Wilfrid 145295 222817515 2008-07-01T07:14:12Z D-Notice 86656 /* Notes */ 2-column ref list {{Infobox Bishop of York | name = Saint Wilfrid | image = Saint Wilfrid.jpg | caption=Wilfrid depicted in [[stained glass]] | birth_name = | consecration = 664 | began = 664 | term_end = 678 | predecessor = [[Chad of Mercia]] | successor = [[Bosa of York]] |birth_date=c. 634<br>[[Northumbria]] |death_date={{death date|709|4|24|mf=y}}<bR>[[Oundle]], [[Northamptonshire]] | tomb = }} '''Wilfrid''' (c. 634 - [[April 24]], [[709]]) was an [[England|English]] [[bishop]] and [[saint]]. His life coincided with the lives of [[Cuthbert]] and [[Benedict Biscop]], all of whom helped to convert the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England to Christianity. ==Early life== He was born of good parentage in [[Northumbria]] about 633.<ref name=Harting107>Mayr-Harting ''Coming of Christianity'' p. 107-112</ref> At about age fourteen, he left home over a conflict with his stepmother, probably without his father's consent.<ref name=Hindley78>Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 78-83</ref> When serving in King [[Oswiu of Northumbria|Oswiu's]] court, he attracted the notice of the queen, [[Eanfled of Deira|Eanfled]] who, fostering his inclination for a religious life,<ref name=Hindley78/> placed him under the care of an old noble, [[Cudda]], now a [[monk]] at [[Lindisfarne]].<ref name=DNB>Thacker "Wilfrid [St Wilfrid] (c.634–709/10)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29409 Online Edition] accessed November 9, 2007</ref> Wilfrid studied at Lindisfarne for a brief time before going to [[Canterbury]] and the king's court there, where he stayed with friends of the queen for three years.<ref name=Hindley78/> Later on Eanfled enabled him to visit [[Rome]] in the company of [[Benedict Biscop]].<ref name=EncASE>Thacker "St. Wilfrid" ''Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 474-476</ref> According to Wilfrid's later biographer, at [[Lyon]] Wilfrid's pleasing features and quick intelligence made [[Aunemund]], the archbishop, desire to adopt him and marry him to his niece. Resisting his offers, the youth went on to Rome, received the [[pope|papal]] [[benediction]], and then, in accordance with his promise, returned to Lyon, where he stayed for three years, till the murder of his patron, whose fate the executioners would not let him share. However, the archbishop was not murdered until 660, but Wilfrid returned to England in 658, so there are some chronological issues with this story.<ref name=DNB/> On his return home in 658, Oswiu's son [[Alchfrith of Deira|Alchfrith]] gave him a [[monastery]] at [[Ripon]],<ref name=EncASE/> and, before long, [[Agilbert]], bishop of the [[Gewissæ]], or West [[Saxons]], ordained him priest.<ref name=Hindley78/> ==Whitby and York== [[Image:Northumbrian bishoprics and monasteries, 680s.svg|thumb|right|The Northumbrian bishoprics about 680]] Wilfrid attended the [[synod of Whitby|council of Whitby]], and his speech in favor of adopting Roman church practices determined the overthrow of the [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic party]] in 664.<ref name=ASE123>Stenton ''Anglo Saxon England'' 3rd ed. p. 123-125</ref><ref name=Harting107/> About a year later he was consecrated to the [[diocese|see]] of [[York]],<ref name=Handbook224>Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 224</ref> not, however, in Northumbria, since he refused consecration at the hands of the Anglo-Saxon bishops, but at [[Compiègne]] by [[Agilbert]] who was now [[bishop of Paris]].<ref name=Harting129>Mayr-Harting ''Coming of Christianity'' p. 129-147</ref> He delayed his return, and when he finally did return he found [[Ceadda]] (St Chad) installed in his see of York.<ref name=EncASE/> For three years from 665 to 668 he ruled his monastery at Ripon in peace, though acting as bishop in [[Mercia]] and [[Kent]] during vacancies in sees there. On the arrival of [[Theodore of Tarsus|Theodore]] in 669, newly appointed [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], Wilfrid was installed finally in his see,<ref name=Handbook224/> and there spent nine years of ceaseless activity, especially in building churches, including the monastery at [[Hexham]].<ref name=DNB/> Wilfrid did not attend in person the Council of Hertford in September of 672, but sent representatives. Among the councils decisions was one that postponed a decision on the creation of new dioceses, which would affect Wilfrid later.<ref name=ASE133>Stenton ''Anglo Saxon England'' 3rd ed. p. 133-134</ref> 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 manner of church music. He also introduced the [[Rule of St Benedict]] into the monasteries he founded. He also was one of the first Anglo-Saxon bishops to record the gifts of land and property to his church at Ripon. Easter tables, used to calculate the correct date to celebrate Easter, were brought in from Rome which used the Dionysiac Easter tables recently introduced.<ref name=DNB/> He set up schools and became the religious advisor of the Northumbrian queen [[Æthelthryth]], first wife of [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Egfrid]], who Wilfrid encouraged in her desire to be a nun. Æthelfrith was the donor of the land at [[Hexham]] where Wilfrid founded a monastery.<ref name=ASE135>Stenton ''Anglo Saxon England'' 3rd ed. p. 135</ref> ==Expulsion== In 677<ref name=ASE136>Stenton ''Anglo Saxon England'' 3rd ed. p. 136</ref> in the words of [[Bede]]: <blockquote>[A] dissension broke out between King Egfrid and the most reverend prelate, Wilfrid, who was driven from his see, and two bishops substituted in his stead, to preside over the nation of the Northumbrians, namely, [[Bosa of York |Bosa]], to preside over the nation of the [[Deira (kingdom)|Deiri]], with his seat in York; and [[Eata of Hexham|Eata]] over that of the [[Bernicia]]ns, with his [[bishop of Hexham|see in the church of Hexham]], or else Lindisfarne; both of them promoted to the episcopal dignity from a society of monks. With them also was [[Eadhedus|Edhed]] ordained [[bishop of Lindsey|bishop in the province of Lindsey]], which King Egfrid had only just conquered, having overcome and vanquished [[Wulfhere of Mercia|Wulfhere]]; and this was the first bishop of its own which that province had.... Before Edhed, [[Sexwulf]] was bishop as well of that province as of the [[Mercia]]ns and Midland Angles; so that, when expelled from Lindsey, he continued in the government of those provinces. Edhed, Bosa, and Eata, were ordained at York by Archbishop [[Theodore of Tarsus|Theodore]]; who also, three years after the departure of Wilfrid, added two bishops to their number; [[Trumbert|Tumbert]], in the church of Hexham, Eata still continuing in that of Lindisfarne; and [[Trumwine]] in the province of the Picts which at that time was subject to the English. Edhed returning from Lindsey, because Ethelred had recovered that province, was placed by him over the church of [[Bishop of Ripon|Ripon]].<ref name=Bede226>Bede ''A History of the English Church and People'' p. 226</ref></blockquote> [[Image:British seventh century kingdoms.gif|thumb|left|150px|Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the late 7th century]] 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.<ref name=EncASE/> Another contributing factor in the king's expulsion of Wilfrid was Wilfrid's encouragement of Æthelthryth entry into a nunnery.<ref name=ASE135/> Wilfrid went to Rome in 677 to appeal Theodore's decision.<ref name=Hindley48>Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 48</ref><ref name=ASE136/> On the way he sojourned at the court of [[Aldgisl]], the [[Rulers of Frisia|Frisian king]] in [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]] for most of 678.<ref name=ASE136/> [[Pope Agatho]] held a synod in October of 679 where the pope ordered Wilfrid's restoration, but that the new dioceses should be retained.<ref name=ASE136/> Wilfrid must have been in [[Austrasia]] at this time, because according to his biographer [[Eddius|Eddius Stephanus]], Wilfrid left Austrasia after the death of [[Dagobert II]], in mortal danger from the supporters of Duke [[Ebroin]]. In 680, Wilfrid appeared before a [[Witenagemot]] and produced his papal bull ordering his restoration, but he was briefly imprisoned and then exiled.<ref name=Lyon49>Lyon ''A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England'' p. 49</ref><ref name=Harting118>Mayr-Harting ''Coming of Christianity'' p. 118</ref> After this, he took refuge in Sussex with King [[Æthelwealh of Sussex]].<ref name=ASE138>Stenton ''Anglo Saxon England'' 3rd ed. p. 138</ref> He spent the next five years preaching, converting, and founding [[Selsey Abbey]].<ref name=EncASE/> Stephanus tells us that, as Bishop of Selsey, Wilfrid helped alleviate the starvation of the natives of Sussex by his men teaching the natives how to fish. Previously they are said to have killed themselves by wading into the sea arm in arm and dedicating themselves to their gods.<ref>Eddius Stephanus is well known for his partisanship and his credulousness, and the story regarding the starving coast dwellers of Sussex is patently absurd. See Colgrave, B. (ed. & trans.), ''The Life of Bishop Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus'', Cambridge University Press, 1927 (reprinted 1985), p. xi. Moreover, his description of this apparent form of religious suicide is probably to be seen as no more than hyperbole, referring to the damnation that he would anticipate for pagans.</ref> It was during this time that he met with Caedwalla. He was a nobleman of [[Wessex]], from the line of [[Ceawlin]], then living as a bandit ravaging Sussex and Kent. Wilfrid and Caedwalla entered into a pact whereby each would further the others interests. Soon after this Caedwalla killed Wilfrid's previous benefactor [[Æthelwealh of Sussex|King Æthelwealh of Sussex]] and Caedwalla took over his kingdom and conquered Kent. Then the King of Wessex [[Centwine]] abdicated to become a monk and Caedwalla promised Wilfrid a quarter of the [[Isle of Wight]].These events give circumstantial evidence as to the operation of the pact between the two men. The [[Isle of Wight]] presented Wilfrid with a different challenge. The population of the Jutish kingdom had been forcibly converted by King [[Wulfhere]] of [[Mercia]] a generation before, but had returned to their heathen beliefs- making then not only the last pagan kingdom in England, but also apostates. Wulfhere had left behind [[Eoppa]] the mass priest who also reported to Wilfrid. Caedwalla landed at [[Bembridge]] and killed the Isle of Wight king, Arwald. According to St [[Bede]] he then endeavoured to destroy the whole population and gave the land of 300 families to Wilfrid. This represented 300 hides of land from 1200 hides. Bede does not mention the conversion of any Islanders, except the nephews of [[Arwald]], minutes before their execution, although later Christian tradition is that Wilfrid converted 300 families, this is not borne out by any evidence. Bede reports that the Island was Christianised by Caedwalla replacing the now-dead population with his own followers. [[Cædwalla of Wessex]], was in 686, still unbaptised and dying of wounds sustained in the conquest of the Isle of Wight. Two years after he abdicated and travelled to [[Rome]], accompanied by St. [[Aldhelm]] where he died six days after being baptised by the Pope on 22 April 688CE.<ref name=Hindley50>Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 50</ref> {{Infobox Saint |name= Saint Wilfrid |feast_day=[[October 12]][[April 24]] |venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Anglican Communion]] |titles= |beatified_date= |beatified_place= |beatified_by= |canonized_date= |canonized_place= |canonized_by= |attributes=(1) baptizing; <br>(2) preaching; <br>(3) landing from a ship and received by the king; or <br>(4) engaged in theological disputation with his crozier near him and a lectern before him |patronage=[[Diocese of Middlesbrough]]; Ripon<ref name=PatronSaint>[http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintw64.htm Patron Saint Index entry on Saint Wilfrid] accessed on [[September 12]], [[2007]]</ref> |major_shrine=[[Ripon]], [[Sompting]] (Sussex), and [[Frisia]] (Roeder). |suppressed_date= |issues= }} However in 686, Wilfrid was finally recalled to York after the death of Egfrid in battle with the Picts.<ref name=ASE139>Stenton ''Anglo Saxon England'' p. 139</ref><ref name=Handbook224/> He appears to have resided at [[Ripon]] and for a time he acted as administrator of the see of Lindisfarne after Saint [[Cuthbert]]'s death in 687.<ref name=ASE139/> In 691, the subdivision issue arose once more, along with quarrels with the new king [[Aldfrith]] over lands,<ref name=DNB/> and Wilfrid left the area for the midlands.<ref name=Handbook224/> While he was there, Wilfrid became involved in the missionary efforts to the [[Frisians]], which he had started in 678 when he was forced by politics to take a different route to Rome that led him through [[Frisia]]. While passing through Frisia, he tried to convert the ruler of the kingdom to Christianity, but his successes were shortlived. However, in 690 Wilfrid helped the missionary journey of [[Willibrord]], which was more successful.<ref name=Hindley121>Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 121-122</ref> While Wilfrid was in exile, he resided in [[Mercia]], and acted as bishop there with the consent of King [[Æthelred of Mercia]]. He is generally held to have been [[bishop of Leicester]] up to about 706 when he is held to have been transferred to Hexham.<ref name=Handbook218>Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 218</ref> 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 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. The pope held a council, which declared that the king of Northumbria should follow the earlier papal decrees restoring Wilfrid to his see. With the death of Aldfrith in December of 704, Wilfrid was allowed to return to Northumbria, although not as bishop.<ref name=ASE143>Stenton ''Anglo Saxon England'' 3rd ed. p. 143-145</ref> ==Resignation and death== In 704, Wilfrid retired to the monastery at [[Ripon Cathedral|Ripon]], where he lived in prayer and penitence until his death at [[Oundle]], [[Northamptonshire]], in 709.<ref name=Hindley62>Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 62</ref> He was buried in Ripon.<ref name=DNB/> Before his death, he also served as spiritual advisor to the young king [[Osred I of Northumbria|Osred]] of Northumbria.<ref name=EncASE/> Soon after his death, a ''Vita Wilfredi'' was written by [[Eddius|Stephanus]], a monk of Ripon.<ref name=Hindley62/> He was one of the first bishops to bring relics of saints back from Rome, and his biographer Stephanus implied that Wilfrid was the first person to have legally obtained body parts as relics, as 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.<ref name=Ortenberg45>Ortenberg "The Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" in Lawrence (ed.) ''The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages'' p. 45</ref> Commentators have said that Wilfrid "came into conflict with almost every prominent secular and ecclesiastical figure of the age."<ref name=QHindley62>quoted in Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 62</ref> Hindley, an historian of the Anglo-Saxons, states that "Wilfrid would not win his sainthood through the Christian virtue of humility."<ref name=Hindley78/> His feast day is [[October 12]]<ref name=PatronSaint/> or on [[April 24]].<ref name=Walsh623>Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 623-624</ref> He is venerated in the [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Anglican Communion]]. ==See also== *[[Eddius|Eddius Stephanus]], Wilfrid's biographer *[[Preston]], centred round a monastery founded by Wilfrid ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==References== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |author=Bede Venerablis |authorlink=Bede |coauthors= translated by Leo Sherley-Price |title=A History of the English Church and People |publisher=Penguin Classics |location= |year=1988 |isbn=0-14-044042-9 }} * {{cite book |author=Fryde, E. B. |coauthors=Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third Edition, revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }} * {{cite book |title=A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation |last= Hindley|first=Geoffrey |year= 2006|publisher= Carroll & Graf Publishers |location=New York |isbn=978-0-78671-738-5 }} * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Thacker |first=Alan |editor= Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (Editors) |encyclopedia= The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England |title= St Wilfrid |year=2001 |publisher= Blackwell Publishing |location=Malden, MA }} * {{cite book |author=Lyon, Bryce Dale |title=A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England|edition=Second Edition |publisher=Norton |location=New York |year=1980 |isbn=0-393-95132-4 }} * {{cite book |author=Mayr-Harting, Henry| authorlink= Henry Mayr-Harting |title=The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |location=University Park, PA |year=1991 |isbn=0-271-00769-9 }} * {{Citation | last = Ortenberg | first = Veronica|contribution=The Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy |year = 1965|edition=Reprint edition 1999| title = The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages|editor-last = Lawrence|editor-first = C. H.|pages = p. 29-62|place = Stroud|publisher = Sutton Publishing|isbn=0-7509-1947-7}} * [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintw64.htm "Patron Saint Index entry on Saint Wilfrid"] - at Catholic-Forum.com - accessed on [[September 12]] [[2007]] * {{cite book |title= Anglo-Saxon England |last=Stenton |first=F. M. |authorlink= Frank Stenton |year= 1971|publisher= Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |edition=Third Edition |isbn=978-0-19-280139-5 }} * Thacker, Alan "Wilfrid [St Wilfrid] (c.634–709/10)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29409 Online Edition] accessed November 9, 2007 * {{cite book |author=Walsh, Michael J. |title=Dictionary of Christian Biography |publisher= Liturgical Press |location=Collegville, MN |year=2001 |isbn=0-8146-5921-7 }} {{refend}} <!-- Still need to source out York ''Kings and Kingdoms'' and Blair ''Church in Anglo-Saxon Society''--> ==External links== *[http://members.aol.com/michellezi/biography/Wilfrith.html His epitaph, from Bede] *[http://www.pase.ac.uk/pase/apps/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?personKey=874 Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Wilfrid] {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef | before=[[Chad of Mercia]] }} {{s-ttl| title=[[Bishop of York]]| years=664&ndash;678}} {{s-aft | after=[[Bosa of York]] }} {{s-bef| before=[[Cuthwine of Leicester]]}} {{s-ttl | title=[[Bishop of Leicester]] | | years= 692&ndash;705 }} {{s-aft| after=[[Headdi]] }} {{s-bef| before=[[John of Beverley]]}} {{s-ttl | title=[[Bishop of Hexham]] | | years= 705&ndash;709<ref name=Powicke231>Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd ed. p. 231</ref> }} {{s-aft| after=[[Acca of Hexham|Acca]] }} {{end}} {{1911}} {{Archbishops of York}} {{Persondata |NAME=Wilfrid |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION=Bishop of York; Saint; Bishop of Hexham; Bishop of Leicester |DATE OF BIRTH=c634 |PLACE OF BIRTH=Northumbria |DATE OF DEATH=April 24, 709 |PLACE OF DEATH=Oundle, Northamptonshire }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilfrid}} [[Category:Benedictines]] [[Category:Anglo-Saxon saints]] [[Category:Yorkshire saints]] [[Category:634 births]] [[Category:709 deaths]] [[Category:History of Northumberland]] [[Category:Archbishops of York]] [[Category:Bishops of Hexham]] [[Category:7th century bishops]] [[Category:Bishops of Leicester]] [[de:Wilfrid]] [[fr:Wilfrid d'York]] [[fy:Wilfried]] [[nl:Wilfrid van York]]