Page "Cuthbert" Paragraph 16

According to Bede's life of the saint, when Cuthbert's sarcophagus was opened eleven years after his death, his body was found to have been perfectly preserved or incorrupt.

This apparent miracle led to the steady growth of Cuthbert's posthumous cultus, to the point where he became the most popular saint of Northern England.

Numerous miracles were attributed to his intercession and to intercessory prayer near his remains.

The noted 8th century author Bede wrote both a verse and a prose life of St Cuthbert around 720.

He has been described as " perhaps the most popular saint in England prior to the death of Thomas Becket in 1170.