Higbald of Lindisfarne (or Hygebald) was

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Lindisfarne from 780 or 781 until his death on 25 May 803.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 219 Little is known about his life except that he was a regular communicator with

Alcuin of York Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student ...

; it is in his letters to Alcuin that Higbald described in graphic detail the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

raid on Lindisfarne on 8 June 793 in which many of his

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s were killed. Higbald has long been thought to be identical with the Speratus addressed in a letter by Alcuin of 797, but this is no longer viewed as likely.Donald A. Bullough, 'What has Ingeld to do with Lindisfarne?', ''Anglo-Saxon England'', 22 (1993), 93-125; .

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* 803 deaths 8th-century Christian monks Bishops of Lindisfarne 8th-century English bishops 9th-century English bishops Year of birth unknown 8th-century English writers 8th-century Latin writers Latin letter writers {{England-bishop-stub