Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornelis_Bloemaert_-_S._Bonifacius.jpg
The Anglo-Saxons were a Germanic warrior people who arrived from Northern Europe after the Romans left Britannia in 410 AD. Christianity transformed them by calming and pacifying the wilder aspects of their pagan culture, and by appealing to their noble and virtuous qualities. Culture and learning flourished in Christian Anglo-Saxon England under the guidance and patronage of the newly converted Christian kings and the monks of Lindisfarne and Jarrow.
The Life of a Brilliant Scholar
Wynfrid entered the monastic life when he was around seven years of age, attracted by the monastic ideal and the opportunity for a first-class education. The monks discerned his academic and intellectual ability, and he seemed destined for the life of a brilliant scholar.
He became a teacher of Latin grammar, wrote several treatises, and also composed Latin poetry. Eventually, Wynfrid’s talent was rewarded when he was made head of the abbey school. Wynfrid’s reputation as an outstanding teacher and scholar, coupled with his personal popularity amongst his students, meant that many travelled great distances for the chance to study under his tutelage.
At about the age of thirty, Wynfrid was ordained priest. Although he loved teaching his young students, he also felt called to travel as a missionary amongst the pagan Germanic tribes of mainland Europe and to bring them the light of Christ, mindful that only 100 years earlier his forebears had lived in pagan darkness.
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