Godric of Finchale (c. 1065 - May 21, 1170) is a Catholic saint who was born in Walpole in Norfolk and died as a hermit in Finchale in Durham.
Godric's life was recorded by a contemporary of his: a monk named Reginald of Durham. Several other hagiographies are also extant. According to these accounts, Godric began life as a peddler and a sailor, and may have been the captain of the boat that conveyed Baldwin I of Jerusalem to Jaffa in 1102. After years at sea, Godric reportedly went to the island of Lindisfarne and there encountered Saint Cuthbert. This encounter changed his life, and he devoted himself to Christianity and service to God thereafter.
After many pilgrimages around the Mediterranean, Godric returned to England and lived with a hermit named Aelric for two years. Upon Aelric's death, Godric made one last pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and then returned home, where he convinced Bishop Flambard to grant him a place to live as a hermit at Finchale, by the River Wear. He is recorded to have lived there the final 60 years of his life, occasionally meeting with visitors approved by the local prior. Thomas a Becket and Pope Alexander III both reportedly sought Godric's advice as a wise and holy man.
Reginald recorded four songs of Godric's: they are the oldest songs in English of which the original musical settings survive.
