Oswiu
King of Northumbria who presided at the Synod of Whitby in 664 and decided for the Roman Easter. He had been baptized and taught by Irish monks.
Oswiu had been instructed and baptized by Irish monks and spoke their language well, while his queen Eanfled followed the Roman usage she had learned in Kent. He opened the Synod of Whitby and gave the verdict himself, saying that he would not oppose Peter, the keeper of the keys of heaven (Bede, Ecclesiastical History 3.25). Bede dates the synod to the twenty-second year of his reign (Bede, Ecclesiastical History 3.26).
He died on 15 February 670 in his fifty-eighth year. Bede says that by then he was so attached to Roman ways that he had planned, had he recovered, to end his days in Rome, with Wilfrid as his guide (Bede, Ecclesiastical History 4.5).
In the timeline
- AD 664, firm dateThe Synod of Whitby
At Hilda’s monastery of Whitby, King Oswiu of Northumbria hears the Irish and the Roman parties argue over the date of Easter and decides for Rome, citing Peter’s keys. Bishop Colman and his followers leave for Iona and Ireland.
Primary sources
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History 3.25gutenberg.org
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History 3.26gutenberg.org
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History 4.5gutenberg.org