Today we can examine the work of one monk, Eadrith (later the Bishop of Lindisfarne), who produced a stunning example of book painting that is even older than the Diamond Sutra. Although the manuscript is undated, The Lindisfarne Gospels were likely copied and illustrated by Eadrith while he was still a monk at Lindisfarne Priory, on Holy Island (off the English Northumberland coast). Nothing remains of the original monastery.

Since Eadrith became Bishop in 698 AD, that is the date scholars typically use for the manuscript, St. Bilfrid bound the manuscript and added precious gems and metalwork to the binding.

Currently owned by the British Library, The Lindisfarne Gospels contain notes from a priest, Aldred, who also inserted a word-for-word Anglo-Saxon translation in the spaces between the lines of Latin text. Those insertions were probably made between 950 and 970 AD.

In the meantime, the monks had fled looting Danish Vikings who, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, invaded the area during January of 793. They completely destroyed the monastery and looted everything left behind. The monks took with them their most important treasures: the Cross of St. Cuthbert (which was made on Holy Island) and their "books" (the Lindisfarne Gospels).

The Gospels had no ordinary journey on that trip. While fleeing the Vikings, the monks and their books were shipwrecked in the Irish Sea. Later, the foot-high Lindisfarne Gospels miraculously washed ashore and were taken to Durham where monks continued to produce other precious manuscripts.

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