Benedict Biscop (c 628-689) was a rich Northumbrian nobleman who began his career at the court of King Oswiu of Northumberland, before deciding, in the words of the Venerable Bede, “to forswear riches that decay in order to serve under the true King and earn an everlasting kingdom”.
In the process he made six visits to Rome, and travelled extensively in Gaul. This enabled him to introduce the practices of Roman and Frankish Christianity into Northumberland, which had originally been converted by Celtic missionaries.
