Feast of St Paulinus of York

Today is the feast day of St Paulinus, the founder of the see of York in 627 and subsequently Bishop of Rochester, who died on this day in 644.

St Paulinus

An early fifteenth century figure in the north choir clerestory of York Minster

Image:holycrosschurchhaltwhistle

I have posted about him and his mission in Northumbria in St Paulinus of York, St Chad at York and St Paulinus at Dewsbury.

There is a good account of his life, which refers to recent historical criticism of the sources, here.

In the centuries after his death, and despite his career - and indeed his appearance - being recorded by St Bede in his Ecclesiastical History he appears to have slipped in popular memory, and there appears little evidence of a local cultus, other than the tradition of his baptising at Dewsbury, and the lovely glass panel in York Minster of which I reproduce a detail. Later generations appear to have venerated St Wilfrid with numerous church dedications and depictions in the Minster at York far more than the first founder of the See. Both can, of course, be seen as founders not merely of the Church in the north but of a specifically Roman connection.

At York the later cult of St William came to predominate, though it probably never had the same popular appeal as that of St Wilfrid. That of St Paulinus became localised at his later see of Rochester, and wider devotion to him appears to be a more recent phenomenon, arising in the nineteenth century. 

St Paulinus at Dewsbury

Today is the feast of St Paulinus who as Apostle of Northumbria on the Gregorian mission  became the first Bishop of York in 627, and after his return south in the wake of the battle of Hatfield in 632 served as Bishop of Rochester until his death in 644. The life of him by Marios Costombeys in the Oxford DNB can he read here.
  

Anyone planning a pilgrimage to the north in his footseps might well go not only to York where he baptised King Edwin on the site of the Minster on Easter Day 627, but also Goodmanham, where the pagan High Priest Coifi destroyed his own temple, Yeavering where Paulinus preached to the Northumbrian court, and to the places where tradition asserts he conducted baptisms - Attleborough on the Trent, Catterick on the Swale and, well, Dewsbury.

I put it like that because Dewsbury, on the banks of the Calder, is, frankly, not a town one immediately associates with pilgrimage or an ancient history. This is unfair, but like Slough and Scunthorpe the very name conjures up a mental stereotype that is, somehow, uninviting. In reality Dewsbury has an interesting history, as outlined in this online article which can be read here, although there is little that is pre-Industrial revolution to see - the interesting medieval rectory Moot Hall was, shockingly, demolished for the ring road in 1962.

As the article demonstrates it is the very name which may hold the clue to Dewsbury's significance. Different interpretations strss eithe rits riparian importance in the valley or if the referred choice is that is Dewi's burh, then it may well, with a British rather than an Anglian place name be an important centre with one of the churches abandoned by the British clergy when the Kingdon of Elmet (possibly, roughly the modern, administrative county of West Yorkshire) had been conquered a decade earlier, and to which Paulinus refers in his letters. The tradition of Paulinus baptising at Deswbury is an old one and that this is the site of Campodonum.

Little of the present church is even medieval - most is Georgian or nineteenth century, dressed up in pseudo-medieval style. It does have the enduring tradition of the Devil's Knell being tolled on Christmas Eve - one strike of the bell for the number of the year - in atonement for or commemoration of a fourteenth century murder by Sir Thomas Soothill, as mentioned in the link above. Today it rejoices in the status of a Minster, and the parish website gives a useful account of the Paulinus tradition and of other aspects of local church history. It can be accessed here and by clicking on the 'Heritage' section and following the links.

I do not know Dewsbury well, although I have a slight family connection to the town, but it's place in the story of St Paulinus and his evangelisation of Northumbria is a reminder that there is always more to the history of a town or village than immediately meets the eye.

Dewsbury Minster

Image: Wikipedia

St Chad at York

Rather as I observed in my post about St Oswald of Worcester so also St Chad does not appear to have had much of a cult at York where he had served as Bishop in the absence of St Wilfrid, making way for him on his return from the continent and going as a missionary to Mercia. It was at Lichfield that devotion to him flourished in later centuries. However that there was continuing devotion at York can be seen in this early fifteenth century window from the north choir aisle of the Minster.

A window given by Robert Wolvenden, Treasurer of York Minster 1426-1432. (The borders contain RW with lion's heads and suns).

Left light: St Chad and below him three scenes:
1) Chad saves a hart with crucifix between antlers with king and queen looking on;
2) King Wulfere slays his sons
3) Chad on his deathbed.

Centre light: St Paulinus and below him three scenes:
1) Paulinus consecrated bishop;
2) Paulinus preaching before King Edwin and nobles;
3) the donor, Robert Wolvenden, at prayer.

Right light: St Nicholas and below him:
1) Steward pours money into bag;
2) Conversion of Jew: dishonest Christian under cart;
3) St Nicholas rescues three boys in tub.

Image: Gordon Plumb on Flickr

The fact that St Chad is placed alongside St Paulinus, the founder of the see of York, and St Nicholas, a paradigm of episcopal ministry, does suggest a continuing appreciation of St Chad's achievements and holiness at York.

St Paulinus of York

Today is the feast of St Paulinus, the founder of the see of York in 627, and the first bishop sent to evangelise or re-evengelise the northern Angles for the Roman mission.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography life can he read here and there is another life here.

No doubt because of the flight of Paulinus and Queen Ethelburga and her family after the death of King Edwin at the battle of Hatfield in 632, and his death in Rochester in 644 he never enjoyed the cult at York that developed for St Wilfrid (d.709) or later St William (d. 1153). Nevertheless he is depicted in the medieval glass in York Minster, as in this beautiful figure:

King Ælle of Deira and St Paulinus
The arms below the figures are those of King Henry IV and Thomas Walleworth
North Choir clerestory of York Minster, early fifteenth century

Image: Gordon Plumb on Flickr

St Paulinus also occurs, togetehr with St Wilfrid flanking St Gregory the Great in the great east window of 1405-8, the work of John Thornton of Coventry, and paid for by Bishop Walter Skirlaw of Durham, whose arms are in the centre at the base of this panel.

St Paulinus, St Gregory the Great and St Wilfrid

Image: Gordon Plumb on Flickr