 Along with the king , royal family , and chief noblemen , the church was a major force in Northumbria . Churchmen were not only figures of spiritual authority , they were major landowners , who also controlled trade , centred at major churches and monasteries in a land without cities and towns . The bishopric of Lindisfarne was held by Cuthbert at Aldfrith 's accession ; Cuthbert was succeeded by the Irish @-@ educated Eadberht , who would later be Abbot of Iona and bring the Easter controversy to an end , and then by Eadfrith , creator of the Lindisfarne Gospels . The bishops of Lindisfarne sometimes held the see of Hexham , but during Aldfrith 's reign it was held by John of Beverley , a pupil and protégé of Theodore , the Archbishop of Canterbury . The bishopric of York was held by Bosa in 685 . Wilfrid was given the see in 687 , but removed in 691 with Bosa returning to York . The short @-@ lived see at Abercorn , created in 681 for Bishop Trumwine , collapsed in the period after Ecgfrith 's death and the first known Bishop of Whithorn was appointed in the reign of King Ceolwulf . Important monasteries existed at Whitby , where the known abbesses tended to be members of the Deiran royal family , at Monkwearmouth @-@ Jarrow , where Bede was a monk , and at Ripon . 
