Ceolwulf of Northumbria
Northumbrian king, monk and saint
Feast: 15 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Ceolwulf became King of Northumbria in 729. Learned and pious but lacking the force of a ruler, he was once seized and shut in a monastery by his subjects, but escaped and regained the throne. St Bede dedicated his Ecclesiastical History to him, praising his zeal for Holy Scripture.
After eight years he wearied of 'the splendid cares of royalty' and in 738 gave up the crown to become a monk at Lindisfarne, bringing it treasures and land. He died there in 764.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A king who left his throne to live as a monk.
Connected on this site
- Bede Saint“While Bede spent most of his life in the monastery, he travelled to several abbeys and monasteries across the British Isles, even visiting the Archbishop of York and King Ceolwulf of Northumbria.” — Wikipedia
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Ceolwulf
- Wikidata Q729480 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Ceolwulf of Northumbria (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.