Birinus

Birinus (died 650), also St. Birinus was a missionary to Wessex and the first Bishop of Dorchester. His feast day is celebrated on December 3rd.

 Career 

Birinus may have been a Lombard by birth.David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Fifth Edition Revised (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 52 He was sent by Pope Honorius I to help convert pagans in Anglo-Saxon England.Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, trans. Leo Sherley Price, revsd. R. E. Latham (London; New York: Penguin, 1990), p. 153 The pope first sent him to Genoa. There 
Archbishop Asterius of Milan consecrated Birinus as a bishop. Birinus arrived in southern Britain .Michael Counsell, Every Pilgrim's Guide to England's Holy Places (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2003), p. 100 He had planned to go to the midlands of England to preach there. But when he found the Gewisse in Wessex were completely pagan, he decided to stay with them. He began to convert the Gewisse (West Saxons) to Christianity. In 635 King Cynegils of Wessex was baptized by Birinus and King Oswald of Northumbria agreed to be his Godfather.Benjamin Thorpe, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle according to the Several Original Authorities: Translation (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1861), p. 22 This may have been a condition of the marriage between Oswald and Cynegils's daughter, Cyneburh.Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens (New york: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 304 He gave Bishop Birinus the city of Dorchester and several churches so he could convert the pagans in Wessex. 
In  Birinus founded a church at Winchester which later became Winchester Cathedral. Birinus died in 650. He was buried at Dorchester.John Vince, Discovering Saints in Britain (), p. 11

 Relics of St. Birinus 

After 660 there were no more West Saxon Bishops at Dorchester. Along with part of Berkshire it was taken over by Mercia.David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Fifth Edition Revised (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 53 The new see for Wessex was now at Winchester. Some time around 690–700 Bishop Hedda of Winchester had the relics (bones) of St. Birinus moved from Dorchester to Winchester. Up to this time Bishop Birinus had been considered a minor saint.Nicholas Vincent, Peter Des Roches: An Alien in English Politics, 1205-1238 (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 244 In 1223 monks of Dorchester abbey located the tomb of a former Bishop. The body was dressed in the garments and tunic of a bishop so they believed it was St. Birinus. At the time of the discovery miracles were claimed. One claim was that a dumb child could suddenly speak English and French. The monks sent their findings to Rome. The pope wrote to Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury asking him to manage the translation. But a problem caused the ceremony to be delayed. Archbishop Langton discovered the body had already been moved to Winchester . Both Dorchester and Winchester claimed to have the relics of Bishop Birinus. For that reason two feast days were observed for him, December 3rd and 4th. The Catholic Church recognizes December 3rd. A shrine was created for him in the 14th century. It was later destroyed, but it has been rebuilt since.

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Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:650s deaths
Category:Bishops
Category:Christian missionaries
Category:People from Dorset