I’m Michelle of Heavenfield, that is my name and I’m sticking to it. It has a nice medieval ring. I’m just a Gen-Xer trying to find her way through a very busy life, juggling jobs, church, and graduate school again, in pursuit of a diversion here, on a perpetual pilgrimage to Heavenfield.
About Heavenfield
Heavenfield is a real place, a place where heaven and earth met on a summer day in 634 as King Oswald dedicated his people to God and marched upon his enemy beginning the Golden Age of Northumbria. It was this moment that the venerable Bede chose as the fulcrum of his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the moment when the English became the people of God. As he wrote,
“Oswald, when he was about to engage in battle, set up the sign of the holy cross, and on bended knees, prayed God to send heavenly aid to His worshippers in this dire need…This place is called in English Heavenfield (hefenfelth), and in Latin Caelestis campus, a name which it certainly received in days of old as an omen of future happenings; it signified that a heavenly sign was to be erected there, a heavenly victory won and that heavenly miracles were to take place there continuing to this day.”[1]
Heavenfield feels like the right name for this space. Here, the topics up for discussion are early medieval northern Britain, church history and spirituality, and the continuing commemoration of the early medieval saints and their spirituality today.
[1] McClure and Collins, eds. 1994. Bede: The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Oxford. p. 111-112.
Posted by James McKinnell on October 2, 2007 at 8:24 am
FROM: James and Letha McKinnell
1530 Wagonwheel Road
Midlothian, VA 23113-2554
804/379-5558
mckinnelljc@worldnet.att.net
DATE: October 2, 2007
I just stumbled onto your Heavenfield site, while looking for more information on the “labyrinth-like” history of Christianity in Northumberland during the 600s. We spent a few days around Lindisfarne a year or so ago, and not being familiar with the heritage of Cuthbert, kept stumbling upon his path until we reached Durham Cathedral.
I looked for your comments on the Dream of the Rood, after following the link on your site, and especially on its relationship to the Ruthwell Cross. We found our way to the Ruthwell Church in the Scottish Borders, got a key to the church from the elderly woman down the road, and had a time of quiet observation around this amazing piece of stonework. Only later did I find out that portions of the Dream of the Rood are carved into its shaft.
Finally, I appreciated your comments on the importance of the Gospel of John to Celtic Christians. In addition to the spiritual theology in that Gospel, I wonder if John’s harsh retorts to the oppression first generation Christians by the them dominant organized religion that was the parent of Christianity (Judaism), did not resonate with the frustration of Celtic Christians (like Colman) over the imposition of the dominant organized religion of their day, Roman Catholicism.
Posted by Melisende on December 7, 2007 at 7:00 am
Just stumbled across your site via a link from About: Medieval History.
Have only just begun exploring “Heavenfield” ……