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Coifi or Cofi was the priest of the temple at
Coifi or Cofi was the priest of the temple at Goodmanham
Goodmanham (historically Godmundingaham, the home of the people of Godmund mentioned in the year 627 in Bede's ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum'' ) is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situa ...
in the Kingdom of Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
in 627.Fletcher, R. ''Who's Who in Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon England'' 1989 p.35
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
's description of Coifi is that of the chief of priests in Northumbria; the fact that he is the chief priest suggests that there was some sort of organised pagan priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
hood in existence during Coifi's time. Whilst we know very little about Coifi we do at least know of some of the aspects of his priestly life. Bede informs us of some of the restrictions placed upon Coifi as a priest, such as not being allowed to bear arms or ride a stallion.
Coifi was one of the people King Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin ( ang, Ēadwine; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the List of monarchs of Northumbria, King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until hi ...
sought for advice on whether to convert to Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
as preached by Paulinus, chaplain to his Christian queen Ethelburga. It is worth noting that Coifi was a member of the council, the witan
The Witan () was the king's council in Anglo-Saxon England from before the seventh century until the 11th century. It was composed of the leading magnates, both ecclesiastic and secular, and meetings of the council were sometimes called the Wit