Born in the late 6th century, he was a monk of the island of lone in Scotland, but came to Northumbria in 635 when the king, Oswald, who had himself become a Christian on lone, asked for a missioner to be sent. Aidan replaced an anonymous harsh and demanding monk, who said the English were unteachable and returned home. Aidan's base was the island of Lindisfarne (Holy Island), near the royal palace at Bamburgh, and from here he took the Gospel to Northumberland, leaving what we now call Yorkshire to St. Paulinus. Oswald's successor, Oswin, gave him a horse, which he promptly gave away in accordance with his stress on personal poverty. Every Lent, Aidan moved to one of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast for a season of penitential prayer. He died in 651 and was buried on Lindisfarne; the island was later sacked by the Vikings and Aidan's memory was eclipsed by that of St. Cuthbert, until revived by monks in far-away Glastonbury. The Venerable Bede is the sole source of information about Aidan; he highly approved of his qualities (possibly in contrast to some of the hierarchs of his own time). In general, this gentle and selfless missioner has not received the attention he deserves, and there is only one ancient church dedication to him in the whole of England.