1072. Durham Cathedral’s medieval bishops were known as “Prince Bishops” and had significant regional power with civil, military, and ecclesiastical authority. In his religious role, Bishop William of Saint Calais established a Durham monastery in 1083, governed by the Rule of Saint Benedict. Plans for a new Norman cathedral followed. The monks dismantled Saint Cuthbert’s shrine in 1092 from the old White Church, protecting his relics as cathedral construction began in 1093. Serving dual roles – that of worship and defense – the cathedral was built on a promontory high above a bend in the River Wear. This muscular building was to serve as a fortress cathedral and a place for Saint Cuthbert’s shrine.
By 1104, the eastern section of this new cathedral was ready to receive the relics. Before moving Saint Cuthbert’s body, the monks opened his coffin and yet again reported a body in remarkable condition. Though Cuthbert had died over four centuries ago, the monks reported for the second time a body that remained intact. Several witnesses confirmed the surprising state of his remains. The monks then translated the precious relics to the new shrine in the new cathedral and Cuthbert became England’s most important saint until the assassination of Thomas Becket in 1170.
Although cathedral leaders were men of God, they also knew well the financial resources that could result from pilgrimages. Durham Cathedral’s leaders made sure that this primary destination for English pilgrims deserved its reputation. Originally located in an apse on the eastern wall of Durham Cathedral, two small chapels flanked Cuthbert’s shrine on either side and two choir aisles allowed for processions. The massive shrine was above ground on a green marble base with carvings of religious scenes and dragons. An embroidered cloth covered the shrine, embellished with silver bells that would jingle when lifted for special occasions. Gilding, jewels (most notably an emerald valued at over £3,000), and semi-precious stones adorned the shrine. Side cupboards stored the pilgrims’ gifts and provided storage space for other relics. Overhead, a candle chandelier provided light and eventually monks added the flags of nobles and a Scottish banner captured in battle. Surely this shrine did not disappoint.
By 1133, Durham Cathedral was essentially complete. From 1242 – 1290, masons built the Chapel of Nine Altars to provide additional space for medieval pilgrims. The masons replaced the Romanesque apse with a long rectilinear space that extended past the choir aisles. Nine altars filled on this eastern wall, giving the area its name. Cuthbert’s shrine platform was enlarged. Architecturally, the new Gothic style known as Early English was used for this remodeled space, complete with pointed arches, tall lancet windows with window tracery, a rose window, and outside buttresses to support the weight of the new construction.
By the 14th century, some religious thought leaders began to publicly question religious practices such as the veneration of saints. The invention of the printing press and the distribution of printed bibles contributed to the reformation fever. In England, these various forces climaxed when Henry VIII, while remaining Catholic, broke from Rome in 1534 and became the head of the English Church. Monasteries were dissolved and the clergy and cathedrals were taxed. Henry took aim at saints’ shrines, starting with the destruction of Thomas Becket’s Canterbury shrine in 1538.[1] Henry’s representatives arrived at Durham around 1540 to continue their dismantlement of notable shrines. But even they realized the degree of adoration that this beloved Anglo-Saxon saint had among the King’s subjects. After liberating Saint Cuthbert’s shrine of its jewels[2], Henry’s team found that Cuthbert’s body – for a third time since his death (now about 900 years before) – remained remarkably intact, with skin still covering his bones and the body still dressed in vestments. King Henry’s men were astonished and removed the body for safekeeping until an appropriate solution could be found. The solution was to return Saint Cuthbert to the Cathedral, but in a more modest shrine placed in the floor.
Henry’s cataclysmic break with Rome changed the course of English history and England endured religious whiplash in the coming years. Protestants raised Henry’s son and heir, Edward VI, who issued a Royal injunction of 1547 requiring further destruction of Catholic religious imagery. Iconoclasts began removing or destroying images of saints and angels, and the veneration of saints was no longer acceptable. Consequently, Cuthbert’s statue was pulled down and stained glass that told his story was destroyed. Edward lived for only a short time and left no heir, so his half-sister, the Catholic Mary 1, assumed the throne in 1553. Saints and statues were once again encouraged. Mary also begat no heir, so Edward and Mary’s half-sister, Elizabeth I, assumed the throne in 1558. Although she personally retained some “Catholic” practices, Elizabeth was Protestant, and reigned until 1603. Cathedrals – and the nation – enjoyed relative stability until the civil wars of the mid-17th century. The English Church (which became the Church of England in 1660) survived the years of the Commonwealth and exists to this day.
Despite the years of destruction and turmoil, the shrine of Saint Cuthbert remains in Durham Cathedral. Much more restrained than the original with its jewels and semi-precious stones, the current shrine consists of a marble slab on the floor, four large candles, and a modern vision of Christ painted on a canopy suspended above. It still attracts pilgrims who believe the Saint’s relics can perform miracles. The cathedral’s museum retains fragments of Saint Cuthbert’s ancient wooden coffin, his gold and garnet cross, and a portable altar and ivory comb found in his coffin.
It is interesting to speculate how English history – and Saint Cuthbert’s current shrine – would be different had Henry VIII fathered a male heir with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Would the emerging beliefs of some English clergy (as far back as Wycliff) and the rumblings of continental reformation have culminated in a Protestant England at a later date? If so, would the iconoclasts have been as destructive? If not, would England have remained Catholic and modern visitors and pilgrims been able to enjoy the original shrine, full of gilding and jewels and glory? Although it is easy for us to condemn the iconoclasts, can we consider some acted with sincere intent and faith? Yet reality demands that we take comfort that Durham still stands and that this beloved Anglo-Saxon saint can still inspire and ease modern souls.
Sources consulted
Backhouse, Janet (1981) The Lindisfarne Gospels, Phaidon Press Limited, London.
Cannon, Jon (2007) Cathedral, The Great English Cathedrals and the World That Made Them, Constable, London.
Jenkins, Simon (2016) England’s Cathedrals, Little, Brown, London.
Morris, Marc (2021) The Anglo-Saxons, Pegasus Books, Ltd., New York.
Orme, Nicholas (2017) The History of England’s Cathedrals, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Ontario.
Durham Cathedral, ‘Explore the Cathedral, The Shrine of St Cuthbert’ <https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/saint-cuthbert-shrine > (Accessed 12 July 2021).
[1] Becket and King Henry II had battled for power between the crown and the church, culminating in Becket’s martyrdom and subsequent superstar projection to sainthood.
[2] The aforementioned emerald was forever lost.