Editing Lindisfarne (section)

==== Prior to dissolution of the monasteries ====

Once the region had been restored to political and military stability under the government of [[William the Conqueror]], the prospects for the rebuilding of the island's monastery began to improve.  The first Norman [[Bishop of Durham]], [[William of St Calais]] endowed his new [[Benedictine]] [[Durham Cathedral|monastery at Durham]] with land and property in Northumberland, including Holy Island and much of the surrounding mainland. [[Durham Priory]] then re-established a monastery on the island in 1093.  The monastery was re-established as a smaller "priory" which was to be administered as a sub-monastery of the Durham priory.{{sfn|Finlayson|Hardie|2009}} Smaller monasteries are often referred to as [[priory|priories]] while larger monasteries are more commonly referred to as abbeys.

Under Norman rule, by 1150 the island's parish church had also been fully rebuilt over part of the site of the pre-Norman abbey.  The newly constructed chapel included a cenotaph (an empty tomb) marking the spot where Cuthbert's body was believed to have been buried. Although his body by then had been relocated in Durham Cathedral, the place of his former primary shrine on Lindisfarne was still considered by many to be sacred ground and continued to draw pilgrims.<ref>[https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/History/ History of Lindisfarne Priory] By english-heritage.org. Retrieved 2023-05-08.</ref>  The pre-Norman island bishopric of Lindisfarne was not restored under Norman rule, perhaps because the newer and more centrally located bishopric of Durham was then better able to meet the church's administrative needs in the area.

As such, the island's restored but slightly smaller Benedictine monastery (sized as a priory under Norman rule) was then able to continue in relative peace under the new Norman monarchy and its successor [[royal house]]s for the next four centuries until its final [[Dissolution of the monasteries|dissolution]] in 1536 as a result of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII's]] dissolution of the English church's ties to Rome, and his subsequent closing of the monasteries.