OSVALDO, Saint. — Two saints of this name deserve mention: St. OSVALDO, King of Northumbria, apostle of Christianity, killed in the Battle of Maserfield on 5 August 642 and venerated as a martyr (*Martyrologium Romanum*, p. 324, with extensive bibliography) and St. OSVALDO, Archbishop of York, d. 28 February 992. A canon of the cathedral chapter of Winchester, of which he later became dean, he went to France, where he began monastic life at the abbey of Fleury. Returning to his homeland, in 961 OSVALDO was appointed Bishop of Worcester and in 972 he was transferred to the see of York, while still retaining governance of Worcester.
In both dioceses he carried out the most effective activity for the reform of clergy and laity, generously dispensing his wealth in favor of the poor. He paid particular attention to monastic life, founding seven new monasteries (among them that of Ramsey) and introducing exemplary monks into older monasteries. In all the monasteries he founded or reformed, he established the usages of the abbey of Fleury. Soon his disciples multiplied and in many places even replaced the secular clergy in the cathedrals. St. OSVALDO the King: feast 5 August; St. OSVALDO the Archbishop: feast 28 February.