Godric of Finchale (or St Goderic) ( – 21 May 1170) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
,
merchant and popular
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
saint, although he was never formally
canonised
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
. He was born in
Walpole in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
and died in
Finchale in
County Durham.
Life
Godric's life was recorded by a contemporary of his, a monk named
Reginald of Durham. Several other
hagiographies
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
are also extant. According to these accounts, Godric, who began from humble beginnings as the son of Ailward and Edwenna, "both of slender rank and wealth, but abundant in righteousness and virtue". He began as a peddler and became an entrepreneur. "
was wont to wander with small wares around the villages and farmsteads of his own neighborhood; but, in process of time, he gradually associated himself by compact with city merchants."
Then he was a ship's captain and part owner of two ships, one of which may have conveyed
Baldwin I of Jerusalem
Baldwin I, also known as Baldwin of Boulogne (1060s – 2April 1118), was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100, and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lor ...
to
Jaffa in 1102. After many
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
s around the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, Godric found himself off the
Farne Islands
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. The group has between 15 and 20 islands depending on the level of the tide. near
Lindisfarne and there was inspired to changed his life.
[St. Godric of Finchale", Norman Connections]
/ref>
Godric returned to England and lived at Wolsingham
Wolsingham is a market town in Weardale, County Durham, England. It is situated by the River Wear, between Crook and Stanhope.
History
Wolsingham sits at the confluence of the River Wear and Waskerley Beck. It is a small settlement and one ...
with an elderly hermit named Aelric (†1107) for two years.["Northern Saints/ Stories", 'This is Durham', Durham County Council]
/ref> Upon Aelric's death, Godric made one last pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, and then returned home where he convinced Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flambard ...
, the Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
, to grant him a place to live as a hermit at Finchale, by the River Wear. He had previously served as doorkeeper, the lowest of the minor orders
Minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders —priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders—acolyte, exorcist, lec ...
, at the hospital church of nearby St Giles Hospital in Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
. At Finchale he cleared forests to build a wooden oratory dedicated to the Virgin Mary; later he constructed a stone chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist.
He is recorded to have lived at Finchale for the final sixty years of his life, occasionally meeting with visitors approved by the local prior. As the years passed, his reputation grew, and Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
and Pope Alexander III both reportedly sought Godric's advice as a wise and holy man.[
Reginald describes Godric's physical attributes:
St Godric is perhaps best remembered for his kindness toward animals, and many stories recall his protection of the creatures who lived near his forest home. According to one of these, he hid a stag from pursuing hunters; according to another, he even allowed snakes to warm themselves by his fire. Godric lived on a diet of herbs, wild ]honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, acorns, crab-apple
''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries.
The genus is native to the temperate zone of t ...
s and nuts.[Clay, Rotha Mary. (1914)]
''The Hermits and Anchorites of England''
London. p. 59 He slept on the bare ground.
Reginald of Durham recorded four songs of St Godric's: they are the oldest songs in English for which the original musical settings survive. Reginald describes the circumstances in which Godric learnt the first song. In a vision the Virgin Mary appeared to Godric with at her side "two maidens of surpassing beauty clad in shining white raiments." They pledged to come to his aid in times of need; and the Virgin herself taught Godric a song of consolation to overcome grief or temptation (''Saintë Marië Virginë'').
The novel '' Godric'' (1981) by Frederick Buechner
Carl Frederick Buechner ( ; July 11, 1926 – August 15, 2022) was an American author, Presbyterian minister, preacher, and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, his work encompassed different genres, including fiction, autob ...
is a fictional retelling of his life and travels. It was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.
A tune named for him by its composer, John Bacchus Dykes
John Bacchus Dykes (10 March 1823 – 22 January 1876) was an English clergyman and hymnwriter.
Biography
John Bacchus Dykes was born in Hull, England, the fifth child and third son of William Hey Dykes, a ship builder, later banker, an ...
, appears in dozens of hymnals.
See also
* Saint Godric, patron saint archive
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Reginald of Durham, "Life of St. Godric", in G. G. Coulton, ed. ''Social Life in Britain from the Conquest to the Reformation (p. 415)'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1918.
digital copy
*Frederick Buechner
Carl Frederick Buechner ( ; July 11, 1926 – August 15, 2022) was an American author, Presbyterian minister, preacher, and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, his work encompassed different genres, including fiction, autob ...
, '' Godric'', 1981, , a historical novel.
*Entry for "Godric", first edition of the Dictionary of National Biography.
*Victoria M. Tudor, "Reginald of Durham and St. Godric of Finchale: a study of a twelfth-century hagiographer and his subject", Reading PhD thesis, 1979.
*Victoria M. Tudor, "Reginald of Durham and Saint Godric of Finchale: learning and religion on a personal level", ''Studies in Church History'', 17, 1981.
* Susan J. Ridyard, "Functions of a Twelfth-Century Recluse Revisited: The Case of Godric of Finchale", in ''Belief and Culture in the Middle Ages: Studies Presented to Henry Mayr-Harting''. Eds. Henry Mayr-Harting, Henrietta Leyser and Richard Gameson (Oxford, OUP, 2001), pp.
* Francis Rice, rector of St Godrics "The Hermit of Finchale: Life of Saint Godric" Pentland Press
*
*
*
External links
Medieval SourceBook: Reginald of Durham, ''Life of Saint Godric (12th Cent)''
excerpts.
Santë Marië Virginë
performed by the early music group La Reverdie La Reverdie, stylized as "LaReverdie", is an Italian group performing polyphonic medieval and Renaissance music.
Group members
* Elisabetta de Mircovich - vocal, vielle
* Claudia Caffagni - vocal, lute, psaltery
* Livia Caffagni - vocal, flut ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godric Of Finchale
People from Walpole, Norfolk
English centenarians
Men centenarians
12th-century Christian saints
1060s births
1070s births
1170 deaths
Medieval English saints
English hermits
English male classical composers
11th-century composers
12th-century composers
Medieval male composers