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Hello, for 500 years, Cuthbert was the preeminent English saint and his tombs were major

sites of pilgrimage.

Now at Durham, he was buried first on Lydisphan in 687 AD, where monks shared vivid stories

of his sanctifying miracles, his healing and his power over nature.

In his lifetime he was worth hermit and kingmaker, bishop and travelling priest, and the many

accounts who have of him, including two by the venerable bead, tell us much of the values

of those who venerated him so soon after his death.

When we discuss Cuthbert R. Jane Hawkes, professor of medieval artistry at the University of

York, Sarah Foot, the regius professor of ecclesiastical history at the University of Oxford,

and canon of Christchurch Cathedral, and John Hines, professor of archaeology at Cardiff

University.

John Hines, what do we know about Cuthbert's early life?

Well, there isn't a great deal of detail recorded about Cuthbert's background, but we do

at least know that his childhood was spent in an area of what's now the Scottish borders,

close to the Lamamure Hills.

There's also evidence from which you can tell that he must have belonged to the richer

and more privileged classes of that society, and perhaps the most telling story as when

...