In 635, the newly crowned Christian King of Northumbria, King Oswald (605-642) asked the monastery at Iona to send a missionary to help him spread the faith to the mainly pagan people of Northumbria. They sent an Irish monk called Aidan (600-651) and he has made his base on the island of Lindisfarne, where he founded a monastery. Aidan engaged in widespread evangelism from his base with the active help of Oswald, who acted as interpreter for the non-English speaking monk. The Irish monk succeeded in converting the Northumbrian to the Christian faith and many miracles were attributed to him. One such miraculous event occurred in 651 during a siege on Bamburgh, the site of the Northumbrian royal castle, by the pagan King of Mercia. The town was set on fire and the flames started heading towards the king’s castle. Aidan prayed to God for the deliverance of the town and the wind changed direction sending the flames back to the besiegers.
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