Monasteries were established on islands, peninsulas, river mouths and cliffs. Although isolated communities were less susceptible to the politics of the heartland they were vulnerable to raiders. In 793, a Viking raid on Lindisfarne was taken as the beginning of the Viking Age. The assault on Lindisfarne attacked the sacred heart of the Northumbrian kingdom, where Cuthbert (d. 687) had been bishop, and where his body was revered as that of a saint.
Monasteries were established on islands, peninsulas, river mouths and cliffs. Although isolated communities were less susceptible to the politics of the heartland they were vulnerable to raiders. In 793, a Viking raid on Lindisfarne caused much consternation throughout the Christian west and is now often taken as the beginning of the Viking Age. The assault on Lindisfarne attacked the sacred heart of the Northumbrian kingdom, desecrating ‘the very place where the Christian religion began in our nation’. It was where Cuthbert (d. 687) had been bishop, and where his body was now revered as that of a saint.
Size: 4564px × 3435px
Location: Lindisfarne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK
Photo credit: © De Luan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 19th, 793, 8th, ancient, antiquity, art, battlefield, black, bygone, century, christianity, clergy, combat, culture, cuthbert, death, drawing, england, engraving, etching, fighting, heritage, historic, history, holy, iconic, illustration, invasion, island, killed, lindisfarne, line, lithograph, massacre, medieval, monastery, monastic, monks, monochrome, murdered, northumberland, northumbria, picture, put, raid, religion, romanesque, site, sketch, soldiers, st, viking, vikings, white, woodcut
