Aidan of Lindisfarne Pin

Another of my saints. Unfortunately the picture was too big for my scanner. An Irishman, possibly born in Connaught, *Aidan* was a monk at the monastery on the island of _Iona in Scotland_. The Roman Empire had spread Christianity into England, but due to its decline, paganism was seeing a resurgence in Northern England. _St. Oswald of Northumbria_ had been living at the Iona monastery as a king in exile since 616 A.D. There he converted to Christianity and was baptized. In 634 he gained the crown of Northumbria, and was determined to bring Christianity to the mostly pagan people there. Due to his past at Iona, he requested missionaries from that monastery instead of the Roman-backed monasteries in England. At first the monast...