Saint Chad (-672)

Chad was born in Northumbria, one of four brothers, all of whom became priests. He was educated partly at Lindisfarne under St Aidan and partly in Ireland. He succeeded his brother St Cedd as Abbot of Lastingham in Yorkshire in 664. He became Bishop of Mercia in 669 and Wulfhere, first Christian King of Mercia, gave him land to establish his see at Lichfield. Chad was outstanding for his humility and simplicity of life. He died of the plague on 2 March 672. He was at once venerated as a saint and his shrine in the Cathedral of Lichfield was a place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. At the Reformation, some of his bones were preserved and handed down by recusant families in the Midlands: in 1841 they were enshrined in the new Cathedral consecrated in Birmingham in that year and dedicated to Saint Chad.