Oswy (or Oswiu) was the King of Bernicia (the part of
England around the rivers Tyne and Wear) from 642 to 670. By the end of his
reign Bernicia had expanded to include of all of what was then known as
Northumbria, which covered most of northern England. He was acknowledged as the
“Bretwalda” or chief among the Anglo-Saxon kings.
Oswy was a Christian, having been converted from Paganism by
monks of the Celtic tradition who originated from the community of Iona off the
western coast of Scotland.
After the death of his first wife, Oswy took as his new
bride Eanfled, who was a princess from Kent. She came north accompanied by her
own chaplain and other followers, these being from the Roman tradition based on
the cathedral and monastery of Canterbury that had been founded by St
Augustine.
This clash of the two traditions caused problems on a number
of fronts, such as how monks should shave their heads – to half-way across the
head, leaving the hair long at the back, or with a circular bald patch on the
top of the head? The former was the Celtic tradition, and the latter was how
Roman monks did it.
A more serious difficulty was over the date of Easter,
because the Celts and Romans had different ways of calculating when it should
be. It all had to do with whether the calculation was made according to the
lunar cycle of 29.5 days, or the Julian calendar based on the 365.25 days of
the orbit of Earth around the Sun. Because the two cycles were incompatible –
365.25 does not divide by 29.5! – the king and queen ended up celebrating
Easter on different dates, with one keeping the Lenten fast while the other was
benefitting from the fast being over.
Oswy called a conference to sort everything out and get the
two sets of priests to agree on a single procedure for calculating the date, as
well as settling the haircut problem and other matters. This was the Synod held
at the Abbey of Whitby in 664.
The debate got quite heated at times, with accusations of
stupidity being hurled across the room from one set of priests to the other,
but eventually King Oswy had to make a decision.
What it eventually boiled down to was St Peter. The
Catholics from Rome always claimed that their Church was founded by Peter, and
the Bible made clear that Jesus had given Peter the keys to the Kingdom of
Heaven. Oswy was concerned that contradicting St Peter would not be in his best
interests, because Peter might not let him in to Heaven if he did so.
That settled it. Oswy agreed to be governed by the Pope in
Rome and the Celtic monks and priests headed back to Iona. They reckoned that
they would find a safe haven in Ireland, but when they got there they found
that the Irish church had also accepted the Roman model.
Oswy later started on a pilgrimage to Rome but died on the
journey, his body being brought back to Whitby for burial. Did St Peter unlock
the gates of Heaven for him? Who knows!
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