Cædmon

Who they were

Caedmon was a labourer at St Hilda's double monastery at Whitby who knew nothing of poetry and would leave the table in shame when the harp was passed round. One night in the stable he saw in a vision one who bade him sing of the Creation, and he began to sing verses in praise of God he had never heard before.

St Hilda and the learned men agreed that he had received a divine gift. He became a monk and turned sacred stories into verse. He died between 670 and 680; according to William of Malmesbury many miracles attested his holiness.

The miracles

His canonisation was probably by popular acclaim rather than formal.

Why that counted as sanctity

A humble cowherd whom God gave the gift of song.