'ðeosse abbudissan mynstre' - Whitby, where Hild was abbess from its foundation in 657 until her death in 680. The monastery was a great centre of Northumbrian learning in the seventh century: the synod that resolved the bitter dispute over the dating of Easter between Roman and Celtic factions was held there in 664; it nurtured five bishops; and was home to the anonymous compiler of the earliest life of Pope Gregory the Great.