12 April – Baptism of Edwin, King of Deria and Bernicia in 627
On this day, 12 April, which was Easter Sunday in 627, King Edwin of Deira and Bernicia (which later became the core territories of Northumbria) was baptized by St. Paulinus of York. Edwin, who fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase (632 or 633), was later venerated as a saint. St. Edwin’s conversion did not mean the north of England was Christian, in any sense, ever thereafter. But it was an important moment in the history of the English church and people, as St. Bede the Venerable records, about a century later.
St. Benet Biscop Chapter of St. John's Oblates 