1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aidan (bishop)

For works with similar titles, see Aidan.

AIDAN, or Ædan, first bishop of Lindisfarne, a monk of Hii (Iona), was sent by the abbot Senegi to Northumbria, at the request of King Oswald, A.D. 634–635. He restored Christianity, and in accordance with the traditions of Irish episcopacy chose the island of Lindisfarne, close to the royal city of Bamborough, as his see. Although he retained the Irish Easter, his character and energy in missionary work won him the respect of Honorius and Felix. He survived Oswald, and died shortly after the murder of his friend Oswine of Deira, on the 31st of August 651, in the 17th year of his episcopate.

See Bede, Hist. Eccl. (ed. Plummer), iii. 3, 5, 17, 25.