Council · 664 · 25 September

Synod of Whitby

Christians in Northumbria were observing Easter on different dates and following different customs. The disagreement may sound minor, but it reflected a larger question: should the English church follow Irish monastic traditions or the practice of Rome? King Oswiu chose the Roman way. That decision brought Northumbria into closer step with the churches of continental Europe. For the historian Bede, it showed that shared worship and a shared calendar helped form a united English church.

William Henry Margetson painting of the Council of Whitby. — Whitby chose Roman practice for Northumbria's calendar and visible communion. William Henry Margetson, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

At a glance

Type: Council
Date remembered: 25 September, AD 664
What kind of event is this?: A council or settlement that changed the church's public teaching, discipline, or historical direction.
Key line: Northumbria chose the Roman calendar.

Highlights

Easter dating was disputed.
Irish and Roman customs competed.
King Oswiu chose Rome.
Bede preserved the story.

How it happened

What happened

Northumbrian leaders met at Whitby to decide between Irish and Roman customs.

The argument

The visible issue was Easter dating and tonsure; the deeper issue was which wider communion Northumbria would follow.

What changed

King Oswiu chose Roman practice.

Why it matters

Whitby aligned Northumbria more closely with the Roman and continental church.

Aftermath

Bede made the synod a key moment in his account of English ecclesiastical unity.

People in the story

Bede the Venerablec. 673 – 735Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk at Jarrow. Author of Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, the principal source for early English Christianity. Wrote extensive biblical commentaries drawing on Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, and Gregory the Great. Declared Doctor of the Church.