ST. CEOLWULF (JAN. 15TH)

St. Ceolwulf of Northumbria, Shown Here as King and Abbot, Expounding the Scriptures to His Subjects

Edited by Bp. Joseph

On the 15th of January we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Ceolwulf of Northumbria (AD 695 - 765), Patron of Bede, King, Monk and Saint. “Ceol” means “Song” in Irish, and so the young Prince was Christened “Wolf-Song” to commemorate the howling that was heard on the day of his birth. He was the son of King Cuðwine, and brother of King Cenred. He was able to claim descent from Ida through his family line as described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

“Ceolwulf succeeded to the kingdom, and held it eight years, and Ceolwulf was the son of Cutha, Cutha of Cuthwin, Cuthwin of Leodwald, Leodwald of Ecgwald, Ecgwald of Aldhelm, Aldhelm of Ocga, Ocga of Ida, Ida of Eoppa.”

Cenred had usurped the throne in AD 716 from Osred, and then was assassinated by Osric, Osred’s brother. When Osric died after a short but uneventful reign, Ceolwulf succeeded to the throne in AD 729 as described by Venerable Bede:

“Immediately after Easter, that is, on the 9th of May, Osric, king of the Northumbrians, departed this life, after he had reigned eleven years, and appointed Ceolwulf, brother to Coenred, who had reigned before him, his successor; the beginning and progress of whose reign were so filled with commotions, that it cannot yet be known what is to be said concerning them, or what end they will have.”

He features in the Irish Annals as Eochaid and may have been educated there. He was certainly a learned and pious man. Bede dedicated his Ecclesiastical History to him:

“TO THE MOST GLORIOUS KING CEOLWULF, BEDE, THE SERVANT OF CHRIST AND PRIEST FORMERLY, at your request, most readily transmitted to you the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, which I had newly published, for you to read, and give it your approbation; and I now send it again to be transcribed and more fully considered at your leisure. And I cannot but recommend the sincerity and zeal, with which you not only diligently give ear to hear the words of the Holy Scripture, but also industriously take care to become acquainted with the actions and sayings of former men of renown, especially of our own nation. For if history relates good things of good men, the attentive hearer is excited to imitate that which is good; or if it mentions evil things of wicked persons, nevertheless the religious and pious hearer or reader, shunning that which is hurtful and perverse, is the more earnestly excited to perform those things which he knows to be good, and worthy of God. Of which you also being deeply sensible, are desirous that the said history should be more fully made familiar to yourself, and to those over whom the Divine Authority has appointed you governor, from your great regard to their general welfare.”

Given the breakdown in royal control at the beginning of the century, a thoughtful and scholarly king would have been much appreciated by Bede and his fellow monks. And it seems St. Ceolwulf took inspiration from Bede’s work. He made generous grants of land to the Church. Much to the consternation of his nobles, and it appears that their resentment was behind the increasing number of attacks on the members of religious communities. 

In AD 731, St. Ceolwulf was deposed and forcibly tonsured a monk, but was then restored within a few months. Rather than abandoning his vows, taken under pain of death, St. Ceolwulf then reigned as a Monk-King, a first within any Celtic nation. 

St. Ceolwulf lived in Lindisfarne until around AD 764/5 when he died. Simeon of Durham records the event:

“AD 764. Deep snow hardened into ice, unlike anything that had ever been known to all previous ages, covered the earth from the beginning of winter till nearly the middle of spring; by the severity of which the trees and shrubs for the most part perished, and many marine animals were found dead. Also, in the same year, died Ceolwulf, a great king, at this time a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, and a monk.”

COLLECT 

ALMIGHTY GOD, Who dost kindle in our hearts the flame of Thy holiness through the example of this Thy servant, St. Ceolwulf of Northumbria; Grant to us, Thy humble servants, the same power of love, resoluteness of mind, and fortitude of faith; That as we rejoice in his triumph, we may profit by his example; Through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord, Who livest and reigned with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.  

St. Ceolwulf, pray for us! 

Image: Ceolwulf of Northumbria, from Baring Gould “Lives of the Saints vol 1” [Public Domain]

Text: The English Companion’s Anglo-Saxon History, Culture and Language