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Template:Infobox Bishop of York Wilfrid (c. 634 - c. 709) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian nobleman, he entered the religious life as a teenager, studying at Lindisfarne, Canterbury, Gaul and Rome, before returning to Northumbria around 660 to become abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon. In 664, he was the spokesman for the Roman "party" at the Council of Whitby, gaining fame for his speech advocating the adoption of the Roman practice for figuring the date of Easter. His success led the king's son, Alhfrith, to appoint him to the episcopate. Because of a lack of validly consecrated bishops in England, Wilfrid went to Gaul for consecration, and while there Alhfrith seems to have unsuccessfully revolted against Oswiu, leaving Wilfrid's appointment to a bishopric up in the air. While he was in Gaul, Oswiu appointed a different man to Wilfrid's intended see. After Wilfrid's return to Northumbria, he retired to Ripon for the next few years.

After the appointment of Theodore of Tarsus to the see of Canterbury in 668, Theodore resolved the situation in Northumbria by deposing the bishop who had replaced Wilfrid. For the next nine years, Wilfrid ruled his bishopric, founding monasteries, building churches, improving the liturgy, and discharging his episcopal duties. However, his diocese was very large, and Theodore wished to carry out a reformation of the English church, including breaking up some of the largest dioceses into smaller ones. When Wilfrid and Ecgfrith, the Northumbrian king, quarrelled, Theodore took the opportunity to carry out the desired reforms, which Wilfrid objected to. Ecgfrith expelled Wilfrid from York, so Wilfrid traveled to Rome to appeal to the papacy. Pope Agatho ruled in Wilfrid's favour, but when Wilfrid returned to Northumbria with the papal decree, Ecgfrith refused to honour it, and imprisoned Wilfrid before exiling him.

Wilfrid spent the next few years in Sussex, converting its pagan inhabitants to Christianity. Eventually, Theodore and Wilfrid settled their differences, and Theodore urged the new Northumbrian king, Aldfrith, to allow Wilfrid's return, which Aldfrith agreed to. In 691, though, the Aldfrith expelled Wilfrid again, and Wilfrid went to Mercia, where he helped missionaries and acted as bishop for the Mercian king. Wilfrid appealed to the papacy once more in 700 about his expulsion, and the pope ordered an English council held to decide the issue. This council, held at Austerfield in 702, attempted to confiscate all of Wilfrid's possessions, and Wilfrid traveled back to Rome to appeal this decision. His opponents in Northumbria excommunicated him, but the papacy upheld Wilfrid's side, and eventually Wilfrid was restored to Ripon and Hexham, his Northumbrian monasteries. He died in 709 or 710, and was venerated as a saint after his death.

Historians then and now have been divided over Wilfrid. His followers commissioned a Life of Wilfrid shortly after his death, and the great medieval historian Bede also wrote extensively about Wilfrid. Wilfrid lived ostentatiously, and traveled with a large retinue. He ruled a large number of monasteries, and was the first Englishman to introduce the Rule of Saint Benedict into English monasteries. Modern historians have differed widely on their interpretations of his life, some seeing him mainly as a proponent of Roman customs against the Celtic Church, others as an advocate for monasticism. Most agree that he was not humble nor afraid of controversy.

Early life

Wilfrid was born in Northumbria about 633.[1] Around age fourteen he left home because of a conflict with his stepmother, probably without his father's consent.[2] Although his background is never explicitly stated as noble, the fact that retainers of the king were frequent guests at his father's house and that when he left home, he equipped his party with horses and clothes fit for a royal court makes it plain that his family was aristocratic.[3]

He went to King Oswiu's court, where the queen, Eanflæd became his patroness.[2] The queen sent him to study under Cudda, previously a retainer of her husband's, but at that point a monk at Lindisfarne.[4] This was about 648, and the abbot was Aidan, who had helped convert Northumbria to Christianity.[3] While at Lindisfarne, Wilfrid is said to have "learned the whole Psalter by heart and several books".[5] Wilfrid studied at Lindisfarne for a brief time before going to Canterbury and the Kentish king's court there, where he stayed with friends of the queen for three years.[2] The queen had sent a letter of introduction to her cousin, King Eorcenberht with Wilfrid, in 652, in order to assure Wilfrid's reception by the king.[3] While in Kent, Wilfrid's career was advanced by Eanflæd's cousin Hlothere, who later was king of Kent from 673 to 685.[6] The Kentish court had a number of visiting clergymen at this point, including Benedict Biscop, a noted missionary.[7] Wilfrid appears to have spent about a year in Kent, but the exact chronology is not certain.[8]

Time at Rome

He left Kent for Rome in the company of Benedict Biscop,[9] who was yet another of Eanflæd's contacts.[4] This pilgrimage was the first one by Anglo-Saxons to Rome,[10] and took place sometime between 653 and 658.[3] According to Wilfrid's later biographer, Stephen of Ripon, Wilfred left Biscop's company at Lyon and stayed at Lyon under the patronage of Aunemund, the archbishop. Stephen says that Aunemund wanted to marry Wilfrid to the archbishop's niece, and make Wilfrid the governor of a Frankish province. Wilfrid refused, and went on to Rome.[4] While in Rome, Wilfrid learned the Roman method of calculating the date of Easter, as well as being exposed to the Roman practice of relic collecting.[11] After meeting the pope, he then returned to Lyon. Stephen of Ripon says that Wilfrid stayed for three years at Lyon, and only left when the archbishop was murdered. However, the archbishop was not murdered until 660, but Wilfrid returned to England in 658, so there are some chronological issues with this story.[4][notes 1] Stephanus says that Wilfrid was given a clerical tonsure by Aunemund, although this does not appear to mean that he became a monk, merely that he entered the clergy. Nor does Bede say when he became a monk.[13] It is unclear exactly when Wilfrid did become a monk, although likely it was in Rome or afterwards while he was in Gaul,[14] but some historians believe he never became a monk.[13]

Abbot of Ripon

After his return to Northumbria, Cenwalh, the king of Wessex, around 658 recommended Wilfrid to Alhfrith, Oswiu's son, as a cleric knowledgeable of Roman customs and liturgy.[15] Shortly before 664, Alhfrith gave him a monastery at Ripon,[9] which had only recently been founded by Alhfrith. Wilfrid ejected the previous abbot, Eata, because he would not follow the Roman customs.[15] Among the expelled monks was Cuthbert, later a saint.[4] Wilfrid introduced the Rule of Saint Benedict into Ripon, and claimed that he was the first person in England to make a monastery follow it,[16] but it should be noted that this claim rests on the Life of Wilfrid and doesn't say where exactly Wilfrid became knowledgeable about the Rule, nor exactly what form of the Rule Wilfrid meant.[17] Shortly afterwards he was ordained a priest by Agilbert, bishop of Dorchester in the kingdom of the Gewissæ, part of Wessex.[2] Wilfrid was a protege of Agilbert, who not only ordained Wilfrid a priest but later helped consecrate him as a bishop.[18] Wilfrid attracted to Ripon the monk Ceolfrith, who had been at Gilling Abbey but that abbey had recently been depopulated due to plague. Ceolfrith later became abbot of Wearmouth-Jarrow, while Bede was a monk there.[19]

Whitby

Main article: Synod of Whitby
The Northumbrian bishoprics about 680

Background

In 664, a controversy between the Celtic, or Irish, and Roman church practices, partly over how to calculate the date of Easter, led to King Oswiu of Northumbria calling a church council to be held at Whitby Abbey. The main sticking point was the divergence of figuring the date of Easter, as the two churches used different methods, which led to Easter being celebrated on different days. Some members of Oswiu's family, his wife Eanflæd, and a son, Alhfrith, celebrated Easter on the Roman date, but the church in Northumbria had traditionally used the Celtic calculation.[20] Because of the Lenten fast before the celebration of Easter, having divergent dates for Easter meant that part of the royal court would be fasting while another part would be feasting, which led to tensions.[21] Oswiu himself had been brought up in the Celtic traditions, but political pressures may have influenced his decision to call a council, as well as fears that if the Northumbrian church continued to have dissension over the Easter dating it would lead to internal strife.[20] It also appears that regional tensions within Northumbria between the two traditional divisions, Bernicia and Deira, played a part, as Bernicia favoured the Celtic method of dating and Deira leaned towards the Roman method.[22] Although the Easter dating controversy was the ostensible reason for the council, political concerns unrelated to the dating problem also were involved. The historian Richard Abels sees several conflicts contributing to the council, including a generational conflict between Oswiu and Alhfrith. Also contributing was the decline of Oswiu's preeminence over the other British kingdoms and the challenge to that position by Mercia. Lastly, the death of the archbishop of Canterbury, Deusdedit, was a factor in the council's decisions.[23] Abels also speculates that the expulsion of Eata from Ripon may have been the spark that led to the calling of the council.[24]

Synod

Wilfrid attended the council of Whitby, and was a member of the party favouring the continental practice of dating Easter, along with James the Deacon, Agilbert, and Alhfrith. Those supporting the Irish/Celtic viewpoint were King Oswiu, Hilda, the abbess of Whitby, Cedd, a bishop, and Colmán of Lindisfarne, the bishop of Lindisfarne.[25] Wilfrid was serving as the interpreter for Agilbert, who did not speak the local language,[26][notes 2] when Wilfrid was chosen to present the Roman position to the council.[25] Bede presents Wilfrid as saying that those who did not calculate the date of Easter according to the Roman system were committing a sin.[27] Wilfrid's speech in favour of adopting Roman church practices helped secure the eclipse of the Celtic party in 664,[28][1][notes 3] although most Celtic/Irish churches did not adopt the Roman practices of dating Easter until 704, and Iona held out until 716.[29][notes 4] Although many of the Irish monasteries did not observe the Roman Easter, this does not mean that they were isolated from the continent. By the date of Whitby, the southern Irish were already observing the Roman Easter date, and Irish clergy had contact with other European clergy.[30] Those monks and clergy who did not accept the Whitby decision left Northumbria, some going to Ireland,[31] and others going to Iona.[15]

York

Elevation to the episcopate

About a year after the Council of Whitby, Wilfrid was elected to a bishopric in Northumbria.[32] Exactly where Wilfrid's diocese was located is a bit unclear, although it appears that he was considered to be Alhfrith's bishop.[15] The Life of Wilfrid states that he was made bishop at York, and that he was a metropolitan bishop, but York was not a metropolitan diocese at this point in time.[notes 5] Bede's evidence is just as confused, and several theories have been put forth to explain the discrepancies between the two sources.[34] One is that Alhfrith wished the seat to be at York,[15] another is that Wilfrid was bishop only in Deira, a third supposes that Wilfrid never was bishop at York and that his diocese was only part of Deira.[34] One important point is that at this point, the English dioceses were not strictly speaking geographical designations, rather they were bishoprics for the tribes or peoples.[35]

One reason he was chosen was his performance at Whitby, and another was that he was the most prominent cleric remaining in Northumbria after the supporters of the Celtic church withdrew after Whitby.[36] Wilfrid was not consecrated in Northumbria, since he refused consecration at the hands of the Anglo-Saxon bishops, but at Compiègne on the continent.[37] Because of the death of Deusdedit shortly after the Council of Whitby, there were no bishops in Britain who Wilfrid considered validly consecrated.[15] He was consecrated by Agilbert who was now bishop of Paris.[37] While in Gaul, he was exposed to a level of ceremony that was higher than that practiced in Northumbria, and at his consecration he was carried by nine bishops on a portable throne into the building where the ceremony took place.[38]

Delays and difficulties

He delayed his return, and when he finally did return he found Ceadda had been installed at York.[9] Why he delayed has never been clear, although the historians Eric John and Richard Abels theorize that it was due to Alhfrith's rebellion against Oswiu, which was defeated. They suggest that the rebellion happened shortly after Whitby, and while Wilfrid was in Gaul for his consecration. Because Oswiu knew that Alhfrith had been a supporter of Wilfrid's, Oswiu prevented Wilfrid's return, suspecting Wilfrid of supporting Oswiu's rivals.[36][39] The fact that Ceadda was supported by Oswiu, and Wilfrid had been a supporter of Oswiu's son, lends further support to the theory that Alhfrith's rebellion took place while Wilfrid was in Gaul.[40]

At some point during his return to Northumbria, his ship was blown ashore on the Sussex coast. The inhabitants at this time were still pagan, and they attacked Wilfrid's party, who killed the chief priest before managing to get their ship afloat and escape.[4] The historian Marion Gibbs puts forth the theory that after this episode, Wilfrid visited Kent again, and took part in the diplomacy related to Wigheard's appointment to the see of Canterbury. Wilfrid may also have taken part in attempts to persuade King Cenwalh of Wessex to allow Agilbert to return to his see.[41]

Favourable outcome

Denied episcopal office, Wilfrid spent the three years from 665 to 668 ruling his monastery at Ripon.[42] While there, he occasionally performed episcopal functions in Mercia and Kent, but never did so north of the river Humber.[15] Wilfrid's monasteries in Mercia may date from this time,[43] for Wulfhere of Mercia gave him large grants of land in Mercia then.[4] In 669, it may have been Wilfrid who persuaded King Ecgberht of Kent to turn an abandoned Roman fort at Reculver into a church.[44] When Theodore, the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived in England in 669,[45] it was clear that something had to be done about the situation in Northumbria. Ceadda's election to York was improper,[42] and his consecration was not considered valid by Theodore,[46] so Theodore deposed Ceadda.[notes 6] This left the way open for Wilfrid,[42] and he was installed finally in his see in 669,[32] and spent the next nine years building churches, including the monastery at Hexham and attending to diocesan business.[4] He was the first Saxon to occupy the see of York.[48] Wilfrid continued to exercise control over his monastic houses of Ripon and Hexham while he was bishop.[47]

While at York, Wilfrid was considered the "bishop of the Northumbrian peoples", and Bede recorded that Wilfrid's diocese was contiguous with where Oswiu ruled.[49] The diocese was restricted to north of the Humber, however.[50] Wilfrid may also have exercised some ecclesiastical functions in the Pictish kingdom, as he is said to be the "bishop of the Northumbrians and the Picts" in 669. Further proof of Northumbrian influence in the Pictish regions is the establishment of a diocese centered at Abercorn for the Picts in 681. The grants of land to Wilfrid west of the Pennine mountains testifies to Northumbrian expansion in that area in this time.[31] The Life of St Wilfrid claims that Wilfrid had ecclesiastical rule over Britons and Scots also, presumably referring to the kingdoms of Strathclyde or Dumnonia.[51]

Wilfrid the diocesan

Wilfrid did not attend in person the Council of Hertford in September 672, but sent representatives. Among the council's resolutions was one that postponed a decision on the creation of new dioceses, which affected Wilfrid later.[52] Another ruling confirmed that the Roman dating of Easter should be followed, and that bishops should act only in their own dioceses.[53] It was in the middle 670's that Wilfrid played middleman in arranging the return of a Merovingian prince, Dagobert II to Gaul from his exile in Ireland.[54][notes 7] Wilfrid also was one of the first churchmen in Northumbria to utilize written charters as records of gifts to his churches. He ordered the creation of a listing of all benefactions to Ripon, which was recited at the dedication ceremony.[4]

Wilfrid was a proponent of a liturgy that included music, and sent to Kent for a singing master to instruct his clergy in the Roman style of church music. This involved a double choir who sang in antiphons and responses.[4] Bede says that this singing master was named Æddi (or Eddius in Latin) and had the surname Stephen. Traditionally historians have seen this singing master as the same as the author of the Life of Wilfrid, which has led to assumptions that the Life was based on a long time companion of Wilfrid's. However, recent scholarship has come to the belief that the author was not the singing master, but someone who joined Wilfrid only in the last years of Wilfrid's life, and who was not an close companion.[56]

Wilfrid introduced the Rule of Saint Benedict into the monasteries he founded.[4] It appears likely that he was the first to introduce the Benedictine Rule into England, as evidence is lacking that Augustine's monastery at Canterbury followed the Rule.[57] He also was one of the first Anglo-Saxon bishops to record the gifts of land and property to his church, which he did at Ripon. Easter tables, used to calculate the correct date to celebrate Easter, were brought in from Rome where the Dionysiac Easter tables had been recently introduced.[4] He set up schools and became the religious advisor of the Northumbrian queen Æthelthryth, first wife of Ecgfrith. Æthelthryth was the donor of the land at Hexham where Wilfrid founded a monastery.[58] When Wilfrid arrived at York as bishop, the cathedral's roof was collapsing, and he had the roof repaired and covered in lead and had glass set in the windows.[59] At Hexham, he built a church, using some recycled stones from the Roman town of Corbridge.[60]

The historian Barbara Yorke says of Wilfrid at this time that he "seems to have continued a campaign against any survival of "Irish errors" and distrusted any communities that remained in contact with Iona or other Irish religious houses which did not follow the Roman Easter".[61] He also worked to combat pagan practices, building a church at Melrose on a pagan site.[62] Contemporaries said of him that he was the first native bishop to "introduce the Catholic way of life to the churches of the English".[63] He did not neglect his pastoral duties in his diocese,[3] making visits throughout the diocese to baptise and perform other episcopal functions, such as consecrating new churches.[64] Some of the monasteries in his diocese were put under his protection by their abbots or abbesses, who were seeking someone to help protect their endowments.[65]

Expulsion

Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the late 7th century

Dispute with the king

In 677[66] or 678, Wilfrid and Ecgfrith quarrelled, and Wilfrid was expelled from his see.[4] The abbess Hilda of Whitby was a leader of a faction in the Northumbrian church that disliked Wilfrid, and her close ties with Theodore helped to undermine Wilfrid's position in Northumbria.[9] Another contributing factor in the king's expulsion of Wilfrid was Wilfrid's encouragement of Æthelthryth's entry into a nunnery.[58] Wilfrid personally gave the veil to Æthelthryth when she retired to Ely Abbey.[67] The historian Eric John feels that Wilfrid's close ties with the Mercian kingdom also contributed to his troubles with Egfrith, although John points out that these ties were necessary for Wilfrid's monastic foundations, some of which were in Mercia.[57] Wilfrid not only lost his diocese, he lost control of his monasteries also.[42]

Theodore took advantage of the situation to implement the decrees of the council on dividing up large dioceses.[42] Theodore set up new bishoprics from Wilfrid's diocese, with the seats at York, Hexham, Lindisfarne, and one in the region of Lindsey. The Lindsey see was quickly absorbed by the diocese of Lichfield, but the other three remained separate.[68] The bishops chosen for these sees, Eata at Hexham, Eadhaed at Lindsey, and Bosa at York, had all either been supporters of the Celtic/Irish party at Whitby, or trained by those who were.[47] Eata had also been ejected from Ripon by Wilfrid.[15] The new bishops were unacceptable to Wilfrid, who claimed the three bishops were not truly members of the Catholic Church, because of their support for the Celtic/Irish method of dating Easter, and thus Wilfrid could not serve alongside them.[47] Another concern for Wilfrid was that the three new bishops did not come from Wilfrid's monastic houses nor from the communities where the bishops' seats were placed. This went against the custom of the time, which was to promote bishoprics from within the locality.[69] The deposition of Wilfrid became tangled up in a dispute over whether or not the Gregorian plan for Britain, with two metropolitan sees, set at York and Canterbury, would be followed through or abandoned.[70]

Appeal to Rome

Wilfrid went to Rome after his expulsion to appeal Theodore and Ecgfrith's decisions.[71][66] He was the first Englishman to challenge a royal or ecclesiastical decision by petitioning the papacy.[42][notes 8] On the way he stopped at the court of Aldgisl, the Frisian king in Utrecht for most of 678.[66] Wilfrid had been blown off course on his trip from England to the continent, and ended up in Frisia, according to some historians.[73] Others state that he intended to go through Frisia, as he needed to avoid Neustria, whose mayor of the palace was Ebroin, who disliked Wilfrid.[4] He wintered there, avoiding the diplomatic efforts of Ebroin, who according to Stephanus attempted to have Wilfrid killed. During his stay, Wilfrid attempted to convert the Frisians, who were still pagans at this time. Wilfrid's biographer says that most of the nobles converted,[74] but the success was short-lived.[75] After Frisia, he stopped at the court of Dagobert II in Gaul, where the king offered Wilfrid the bishopric of Stasbourg, which Wilfrid refused.[4] Once in Italy, he was received by Perctarit, a Lombard king, who gave him place at his court.[76]

Pope Agatho held a synod in October 679 which ordered Wilfrid's restoration, but that the new dioceses should be retained.[66] The council also ordered the return of the monasteries to Wilfrid's control. Wilfrid was given the right to replace those bishops in the new dioceses that he disliked.[42][notes 9] The council had been called to deal with the Monothelete controversy, and Wilfrid's concerns were not the sole focus of the council. In fact, the historian Henry Chadwick feels that one reason Wilfrid secured the mostly favourable outcome was that Agatho wished for Wilfrid's support and testimony that the English church was free of the monothelete heresy.[78] Although Wilfrid did not win a complete victory, he did secure a papal decree that limited the number of dioceses in England at 12.[79] Wilfrid also secured the right for his monasteries of Ripon and Hexham to be directly supervised by the pope, which prevented the diocesan bishops from interfering in them.[80]

After the council, Wilfrid returned to England, traveling through Gaul but according to his biographer Eddius Stephanus, after the death of Dagobert II, Ebroin wished to imprison Wilfrid, but Wilfrid miraculously escaped.[81] In 680 Wilfrid returned to Northumbria and appeared before a royal council. He produced his papal decree ordering his restoration, but he was briefly imprisoned and then exiled by the king.[82][83] Leaving Northumbria, he stopped for a short time at the kingdom of the Middle Angles and at Wessex,[42] but soon took refuge in Sussex with King Æthelwealh of Sussex.[84]

Missions in Sussex

Wilfrid spent the next five years preaching and converting the inhabitants of Sussex, who were still pagan. He also founded Selsey Abbey,[9] on an estate near Selsey of 87 hides, which Æthelwealh gave Wilfrid.[85] Bede attributes Wilfrid's ability to convert the South Saxons to teaching them to fish, and contrasts it with the lack of results achieved by an Irish monk Dicuill.[86] Bede also says that the Sussex area had been experiencing a drought for three years prior to Wilfrid's arrival, but miraculously when Wilfrid arrived, and started baptising converts, rain began to fall.[87] Wilfrid worked with Bishop Erkenwald of London, helping to set up the church in Sussex. Erkenwald also helped reconcile Wilfrid and Theodore before Theodore's death in 690.[88] The mission was jeopardized when Æthelwealh, the king of the South Saxons, died in an invasion of his kingdom led by Cædwalla, the king of Wessex.[42] Wilfrid had previously had contact with Cædwalla, and may have served as a spiritual advisor to the king prior to Wilfrid going to Sussex.[89] After Æthelwealh's death Wilfrid became one of Cædwalla's advisors, and the king was converted.[90] Cædwalla sent Wilfrid to the Isle of Wight, which was still pagan, with the aim of converting the inhabitants.[42][notes 10] The king also gave Wilfrid a quarter of the land on the island as a gift.[92] In 688, the king relinquished his throne and went on a pilgrimage to Rome to be baptised, but died shortly after his baptism.[90] Wilfrid probably was influential in Cædwalla's decision to go to Rome for baptism.[89]

It was while Wilfrid was in Sussex that he was reconciled with Archbishop Theodore, sometime before Theodore's death, and the Life of St. Wilfrid says that Theodore expressed a desire for Wilfrid to succeed him at Canterbury.[93] Wilfrid may have been involved in founding monasteries near Bath as well as in other parts of Sussex, but the evidence is mainly from the wording of charters and is thus unclear.[94]

Return to Northumbria and exile

Return from exile

In 686 Wilfrid was recalled to Northumbria after the death of Ecgfrith in battle with the Picts.[95][32] During the 680's, Theodore had created two more dioceses in Northumbria, at Ripon, and at Abercorn in the Pictish kingdom, but neither diocese lasted long.[68] After Ecgfrith's death, Theodore wrote to the new king of Northumbria, Aldfrith, along with Æthelred, king of Mercia and the abbess of Whitby, Ælfflæd, suggesting that an agreement be made allowing Wilfrid's return to Northumbria. Aldfrith agreed, and Wilfrid returned to the north, and Bosa was removed from York. Wilfrid did not recover the whole of his previous bishopric, however, as Hexham and Lindisfarne remained separate sees.[4]

He appears to have resided at Ripon and for a time he acted as administrator of the see of Lindisfarne after Cuthbert's death in 687.[95] In 691, the subdivision issue arose once more, along with quarrels with the new king Aldfrith over lands,[4] and attempts were made to make Wilfrid either give up all his lands or to stay confined to Ripon.[94] A proposal to turn Ripon into a bishopric also was a source of dispute. When no compromise was possible, Wilfrid left Northumbria for Mercia, and Bosa was returned to York.[4]

Mercia

During this exile, Wilfrid resided in Mercia, and acted as bishop there with the consent of King Æthelred.[96] Information on this period of Wilfrid's life is meagre as the Life of Wilfrid has little to say of this period.[97] He is generally held to have been bishop of Leicester up to about 706 when he is held to have been transferred to Hexham.[98] While he was in Mercia, Wilfrid became involved in the missionary efforts to the Frisians, which he had started in 678 when he was stayed in Frisia. Wilfrid helped the missionary efforts of Willibrord, which were more successful than Wilfrid's earlier attempts.[75] Willibrord was a monk of Ripon who was also a native of Northumbria.[99]

Wilfrid was present at the exhumation at Ely Abbey of the body of Queen Æthelthryth in 695. Wilfrid had been her spiritual advisor in the 670's, and had helped the queen become a nun against the wishes of her husband King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. She had joined Ely Abbey, and died there in 679. The ceremony in 695 found that her body had not decayed, which led to her being declared a saint.[100] Wilfrid's testimony as to the character and virginity of Æthelthryth was recorded by Bede.[67]

In around 700, Wilfrid appealed once more to Pope Sergius I over his expulsion from York, with the pope referring the issue back to a council in England. In 702/703 King Aldfrith held a council at Austerfield that upheld Wilfrid's expulsion from York, and once more Wilfrid traveled to Rome to appeal to the pope.[101] The Life of Wilfrid gives a speech, supposedly delivered by Wilfrid there, that defended Wilfrid's career over the past 40 years.[102] The council was presided over by Berhtwald, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and the decision of the council was that Wilfrid would be deprived of all his monasteries but Ripon, and that he would cease to perform episcopal functions. When Wilfrid continued his appeal to the papacy, his opponents had his supporters and Wilfrid excommunicated.[4]

Rome and final return to Northumbria

While traveling to Rome, Wilfrid stopped in Frisia to see Willibrord.[74] Once Wilfrid arrived in Rome, the pope held a council, which declared that the king of Northumbria should follow the earlier papal decrees restoring Wilfrid to his see.[101] While there, Wilfrid was disconcerted to discover that the papal court spoke Greek, and his biographer noted that Wilfrid was displeased when the pope discussed the appeal with advisors in a language Wilfrid could not understand.[103] The pope also ordered another council held in England that would decide the issue, and ordered the attendance of Bosa, Berhtwald and Wilfrid. While returning to England, Wilfrid had a seizure at Meaux, but returned to Kent by 705.[4]

Soon after Wilfrid's arrival in England, Aldfrith died. The new king, Eadwulf, had been considered a friend of Wilfrid, but after his ascension, he ordered Wilfrid to stay out of Northumbria. But Eadwulf only reigned a few months, and was expelled to make way for Aldfrith's son Osred.[4] Wilfrid served as spiritual advisor to the young king Osred.[9] He may have been one of the main supporters of Osred, besides Abbess Ælfflæd of Whitby, who was the daughter of Oswiu,[104] and the nobleman Beornhæth.[105] Once Osred was secure on the throne, in 706 Wilfrid was restored to Ripon and Hexham. When Bosa of York died, however, Wilfrid did not contest the decision to appoint John of Beverley to the see of York. This appointment was a transfer of John from the see of Hexham, which left Wilfrid able to perform episcopal functions at Hexham,[4] which he did until his death.[106]

Other aspects

Cult of St Oswald

Sometime after the translation of Oswald of Northumbria's relics to Bardney Abbey by Osthryth between 675 and 679,[107] Wilfrid, along with Hexham Abbey, started promoting the cult of the dead king. The historian Barbara Yorke sees this promotion as a major factor in the prominence given to Oswald in Bede's Ecclesiastical History.[108] The historian D. P. Kirby sees the prominence given to Oswald by Wilfrid as a contributing factor in Wilfrid's expulsion from York in 678, believing that Ecgfrith felt that Wilfrid was promoting Oswald's branch of the Northumbrian royal family over Ecgfrith's branch.[47] One of Wilfrid's proteges, Willibrord, became a missionary to the Frisians in 695, perhaps inspired by Wilfrid's example and needing to leave Northumbria because he was known as a follower of Wilfrid.[109]

Monastic network

His network of monasteries extended across at least three of the kingdoms existing in England in his day.[110] They included Hexham, Ripon, Selsey and Oundle,[3] as well as possibly Peterborough, Brixworth, Evesham, Wing, and Withington.[111] At his monasteries and dioceses he built churches in a style built on the continent and at Rome.[112] He traveled between his various monasteries and churches with a large entourage, numbering up to 120 followers.[30] He made many contacts and friends, not only in Northumbria and the other English kingdoms, but in Gaul, Frisia and Italy as well. Nobles sent their sons to him for fostering, and Wilfrid was known to help his proteges, no matter if they became clerics or not. The historian Peter Brown speculated that one reason for Wilfrid's exile in 678 was that he was overshadowing the king as a patron.[113] He had many contacts in Gaul from his many visits to the area.[4] His contacts extended to the Lombard kingdom in Italy, where they included King Perctarit and his son Cunipert.[3]

Wilfrid was a prolific founder of churches, which he then controlled until his death, and which he transferred to others when he died. He was a great fundraiser, acquiring lands and money from many of the kings he had contact with.[114] He was also noted for his ability to attract support from powerful women, especially queens. His first patron was Queen Eanflæd, who introduced him to a number of helpful contacts. Later, he attracted the support of Queen Æthelthryth, who gave the endowment for Hexham abbey.[115] It was Ælffled who helped persuade the Northumbrians to allow Wilfrid to return from his last exile.[116]

Builder and artistic patron

As part of his building campaigns at Hexham, he re-used stones from Hadrian's Wall, which went to build a church that could hold 2,000 people, bigger than any church in Western Europe outside of Italy at that time.[113] He also built at Ripon, but both churches no longer survive. The crypts beneath the churches are still extant, though.[117] Wilfrid brought glassmakers over from the continent in order to finish his churches in Northumbria.[118] It appears that the churches at Ripon and Hexham were aisled basilicas, of the type that was common on the continent. Twelfth-century pilgrims' accounts declared that the church at Hexham rivaled those of Rome. The crypts at both Ripon and Hexham are unusual, and perhaps were intended by Wilfrid to mimic the Roman catacombs which he had seen in his travels.[4]

Besides his building projects, Wilfrid also commissioned works to embellish the churches, including altar cloths made of silk with gold threads woven in them, as well as a book of gospels written on purple dyed parchment with gold leaf lettering. The book was then enclosed in a cover or case of gold set with gems. When the church he had built at Ripon was consecrated, he had a three-day feast to accompany the ceremony.[3][notes 11]

Resignation and death

After his final return to Northumbria, Wilfrid retired to the monastery at Ripon, where he lived until his death at Oundle, Northamptonshire,[120] at the age of 75.[121] He died either in 709,[120] or 710[122] A little over a year before his death, he suffered another stroke or seizure, which led him to make arrangements for the disposition of his monasteries and possessions. He was buried in Ripon, near the altar of his church. Bede records the epitaph that was placed on the tomb.[4] After his death, he was succeeded at Hexham by Acca of Hexham, one of his proteges who had accompanied him to Rome in 703.[123][124] The monastery at Ripon celebrated the first anniversary of his death with a gathering of all the abbots of Wilfrid's monasteries for a commemoration.[106]

Wilfrid left large sums of money to his monastic foundations to enable them to purchase royal favour.[125] Soon after his death, a Vita Wilfredi, or Life of Wilfrid, was written by Stephan, a monk of Ripon,[120] with the first edition appearing around 715, but a later revision was done in the 730s.[61] It was commissioned by two of Wilfrid's followers, Acca of Hexham, and the abbot of Ripon, Tatbert.[3] Stephanus' Life is concerned with vindicating Wilfrid and making a case for his sainthood, and must be used with caution by historians for that reason.[126][89] Bearing in mind its biases, it is still an invaluable source for both Wilfrid's life and for the history of the time.[3]

Legacy

Wilfrid's feast day is 12 October[127] or 24 April.[128] Both dates were celebrated in Anglo-Saxon England, but the April date appears first in the liturgical calendars.[4] Right after his death, his body was treated as a cult object, and miracles were alleged to have happened at the spot where the water used to wash his body was disposed.[4] A cult grew up at Ripon after his death, and was still active until 948, when King Eadred destroyed the church at Ripon, and Wilfrid's relics were taken by Archbishop Odo of Canterbury.[129] Another source says that Oswald, archbishop of York, who was Odo's nephew, preserved the relics at Ripon and restored the community there to care for them. After the Norman Conquest of England, cult continued to be paid to Wilfrid, with 48 churches dedicated to him and relics distributed between at least eleven sites.[4] During the 19th century, the feast of Wilfrid was celebrated on the Sunday following Lammas in the town of Ripon with a parade and horse racing, which continued up until at least 1908.[130] He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church[128] and the Anglican Communion.[127]

Wilfrid was one of the first bishops to bring relics of saints back from Rome, and his biographer Stephen implied that he was the first person to legally obtain body parts as relics. The papacy was trying to restrict the relics being removed from Rome to things that had come in contact with the bodily remains such as dust and cloth, rather than actual body parts.[131] He was known as an advocate of Benedictine monasticism,[13] regarding it as a tool in his efforts to "root out the poisonous weeds planted by the Scots."[132] He built at both Ripon and Hexham, as well as living a majestic lifestyle.[16] Because of his various exiles, he founded monastic communities that were widely scattered over the British Isles, which he kept control of until his death.[125]

Commentators have said that Wilfrid "came into conflict with almost every prominent secular and ecclesiastical figure of the age."[133] Hindley, a historian of the Anglo-Saxons, states that "Wilfrid would not win his sainthood through the Christian virtue of humility."[2] The historian Barbara Yorke said of him that "Wilfrid's character was such that he seems to have been able to attract and infuriate in equal measure".[125] His contemporary, Bede, although a partisan of the Roman dating of Easter, always treats Wilfrid with a bit of unease, showing some concern about how Wilfrid conducted himself as a clergyman and as a bishop.[134] The historian Eric John feels that it was Wilfrid's devotion to monasticism that led him to believe that the only way for the Church to be improved was through monasticism. John traces Wilfrid's many appeals to Rome to concern to hold together his monastic empire, not to self-interest. John also challenges the belief that Wilfrid was fond of pomp, pointing out that the comparison between the Irish missionaries who walked versus Wilfrid who rode leaves out the fact that the quickest method of travel in the Middle Ages was to ride.[57]

The historian Peter Hunter Blair summarizes Wilfrid's life as follows: "Wilfrid left a distinctive mark on the character of the English church in the seventh century. He was not a humble man, nor, so far as we can see, was he a man greatly interested in learning, and perhaps he would have been more at home as a member of the Gallo-Roman episcopate where the wealth which gave him enemies in England would have passed unnoticed and where his interference in matters of state would have been less likely to take him to prison."[135] R. W. Southern, another modern historian, says that Wilfrid was "the greatest papal enthusiast of the century".[103]

Notes

  1. ^ Aunemund was murdered at the command of Balthild, the regent of Chlothar III.[12]
  2. ^ Agilbert was later expelled from his English bishopric by the King of Wessex when the king could not understand Agilbert.[26]
  3. ^ It's unclear how much of the speech in Bede's account of the council is actually Wilfrid's and how much was composed by Bede.[25]
  4. ^ Some Welsh churches did not adopt the Roman Easter until 768.[29]
  5. ^ York did not attain metropolitan status until 735.[33]
  6. ^ Theodore shortly afterwards reconsecrated Ceadda and gave him the bishopric of Lichfield.[47] The Life of Wilfrid says that Wilfrid urged Theodore to appoint Ceadda to Lichfield.[4]
  7. ^ Dagobert became king of Austrasia in 676, but was assassinated in 680.[55]
  8. ^ And he was the only English bishop to appeal a royal verdict to the papacy until 1088 when William de St-Calais appealed a decision of King William II of England to Rome.[72]
  9. ^ The copy of the decrees of Agatho has had interpolations added to it, partly to support the later Canterbury-York disputes over primacy that started under Archbishop Lanfranc after the Norman Conquest of England. However, the Life of Wilfrid also confirms the basics of the council decrees, it is only in the decrees discussion of metropolitan status for Theodore that it is possibly corrupt.[77]
  10. ^ When Wilfrid returned to Northumbria, he gave the Wight mission to his nephew,[42] Beornwine, who apparently was not an ordained priest.[91]
  11. ^ The book, which was given to Ripon, does not survive.[119]

References

  1. ^ a b Mayr-Harting, Coming of Christianity p. 107-112
  2. ^ a b c d e Hindley, A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 78-83
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fletcher, Barbarian Conversion pp. 175-180
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Thacker, "Wilfrid [St Wilfrid (c.634–709/10)]" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography accessed 9 November 2007
  5. ^ Quoted in Yorke, Conversion of Britain p. 181
  6. ^ Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms pp. 36-37
  7. ^ Kirby, Earliest English Kings p. 36
  8. ^ Blair, World of Bede p. 156
  9. ^ a b c d e f Thacker, "St. Wilfrid" Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England p. 474-476
  10. ^ Herrin, Formation of Christendom pp. 267-268
  11. ^ Brown, "Royal and Ecclesiastical" Renascence pp. 29-31
  12. ^ Levison, England and the Continent p. 10
  13. ^ a b c Cubitt, "Clergy in Early Anglo-Saxon England" Historical Research p. 277
  14. ^ Farmer, "Introduction" Age of Bede p. 22
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Kirby, Earliest English Kings pp. 87-88
  16. ^ a b Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism p. 57
  17. ^ Blair, World of Bede p. 199
  18. ^ Blair, World of Bede pp. 111-112
  19. ^ Blair, World of Bede pp. 162-163
  20. ^ a b Kirby, Making of Early England pp. 46-47
  21. ^ John, "Societal and Political Problems" Land, Church and People pp. 52-53
  22. ^ John, Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England pp. 24-25
  23. ^ Abels, "Council of Whitby" Journal of British Studies pp. 2-3
  24. ^ Abels, "Council of Whitby" Journal of British Studies p. 9
  25. ^ a b c Blair, Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 131
  26. ^ a b Fletcher, Barbarian Conversion p. 263
  27. ^ Blair, World of Bede pp. 83-84
  28. ^ Stenton, Anglo Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 123-125
  29. ^ a b Yorke, Conversion of Britain p. 117
  30. ^ a b Brown, Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition pp. 361-362
  31. ^ a b Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms pp. 84-85
  32. ^ a b c Fryde, et. al., Handbook of British Chronology p. 224
  33. ^ Hall, "York" Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England p. 428
  34. ^ a b John, "Societal and Political Problems" Land, Church, and People pp. 42-49
  35. ^ Abels, "Council of Whitby" Journal of British Studies p. 17
  36. ^ a b John, Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England pp. 32-33
  37. ^ a b Mayr-Harting, Coming of Christianity p. 129-147
  38. ^ Thomson, Western Church p. 56
  39. ^ Abels, "Council of Whitby" Journal of British Studies pp. 18-19
  40. ^ Farmer, "Introduction" Age of Bede p. 23
  41. ^ Gibbs, "Decrees of Agatho" Speculum pp. 220-221
  42. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k John, Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England pp. 34-35
  43. ^ Kirby, Earliest English Kings p. 95
  44. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 95
  45. ^ Lapidge, "Theodore" Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England p. 445
  46. ^ Blair, Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 135
  47. ^ a b c d e Kirby, Earliest English Kings pp. 90-93
  48. ^ Brown, Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition p. 359
  49. ^ Kirby, Earliest English Kings p. 21
  50. ^ Kirby, Earliest English Kings p. 22
  51. ^ Kirby, Earliest English Kings pp. 70-71
  52. ^ Stenton, Anglo Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 133-134
  53. ^ Blair, Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 136
  54. ^ Kirby, Making of Early England p. 265
  55. ^ Wallace-Hadrill, "Long-haired Kings p. 238
  56. ^ Kirby, "Bede" English Historical Review pp. 102-104
  57. ^ a b c John, Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England pp. 35-37
  58. ^ a b Stenton, Anglo Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 135
  59. ^ Blair, Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 146
  60. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society pp. 190-191
  61. ^ a b Yorke, Conversion of Britain p. 12
  62. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 186
  63. ^ Quoted in Brown, Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition p. 359
  64. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 94
  65. ^ Farmer, "Introduction" Age of Bede p. 24
  66. ^ a b c d Stenton, Anglo Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 136
  67. ^ a b Goffart, Narrators p. 322
  68. ^ a b Kirby, Making of Early England pp. 48-49
  69. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society pp. 98-99
  70. ^ Gibbs, "Decrees of Agatho" Speculum p. 216
  71. ^ Hindley, A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 48
  72. ^ Southern, Western Society pp. 184-185
  73. ^ Blair, Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 137
  74. ^ a b Levison, England and the Continent pp. 50-51
  75. ^ a b Hindley, A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 121-122
  76. ^ Levison, England and the Continent p. 14
  77. ^ Gibbs, "Decrees of Agatho" Speculum pp. 217-219
  78. ^ Chadwick, "Theodore" Archbishop Theodore pp. 88-95
  79. ^ Loyn, Anglo-Saxon Governance p. 57
  80. ^ Levison, England and the Continent pp. 24-25
  81. ^ Eddius Stephanus, "Life of Wilfrid" Age of Bede pp. 142-143
  82. ^ Lyon, A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England p. 49
  83. ^ Mayr-Harting, Coming of Christianity p. 118
  84. ^ Stenton, Anglo Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 138
  85. ^ Tyler, "Reluctant Kings" History p. 149
  86. ^ Coates, "Role of Bishops" History p. 180
  87. ^ Fletcher, Barbarian Conversion p. 244
  88. ^ Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms p. 56
  89. ^ a b c Kirby, Earliest English Kings p. 100
  90. ^ a b Kirby, Making of Early England p. 50
  91. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 90
  92. ^ Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms p. 164
  93. ^ Kirby, Earliest English Kings p. 102
  94. ^ a b Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 96
  95. ^ a b Stenton, Anglo Saxon England p. 139
  96. ^ Kirby, Earliest English Kings pp. 120-121
  97. ^ Kirby, "Bede" English Historical Review p. 105
  98. ^ Fryde, et. al., Handbook of British Chronology p. 218
  99. ^ Fletcher, Barbarian Conversion p. 199
  100. ^ Goffart, Narrators pp. 260-261
  101. ^ a b Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England p. 143
  102. ^ Goffart, Narrators pp. 263-264
  103. ^ a b Southern, Western Society pp. 57-58
  104. ^ Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms p. 88
  105. ^ Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms p. 92
  106. ^ a b Goffart, Narrators p. 271
  107. ^ Craid, "Oswald" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  108. ^ Yorke, "Adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts" Cross Goes North p. 249
  109. ^ John, Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England p. 57
  110. ^ Campbell, Anglo-Saxon State p. 46
  111. ^ Farmer, "Introduction" Age of Bede p. 26
  112. ^ Brown, Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition p. 52
  113. ^ a b Brown, Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition pp. 362-363
  114. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 97
  115. ^ Tyler, "Reluctant Kings" History p. 156
  116. ^ Mitchell, "Anglo-Saxon Double Monasteries" History Today p. 37
  117. ^ Blair, Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 153
  118. ^ Kirby, Making of Early England p. 259
  119. ^ Blair, World of Bede p. 228
  120. ^ a b c Hindley, A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 62
  121. ^ Kirby, Making of Early England p. 158
  122. ^ Kirby, "Bede" English Historical Review p. 101
  123. ^ Blair, World of Bede p. 189
  124. ^ Levison, England and the Continent p. 61
  125. ^ a b c Yorke, Conversion of Britain p. 163
  126. ^ Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms p. 73
  127. ^ a b Holford-Strevens, et. al., Oxford Book of Days pp. 411-412
  128. ^ a b Walsh, A New Dictionary of Saints p. 623-624 Cite error: The named reference "Walsh623" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  129. ^ Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 314
  130. ^ "Feast of St Wilfrid" Folklore pp. 464-466
  131. ^ Ortenberg, "The Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" in Lawrence (ed.) The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages p. 45
  132. ^ Quoted in Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism p. 57
  133. ^ Quoted in Hindley, A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 62
  134. ^ Brown, Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition pp. 363-364
  135. ^ Blair, World of Bede p. 152

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  • Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. (1982). The Long-haired Kings. Toronto: University of Toronto Press in association with Medieval Academy of America. ISBN 0-8020-6500-7.
  • Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. London: Burns & Oats. ISBN 0-8601-2438-X.
  • Yorke, Barbara (2003). "The Adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts to Christianity". In Martin Carver (ed.). The Cross Goes North: Processes of Conversion in Northern Europe AD 300-1300. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. 244–257. ISBN 1-84383-125-2.
  • Yorke, Barbara (2006). The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain c. 600-800. London: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 0-582-77292-3.
  • Yorke, Barbara (1997). Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-16639-X.

Further reading

  • Campbell, J. (1986). "Bede I' and 'Bede II". In J. Campbell (ed.). Essays in Anglo-Saxon History. pp. 1–48.
  • Cubitt, Catherine (1999). "Finding the Forger: An Alleged Decree of the 679 Council of Hatfield". The English Historical Review. 114 (459): 1217–1248. doi:10.1093/ehr/114.459.1217.
  • Cubitt, C. (1989). "Wilfrid's "Usurping Bishops": Episcopal Elections in Anglo-Saxon England". Northern History. 25: 18–38.
  • Foley, W. T. (1989). "Imitation Apostoli: St Wilfrid of York and the Andrew Script". American Benedictine Review. 40: 13–31.
  • Fraser, James E. (2009). From Caledonia to Pictland, Scotland to 795. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Volume I. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-1232-1.
  • Nankivell, John H. (2002). Saint Wilfrid. London: SPCK. ISBN 0-281-05445-2.
  • Poole, R. L. (1919). "St. Wilfrid and the See of Ripon". The English Historical Review. 34 (133): 1–24. doi:10.1093/ehr/XXXIV.CXXXIII.1. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Sims-Williams, P. (1988). "St Wilfrid and Two Charters Dated AD 676 and 680". Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 39: 163–83.
  • Warin, Anne (1992). Wilfrid. York, UK: William Sessions, Ltd. ISBN 1-85072-108-4.
  • Wood, I. N. (1995). "Northumbrians and Franks in the age of Wilfrid". Northern History. 31: 10–21.
  • Wood, I. N. (1990). "Ripon, Francia, and the Franks' Casket in the Early Middle Ages". Northern History. 26: 1–19.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of York
664–678 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Leicester
692–705 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Hexham
705–709 		Succeeded by

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