Saints

Monk of Iona, first bishop and abbot of Lindisfarne. Born in Ireland, Aidan came to England in the 7th century when King Oswald was living in exile with the monks at Iona, during the Mercian invasion. The King became Christian and when he regained his throne he gave Aidan the island of Lindisfarne, close to the royal palace of Bamburgh. Aidan converted many people. He founded churches and monaste... Read More

Martyr. Margaret Clitherow was born in 1555, in Middleton, Yorkshire, into a Protestant family. Her father, Thomas Middleton, was Sheriff of York from 1564 to 1565. Margaret was married at the age of 15 to John Clitherow who had a thriving butchery trade. The couple had three children and lived in The Shambles. Although her husband remained a Protestant, Margaret converted to Roman Catholicism t... Read More

Hermit. Giles was was one of the most popular saints of Western Europe in mediaeval times. He is said to have been a Greek Christian from Athens, who settled near Arles in France, sometime during the ninth century. According to one legend, he had a pet hind. One day when the Visigoth king Wamba was hunting in the woods and shot an arrow into the undergrowth, he came across the saint wounded by th... Read More