WHITBY
610
WHITE
of the choir also fell, so that only a small part of the
church still stands on the cliff some two hundred feet
above the sea. The arms of the abbey, three snakes
rolled up, are said to have their origin in the number
of fossil ammonites found in the vicinity. Of these
Camden writes in his "Britannia": "Here are found
stones resembling snakes rolled up . . . you would
think they had once been snakes, covered over with a
crust of stone".
Bede. Hisl. EccUsitE., ed. Giles, III (London, 1846); Burton, Monasticon Eboracense (York, 1758): Dogdale, Monaslicon An- glicanum (London, 1846); Camden, ed. GouoH, Britannia, 111 (London, 1806); Willis, Hist, of Mitred Abbies (London, 1718): Charlton. Hist, of WhUby Abbey (York, 1779); Younq. Hist, of Whitby and Streoneshall Abbey (Whitby, 1817).
G. Roger Hddleston.
Whitby, Synod op. — The Cliristianizing of Britain begun by St. Augustine in a. d. 597 was carried on with varying success throughout the seventh century. One great hindrance to progress lay in the fact that in Northumbria the missionary impulse was largely Scottish (i. e. Irish) in origin, having come through St. Aidan from lona. In certain matters of external discipline, notably the observance of Easter, the Eng- hsh and Celtic traditions did not agree. Thus when the Northumbrian King Oswy and his household were keeping Easter, his queen, who had been brought up in the south under the Roman system, was still fasting. The consequent inconvenience and discord must have been extreme. In 664 a fortunate oppor- tunity occurred of debating the matter, and a con- ference took place in the Monastery of St. Hilda at Whitby or Streanceshalch. King Oswy with Bishops Colman and Chad represented the Celtic tradition; Alchfrid, son of Oswy, and Bishops \^'ilfrid and Agil- bert that of Rome. A full account of the conference is given by Bede and a shorter one by Eddius. Both agree as to the facts that Colman appealed to the practice of St. John, WDfrid to St. Peter and to the Council of NicEea, and that the matter was finally settled by Oswy's determination not to offend St. Peter. "I dare not longer", he said, "contradict the decrees of him who keeps the doors of the King- dom of Heaven, lest he should refuse me admission". This decision involved more than a mere matter of discipUne. The real question decided at Whitby was not so much whether the Church in England should use a particular paschal cycle (see Easter Controversy, V, 229) as "whether she should hnk her fortunes with those of the dechning and loosely compacted Irish Church, or with the rising power and growing organ- ization of Rome". The solution arrived at was one of great moment, and, though the Celtic Churches did not at once follow the example thus set, the paschal controversy in the West may be said to have ended with the Synod of Whitby.
The whole'story is told in Bede, Eccl. Hist., Bk. Ill, cc. 2.5 and 26. See the introduction and notes of Plhmmeh's Edition (Osford, 1890); see also Haddan and Stobbb, Councils, III.
Herbert Thurston.
White, Andrew, missionary, b. at London, 1579; d. at or near London, 27 Dec, 16.56 (O.S.). He entered St. Alban's College, Valladohd, in 1595; later he studied at the English College, Seville, Spain, matriculated at Douai, and w.as ordained there about 1605; sent on the English Mission, he was seized, imprisoned, and banished in 1606. He enlered the Society of Jesus in 1607 at Louvain; in 1609 he was back in Englanil, labouring in the southern counties. He taught Sacred .Scripture, dogmatic theology, and Hebrew, and w:is prefect of studies at Louvain and Lit^ge, varying scholastic occupations by occasional missionary trips to England. He is principally known to American history for his WTitings and labours in connexion with Lord B.altimore's colony, which have earned for him the title of ".'\postle of Maryland". Sir George Calvert, first Lord of Balti- more, corresponded with him from Avalon; Father
Vitelleschi, General of the Jesuits, makes mention to
him, for the first time, of the mission to English
America, in a letter dated Rome, 3 March, 1629. In
preparation for the founding of the Maryland Colony
he compo.sed the "Declaratio Colonia; Domini
Baronis de Baltimore", to attract settlers and co-op-
erators in the enterprise. The expedition set sail on
22 Nov., 1633, from Cowes, Isle of Wight. Father
White is the author of the "Relatio itineris", which
constitutes the classical authority in regard to early
Maryland. On the Feast of the Annunciation,
25 March, 16.34, the "Pilgrims" of Maryland landed
on St. Clement's Island, where Mass was celebrated
for the first time: art has depicted the scene, and
lii J .'Vincn.'.FB'.n-jji.j.j ,\u,'iti'Ji,-j/l.ilvrjbij.!' cldiii.f
Obl^ 111 Ai'.,\h.i vi-.irr .\-{o 3.- ,.•):. ill us _/'>.>'*.'
Father Andrew White Baptizing the Aborigines of Mart-
land
Contemporary Woodcut
"Maryland Day" has been consecrated to patriotic remembrance of the event.
For ten years Father White devoted himself with apostolic huniihty, patience, and zeal to missionary labours amongst the settlers and the aborigines. A Protestant writer (Davis in "Day-Star", p. 160) says: "The liistory of Maryland presents no better, no purer, no more sublime lesson than the story of the toils, sacrifices, and successes of her early mission- aries." In contrast with other English colonies, the relations between whites and Indians were har- monious, largely due to Father White. The "Annual Letters" narrate his successful labours amongst the tribes of the Patuxent and Potomac; he carried the Gospel to the Anacostans in the neighbourhood of the national capital; lie converted and baptized with solemn ceremonies, 5 July, 1640, Governor Calvert and other civil dignitaries being present, Chitoma- chon, the Tnyac or "Emperor of Piscataway". A graphic representation of this sacred function from Tanner is re|)roduced in Shea, "Catholic Church in Colonial Days", p. .53. He coinpo.sed a grammar, dicti()n:iry, and catechism in the native idiom, being the first EiigHslunan to reduce an Indian language to grammatical form. The claim has been advanced
