King Oswy and the date of Easter

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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 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! (The picture of Whitby Abbey is taken from a copyright-free source)