There were a few squabbles, I can tell you, claims and counter claims about apostolic provenance and a number of fibs were told, too, including a big whopper by Wilfrid of Northumbria who said that the tables he used were also used in Rome 'where the apostles St Peter and St Paul lived, taught, suffered, and were buried. Yes, back in AD 664, the great and the good of my land held a big assembly at the monastery of the Abbess Hild in Whitby, in the presence of no less than King Oswui, all to come to some agreement about the best way to determine future dates for the celebration of Easter.Īt least four different Easter tables and types of computus were addressed at the synod. You doubt me? Have you seen those Easter tables? Whereas us medieval folk have a history of arguing about which method of computus we should use.

You get the dates given to you on your wizzardrous phone-cum-diary-app thingies. 'Why don't we just celebrate it at the same time every year?' is something I've heard many a time from spiritually absent twenty-first century folk.īut you have it easy, beloved ones.

One of the most arduous of Easter related tasks is working out when to celebrate it.

Medieval illuminations gluttony