Together these four " foundation collections " included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf.

At some point in the early 700s the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illustrated Latin copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, was made probably at Lindisfarne and the artist was possibly Eadfrith, who later became Bishop of Lindisfarne.

The Lindisfarne Gospels now reside in the British Library in London, somewhat to the annoyance of some Northumbrians.

* Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne ( 698 – 721 ) and presumed author of the Lindisfarne Gospels

Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels, c 700.

Northumbria played an important role in the formation of Insular art, a unique style combining Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Pictish, Byzantine and other elements, producing works such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, St Cuthbert Gospel, the Ruthwell Cross and Bewcastle Cross, and later the Book of Kells, which was probably created at Iona.

After the Synod of Whitby in 664 Roman church practices officially replaced the Celtic ones but the influence of the Celtic style continued, the most famous examples of this being the Lindisfarne Gospels.

* Brown ( 2003 ), Brown, Michelle P., The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality and the Scribe, 2003, British Library, ISBN 978-0-7123-4807-2

The area has a strong religious past, as can be seen in works such as the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The Lindisfarne Gospels ( 715-720 AD ) are an early example ( Brown 2004 ).

Carpet page from Lindisfarne Gospels, showing knotwork detail.

These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts, such as the 8th-century St. Teilo Gospels, the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contains the incipit from the Gospel of Matthew.

The Lindisfarne Gospels ( London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D. IV ) is an Illuminated manuscript gospel book produced around the year 700 AD in a monastery off the coast of Northumberland at Lindisfarne, which is now on display in the British Library in London.

The Lindisfarne Gospels are presumed to be the work of a monk named Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698 and died in 721.

Aspects of the history and legends concerning Lindisfarne have occasionally found their way into the lyrics and concepts of bands, musicians and composers.

While there are few records, the Vikings are thought to have led their first raids in Scotland on the holy island of Iona in 794, the year following the raid on the other holy island of Lindisfarne, Northumbria.

He had decided to become a monk after seeing a vision on the night in 651 that St Aidan, the founder of Lindisfarne, died, but seems to have seen some military service first.

After the Synod of Whitby, Cuthbert seems to have accepted the Roman customs, and his old abbot, Eata, called on him to introduce them at Lindisfarne as prior there.

" In 698 Cuthbert was reburied at Lindisfarne in the decorated oak coffin now usually meant by St Cuthbert's coffin, though he was to have many more coffins.

The Lindisfarne Gospels have been a subject of study for generations of scholars and art lovers ( Backhouse 1981, 8 ).

Because the body of Cuthbert was buried in Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne became an important pilgrimage destination in the 7th and 8th centuries and the Lindisfarne Gospels would have contributed to the cult of Saint Cuthbert ( BBC Tyne 2012 ).

The Lindisfarne Gospels are impeccably designed, and as Backhouse points out vellum would have been too expensive for ‘ practice runs ’ for the pages, and so “ preliminary designs ” may have been done on a wax tablet ( a device that is hollowed out wood or bone with a layer of wax ).

It is estimated that after around seven years the Lindisfarne community settled in the Priory at Chester-le-Street in Durham where they stayed until 995 ( where Aldred would have done his interlinear translation of the text ) ( Backhouse 2004 ).

The birds that appear in the manuscript may also have been from Eadfrith ’ s own observations of wildlife in Lindisfarne ( Backhouse 2004 ).

There were other Gospel books produced in the same time period and geographic area that have similar qualities to the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The Durham Gospels ( Durham Cathedral Library ) are suspected as being created slightly earlier than the Lindisfarne Gospels, and while they have the bird interlace, the birds lack the naturalness and realness of Eadfrith ’ s birds in the Lindisfarne Gospels ( Backhouse 1981, 67 ).

Several possible locations have been mooted, including Durham Cathedral, Lindisfarne itself or one of the museums in Newcastle upon Tyne or Sunderland.

This may have been due to his more thoroughly Christian upbringing, but the influence of Bishop Aidan of Lindisfarne, by then a major figure in Bernicia, could also have been significant.

Eahlfrith had been brought up with Irish-Northumbrian usages, and his rejection of these, along with the expulsion of the future saints Cuthbert of Lindisfarne and Eata of Hexham from Ripon, is considered to have had a strong political component.

At Lindisfarne Wilfrid is said to have " learned the whole Psalter by heart and several books ".

Fourth, it may have been produced in the north of England, perhaps at Lindisfarne, then brought to Iona and from there to Kells.

Although it seems clear from the style of the script that the text was written at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, it is possible that the binding was then added at Lindisfarne ; the form of the plant scrolls can be compared to those on the portable altar also found in Cuthbert's coffin, presumed to have been made there, though also to other works of the period, such as the shaft of an Anglo-Saxon cross from Penrith and the Vespasian Psalter.

He had decided to become a monk after seeing a vision on the night in 651 that St Aidan, the founder of Lindisfarne, died, but seems to have seen some military service first.

Bede also travelled to the monastery of Lindisfarne, and at some point visited the otherwise unknown monastery of a monk named, a visit that is mentioned in a letter to that monk.

Iona also radiated out towards the Europe of the Dark Ages, not to mention Pagan England at Lindisfarne.

Lindisfarne also has the small Lindisfarne Castle, based on a Tudor fort, which was refurbished in the Arts and Crafts style by Sir Edwin Lutyens for the editor of Country Life, Edward Hudson.

Lindisfarne was mainly a fishing community for many years, with farming and the production of lime also of some importance.

* Lindisfarne is referred to as The Holy Isle in Nancy Farmer's book " The Sea of Trolls ," which also references the Norse invasion of Lindisfarne.

St Cuthbert, Lindisfarne, and the Viking raid, are also focal points of Westall's " The Wind Eye ".

The start of the Viking Age, with the sack of Lindisfarne, also coincided with Charlemagne's Saxon Wars, or Christian wars with pagans in Saxony.

Columba's founding Iona within the bounds of Dál Riata ensured that the kingdom would be of great importance in the spread of Christianity in northern Britain, not only to Pictland, but also to Northumbria, via Lindisfarne, to Mercia, and beyond.

Edwin had been baptised by Paulinus of York, an Italian who had come with the Gregorian mission from Rome, but his successor Oswald also invited Irish monks from Iona to found the monastery at Lindisfarne where Cuthbert was to spend much of his life.

Lindisfarne, also known as “ Holy Island ,” is located off the coast of Northumberland in northern England ( Chilvers 2004 ).

The design of the Lindisfarne Gospels has also been related to the Tara Brooch ( National Museum of Ireland, Dublin ), displaying animal interlace, curvilinear patterns, and borders of bird interlace, but unfortunately the origin and place of the brooch is unknown ( Backhouse 1981, 66 ).

The Book of Durrow ( Trinity College, Dublin ) is also thought of as an earlier insular manuscript, as the style of the manuscript is simpler and less developed than that of the Lindisfarne Gospels ( Backhouse 1981, 75 ).

A manuscript so richly decorated reveals that the Lindisfarne Gospels not only had a practical ceremonial use, but also attempted to symbolize the Word of God in missionary expeditions ( Backhouse 1981, 33 ).

Lutyens also refurbished Lindisfarne Castle for its wealthy owner.

During the next 50 years Celtic missionaries evangelized the kingdom of Northumbria with an episcopal see at Lindisfarne and missionaries then proceeded to some of the other kingdoms to evangelize those also.

In the context of the cult of Cuthbert, the lavishly illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels were made at Lindisfarne, probably shortly after the St Cuthbert Gospel, with covers involving metalwork, perhaps entirely made in it, which are also now lost.

Edwin had been baptised by Paulinus of York, an Italian who had come with the Gregorian mission from Rome, but his successor Oswald also invited Irish monks from Iona to found the monastery at Lindisfarne where Cuthbert was to spend much of his life.