Editing Lindisfarne Gospels (section)

== Commission ==
The Lindisfarne Gospels is a Christian manuscript, containing the four [[gospel]]s recounting the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The manuscript was used for ceremonial purposes to promote and celebrate the Christian religion and the word of God.<ref name=":0" /> Because the body of Cuthbert was buried there, Lindisfarne became an important pilgrimage destination in the 7th and 8th centuries, and the Lindisfarne Gospels would have contributed to the cult of St Cuthbert.<ref name=":0" /> The gospels used techniques reminiscent of elite metalwork to impress a [[Northumbria]]n audience, most of whom could not read, and certainly not understand the Latin text.

According to Aldred's colophon, the Lindisfarne Gospels were made in honour of God and Saint [[Cuthbert]], a Bishop of the Lindisfarne monastery who was becoming "Northern England's most popular Saint".<ref>Backhouse 1981, 7; Chilvers 2004.</ref> Scholars think that the manuscript was written sometime between Cuthbert's death in 687 and Eadfrith's death in 721.<ref name=":0">BBC Tyne 2012</ref> There is a significant amount of information known about Cuthbert thanks to two accounts of his life that were written shortly after his death, the first by an anonymous monk from Lindisfarne, and the second by [[Bede]], a famous monk, historian, and theologian.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 8"/>

Cuthbert entered into the monastery of [[Old Melrose|Melrose]], now in lowland Scotland but then in [[Northumbria]], in the late 7th century, and after being ordained a priest he began to travel throughout Northumbria, "rapidly acquiring a reputation for holiness and for the possession of miraculous powers".<ref>Backhouse 1981, 8–9.</ref> The [[Synod of Whitby]] in 664 pitted the Hiberno-Celtic church against the Roman church regarding the calculation of the date of Easter. The dispute was adjudged by King [[Oswiu of Northumbria]] in favour of the Roman church, but many of the leading monks at Lindisfarne then returned to Iona and Ireland, leaving only a residue of monks affiliated to the Roman church at Lindisfarne. Due to increasingly slack religious practice in Lindisfarne, Cuthbert was sent to Lindisfarne to reform the religious community.<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 9">Backhouse 1981, 9.</ref> In Lindisfarne Cuthbert began to adopt a solitary lifestyle, eventually moving to [[Inner Farne]] Island, where he built a [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]].<ref name=" Backhouse 1981, 9"/> Cuthbert agreed to become bishop at the request of King [[Ecgfrith]] in 684, but within about two years he returned to his hermitage in Farne as he felt death approaching. Cuthbert died on 20 March 687 and was buried in Lindisfarne. As a venerated saint, his tomb attracted many pilgrims to Lindisfarne.<ref>Backhouse 1981, 9–10.</ref>