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Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon. In 664 Wilfrid acted as spokesman for the Roman position at the Synod of Whitby, and became famous for his speech advocating that the Roman method for calculating the date of Easter should be adopted. His success prompted the king's son, Alhfrith, to appoint him Bishop of Northumbria. Wilfrid chose to be consecrated in Gaul because of the lack of what he considered to be validly consecrated bishops in England at that time. During Wilfrid's absence Alhfrith seems to have led an unsuccessful revolt against his father, Oswiu, leaving a question mark over Wilfrid's appointment as bishop. Before Wilfrid's return Oswiu had appointed Saint Chad in his place, resulting in Wilfrid's retirement to Ripon for a few years following his arrival back in Northumbria.
After becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 668, Theodore of Tarsus resolved the situation by deposing Ceadda and restoring Wilfrid as the Bishop of Northumbria. For the next nine years Wilfrid discharged his episcopal duties, founded monasteries, built churches, and improved the liturgy. However his diocese was very large, and Theodore wished to reform the English Church, a process which included breaking up some of the larger dioceses into smaller ones. When Wilfrid quarrelled with Ecgfrith, the Northumbrian king, Theodore took the opportunity to implement his reforms despite Wilfrid's objections. After Ecgfrith expelled him from York, Wilfrid travelled to Rome to appeal to the papacy. Pope Pope Agatho ruled in Wilfrid's favour, but Ecgfrith refused to honour the papal decree and instead imprisoned Wilfrid on his return to Northumbria before exiling him.
Wilfrid spent the next few years in Selsey, now in West Sussex, where he founded an episcopal see and converted the pagan inhabitants of the Kingdom of Sussex to Christianity. Theodore and Wilfrid settled their differences, and Theodore urged the new Northumbrian king, Aldfrith, to allow Wilfrid's return. Aldfrith agreed to do so, but in 691 he expelled Wilfrid again. Wilfrid went to Mercia, where he helped missionaries and acted as bishop for the Mercian king. Wilfrid appealed to the papacy about his expulsion in 700, and the pope ordered that an English council should be held to decide the issue. This council, held at Austerfield in South Yorkshire in 702, attempted to confiscate all of Wilfrid's possessions, and so Wilfrid travelled to Rome to appeal against the decision. His opponents in Northumbria excommunicated him, but the papacy upheld Wilfrid's side, and he regained possession of Ripon Cathedral and Hexham Abbey, his Northumbrian monasteries. Wilfrid died in 709 or 710. After his death, he was venerated as a saint.
Historians then and now have been divided over Wilfrid. His followers commissioned Stephen of Ripon to write a Vita Sancti Wilfrithi (or Life of Saint Wilfrid) shortly after his death, and the medieval historian Bede also wrote extensively about him. Wilfrid lived ostentatiously, and travelled with a large retinue. He ruled a large number of monasteries, and claimed to be the first Englishman to introduce the Rule of Saint Benedict into English monasteries. Some modern historians see him mainly as a champion of Roman customs against the customs of the British and Irish churches, others as an advocate for monasticism.
Between the Humber and Forth the English had formed into two main kingdoms, Deira and Bernicia, often united as the Kingdom of Northumbria.Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 74 A number of Celtic kingdoms also existed in this region, including Craven, Elmet, Rheged, and Gododdin. A native British kingdom, later called the Kingdom of Strathclyde, survived as an independent power into the 10th century in the area which became modern-day Dunbartonshire and Clydesdale.Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 38 To the north-west of Strathclyde lay the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata, and to the north-east a small number of Pictish kingdoms.Yorke Kings and Kingdoms pp. 83–86 Further north still lay the great Pictish kingdom of Fortriu, which after the Battle of Dun Nechtain in 685 came to be the strongest power in the northern half of Britain.Charles-Edwards "'Continuation of Bede" Seanchas pp. 137–145Woolf "Dun Nechtain" Scottish Historical Review pp. 182–201Woolf "Verturian hegemony" Mercia pp. 106–112 The Irish had always had contacts with the rest of the British Isles, and during the early 6th century they emigrated from the island of Ireland to form the kingdom of Dál Riata, although exactly how much conquest took place is a matter of dispute with historians. It also appears likely that the Irish settled in parts of Wales, and even after the period of Irish settlement, Irish missionaries were active in Britain.York Conversion of Britain pp. 50–56
Christianity had only recently arrived in some of these kingdoms.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 2 Some had been converted by the Gregorian mission, a group of Roman missionaries who arrived in Kent in 597 and who mainly influenced southern Britain. Others had been converted by the Hiberno-Scottish mission, chiefly Irish missionaries working in Northumbria and neighbouring kingdoms.Yorke Conversion of Britain pp. 123–124 A few kingdoms, such as Dál Riata, became Christian but how they did so is unknown.Yorke Conversion of Britain pp. 114–115 The native Picts, according to the medieval writer Bede, were converted in two stages, initially by native Britons under Saint Ninian, and subsequently by Irish missionaries.Yorke Conversion of Britain pp. 128–129
Bede also covers Wilfrid's life in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, but this account is more measured and restrained than the Vita.Brown "Royal and Ecclesiastical" Renascence p. 28 In the Historia, Bede used Stephen's Vita as a source, reworking the information and adding new material when possible. Other, more minor, sources for Wilfrid's life include a mention of Wilfrid in one of Bede's letters.Goffart Narrators of Barbarian History p. 322 A poetical Vita Sancti Wilfrithi by Frithegod written in the 10th century is essentially a rewrite of Stephen's Vita, produced in celebration of the movement of Wilfrid's to Canterbury. Wilfrid is also mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,Under the years 656, 661, 664, 675, 678, 685, 709, and 710. See the index to Michael Swanton's Anglo-Saxon Chronicle but as the Chronicle was probably a 9th-century compilation, the material on Wilfrid may ultimately have derived either from Stephen's Vita or from Bede.Swanton "Introduction" Anglo-Saxon Chronicle pp. xviii–xix Another, later, source is the Vita Sancti Wilfrithi written by Eadmer, a 12th-century Anglo-Norman writer and monk from Canterbury. This source is highly influenced by the contemporary concerns of its writer, but does attempt to provide some new material besides reworking Bede.
Many historians, including the editor of Bede's works, Charles Plummer, have seen in Bede's writings a dislike of Wilfrid. The historian Walter Goffart goes further, suggesting that Bede wrote his Historia as a reaction to Stephen's Vita Sancti Wilfrithi, and that Stephen's work was written as part of a propaganda campaign to defend a "Wilfridian" party in Northumbrian politics. Some historians, including James Fraser, find that a credible view, but others such as Nick Higham are less convinced of Bede's hostility to Wilfrid.Higham (Re-)reading Bede pp. 58–63
Queen Eanflæd became Wilfrid's patroness following his arrival at the court of her husband, King Oswiu. She sent him to study under Cudda, formerly one of her husband's retainers, but by that time in about 648 a monk on the island of Lindisfarne.Thacker "Wilfrid" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The monastery on the island had recently been founded by Aidan, who had been instrumental in converting Northumbria to Christianity. At Lindisfarne Wilfrid is said to have "learned the whole Psalter by heart and several books".Quoted in Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 181 Wilfrid studied at Lindisfarne for a few years before going to the Kentish king's court at Canterbury in 652, where he stayed with relatives of Queen Eanflæd. The queen had given Wilfrid a letter of introduction to pass to her cousin, King Eorcenberht, to ensure that Wilfrid was received by the king. While in Kent, Wilfrid's career was advanced by Eanflæd's cousin Hlothere, who was later the King of Kent from 673 to 685.Yorke Kings and Kingdoms pp. 36–37 The Kentish court included a number of visiting clergymen at that time, including Benedict Biscop, a noted missionary.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 36 Wilfrid appears to have spent about a year in Kent, but the exact chronology is uncertain.Blair World of Bede p. 156
Stephen of Ripon says that Wilfrid stayed in Lyon for three years, leaving only after the archbishop's murder. However, Annemund's murder took place in 660 and Wilfrid returned to England in 658, suggesting that Stephen's chronology is awry. Stephen says that Annemund gave Wilfrid a clerical tonsure, although this does not appear to mean that he became a monk, merely that he entered the clergy. Bede is silent on the subject of Wilfrid's monastic status,Cubitt "Clergy in Early Anglo-Saxon England" Historical Research p. 277 although Wilfrid probably became a monk during his time in Rome, or afterwards while he was in Gaul.Farmer "Introduction" Age of Bede p. 22 Some historians, however, believe that Wilfrid was never a monk. While in Gaul, Wilfrid absorbed Frankish ecclesiastical practices, including some aspects from the monasteries founded by Columbanus. This influence may be seen in Wilfrid's probable adoption of a Frankish ceremony in his consecration of churches later in his life, as well as in his employment of Frankish masons to build his churches.Coates "Construction of Episcopal Sanctity" Historical Research pp. 1–2 Wilfrid would also have learned of the Rule of Saint Benedict in Gaul, as Columbanus' monasteries followed that monastic rule.Coates "Ceolfrid" Journal of Medieval History pp. 76–77
Oswiu called a church council held at Whitby Abbey in 664 in an attempt to resolve this controversy. Although Oswiu himself had been brought up in the "Celtic" tradition, political pressures may have influenced his decision to call a council, as well as fears that if dissent over the date of Easter continued in the Northumbrian church it could lead to internal strife.Kirby Making of Early England pp. 46–47 The historian Richard Abels speculates that the expulsion of Eata from Ripon may have been the spark that led to the king's decision to call the council.Abels "Council of Whitby" Journal of British Studies p. 9 Regional tensions within Northumbria between the two traditional divisions, Bernicia and Deira, appear to have played a part, as churchmen in Bernicia favoured the Celtic method of dating and those in Deira may have leaned towards the Roman method.John Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England pp. 24–25 Abels identifies several conflicts contributing to both the calling of the council and its outcome, including a generational conflict between Oswiu and Alhfrith and the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Deusdedit. Political concerns unrelated to the dating problem, such as the decline of Oswiu's preeminence among the other English kingdoms and the challenge to that position by Mercia, were also factors.Abels "Council of Whitby" Journal of British Studies pp. 2–3
Wilfrid was chosen to present the Roman position to the council;Blair Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 131 he also acted as Agilbert's interpreter, as the latter did not speak the local language.Fletcher Barbarian Conversion p. 263 Bede describes Wilfrid as saying that those who did not calculate the date of Easter according to the Roman system were committing a sin.Blair World of Bede pp. 83–84 Wilfrid's speech in favour of adopting Roman church practices helped secure the eclipse of the "Celtic" party in 664,Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 123–125 although most Irish churches did not adopt the Roman date of Easter until 704, and Iona held out until 716.Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 117 Many of the Irish monasteries did not observe the Roman Easter, but they were not isolated from the continent; by the time of Whitby the southern Irish were already observing the Roman Easter date, and Irish clergy were in contact with their continental counterparts.Brown Rise of Western Christendom pp. 361–362 Those monks and clergy unable to accept the Whitby decision left Northumbria, some going to Ireland and others to Iona.Kirby Earliest English Kings pp. 87–88
Wilfrid refused to be consecrated in Northumbria at the hands of Anglo-Saxon bishops. Deusdedit had died shortly after Whitby, and as there were no other bishops in Britain whom Wilfrid considered to have been validly consecrated he travelled to Compiègne, to be consecrated by Agilbert, the Bishop of Paris.Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity p. 129–147 During his time in Gaul Wilfrid was exposed to a higher level of ceremony than that practised in Northumbria, one example of which is that he was carried to his consecration ceremony on a throne supported by nine bishops.Thomson Western Church p. 56
During his return to Northumbria Wilfrid's ship was blown ashore on the Sussex coast, the inhabitants of which were at that time pagan. On being attacked by the locals, Wilfrid's party killed the head priest before refloating their ship and making their escape. The historian Marion Gibbs suggests that after this episode Wilfrid visited Kent again, and took part in the diplomacy related to Wighard's appointment to the see of Canterbury. Wilfrid may also have taken part in negotiations to persuade King Cenwalh of Wessex to allow Agilbert to return to his see.Gibbs "Decrees of Agatho" Speculum pp. 220–221
Wilfrid's monasteries in Mercia may date from this time,Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 95 as King Wulfhere of Mercia gave him large grants of land in Mercia. Wilfrid may have persuaded King Ecgberht of Kent in 669 to build a church in an abandoned Roman fort at Reculver.Blair Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 95 When Theodore, the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived in England in 669Lapidge "Theodore" Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England p. 445 it was clear that something had to be done about the situation in Northumbria. Ceadda's election to York was improper, and Theodore did not consider Ceadda's consecration to have been valid.Blair, Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 135 Consequently, Theodore deposed Ceadda, leaving the way open for Wilfrid, who was finally installed in his see in 669, the first Saxon to occupy the see of York.Brown Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition p. 359 Wilfrid spent the next nine years building churches, including at the monastery at Hexham, and attending to diocesan business. He continued to exercise control over his monastic houses of Ripon and Hexham while he was bishop. Oswiu's death on 15 February 670 eliminated a source of friction and helped to assure Wilfrid's return.Fraser Caledonia to Pictland p. 197
While at York, Wilfrid was considered the "bishop of the Northumbrian peoples"; Bede records that Wilfrid's diocese was contiguous with the area ruled by Oswiu.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 21 The diocese was restricted to north of the Humber, however.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 22 Wilfrid may also have sought to exercise some ecclesiastical functions in the Picts, as he is accorded the title "bishop of the Northumbrians and the Picts" in 669. Further proof of attempted Northumbrian influence in the Pictish regions is provided by the establishment for the Picts in 681 of a diocese centred on Abercorn, in the old territory of the British kingdom of Gododdin. The grants of land to Wilfrid west of the Pennines testify to Northumbrian expansion in that area.Yorke Kings and Kingdoms pp. 84–85 The Vita Sancti Wilfrithi claims that Wilfrid had ecclesiastical rule over Britons and Gaels.Kirby Earliest English Kings pp. 70–71 In 679, while Wilfrid was in Rome, he claimed authority over "all the northern part of Britain, Ireland and the islands, which are inhabited by English and British peoples, as well as by Gaelic and Pictish peoples".Quoted in Fraser Caledonia to Pictland p. 196
Wilfrid was an advocate for the use of music in ecclesiastical ceremonies. He sent to Kent for a singing master to instruct his clergy in the Roman style of church music, which involved a double choir who sang in and responses. Bede says that this singing master was named Æddi (or Eddius in Latin) and had the surname Stephen. Traditionally historians have identified Æddi as Stephen of Ripon, author of the Vita Sancti Wilfrithi, which has led to the assumption that the Vita was based on the recollections of one of Wilfrid's long-time companions. Recent scholarship has come to believe that the Vita was not authored by the singing master, but by someone who joined Wilfrid in the last years of Wilfrid's life, not a close companion.Kirby "Bede" English Historical Review pp. 102–104
Wilfrid introduced the Rule of Saint Benedict into the monasteries he founded. 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. 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. He set up schools and became a religious advisor to the Northumbrian queen Æthelthryth, first wife of Ecgfrith. Æthelthryth donated the land at Hexham where Wilfrid founded a monastery and built a church using some recycled stones from the Roman town of Corbridge.Blair Church in Anglo-Saxon Society pp. 190–191Stenton Anglo-Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 135 When Wilfrid arrived in York as bishop the cathedral's roof was on the point of collapse; he had it repaired and covered in lead, and had glass set in the windows.Blair Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 146
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".Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 12 He also worked to combat pagan practices, building a church at Melrose on a pagan site.Blair Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 186 Contemporaries said of him that he was the first native bishop to "introduce the Catholic way of life to the churches of the English".Quoted in Brown Rise of Western Christendom p. 359 He did not neglect his pastoral duties in his diocese, making visits throughout the diocese to baptise and perform other episcopal functions, such as consecrating new churches.Blair Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 94 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.Farmer "Introduction" Age of Bede p. 24 In ruling over such monasteries, Wilfrid may have been influenced by the Irish model of a group of monasteries all ruled by one person, sometimes while holding episcopal office.Campbell "First Century of Christianity" Essays in Anglo-Saxon History p. 65
Wilfrid was criticised for dressing his household and servants in clothing fit for royalty.Dodwell Anglo-Saxon Art p. 179 He was accompanied on his travels by a retinue of warriors, one of whom, while at York, Wilfrid sent to abduct a young boy who had been promised to the church but whose family had changed their mind.Fraser Caledonia to Pictland p. 78 Wilfrid also educated young men, both for clerical and secular careers.Fraser Caledonia to Pictland p. 63
Theodore took advantage of the situation to implement decrees of some councils on dividing up large dioceses. Theodore set up new bishoprics from Wilfrid's diocese, with 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.Kirby Making of Early England pp. 48–49 The bishops chosen for these sees, Eata at Hexham, Eadhæd at Lindsey, and Bosa at York, had all either been supporters of the "Celtic" party at Whitby, or been trained by those who were. Eata had also been ejected from Ripon by Wilfrid. The new bishops were unacceptable to Wilfrid, who claimed they were not truly members of the Church because of their support for the "Celtic" method of dating Easter, and thus he could not serve alongside them. Another possible problem 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 based. This was contrary to the custom of the time, which was to promote bishoprics from within the locality.Blair Church in Anglo-Saxon Society pp. 98–99 Wilfrid's deposition became tangled up in a dispute over whether or not the Gregorian plan for Britain, with two metropolitan sees, the northern one set at York, would be followed through or abandoned.Gibbs "Decrees of Agatho" Speculum p. 216 Wilfrid seems to have felt that he had metropolitan authority over the northern part of England, but Theodore never acknowledged that claim, instead claiming authority over the whole of the island of Britain.Fraser Caledonia to Pictland pp. 209–210
Pope Pope Agatho held a synod in October 679, which although it ordered Wilfrid's restoration and the return of the monasteries to his control, also directed that the new dioceses should be retained. Wilfrid was given the right to replace any bishop in the new dioceses to whom he objected. The council had been called to deal with the Monothelitism, and Wilfrid's concerns were not the sole focus of the council. In fact, the historian Henry Chadwick thought 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.Chadwick "Theodore" Archbishop Theodore pp. 88–95 Although Wilfrid did not win a complete victory, he did secure a papal decree limiting the number of dioceses in England to 12.Loyn Anglo-Saxon Governance p. 57 Wilfrid also secured the right for his monasteries of Ripon and Hexham to be directly supervised by the pope, preventing any further interference in their affairs by the diocesan bishops.Levison England and the Continent pp. 24–25
Wilfrid returned to England after the council via Gaul. According to Stephen of Ripon, after the death of Dagobert II, Ebroin wished to imprison Wilfrid, but Wilfrid miraculously escaped.Stephen of Ripon "Life of Wilfrid" Age of Bede pp. 142–143 In 680 Wilfrid returned to Northumbria and appeared before a royal council. He produced the papal decree ordering his restoration, but was instead briefly imprisoned and then exiled by the king.Lyon Constitutional and Legal History p. 49Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity p. 118 Wilfrid stayed for a short time in the kingdom of the Middle Angles and at Wessex, but soon took refuge in Sussex with King Æthelwealh of Sussex.Stenton Anglo-Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 138
Cædwalla sent Wilfrid to the Isle of Wight, which was still pagan, with the aim of converting the inhabitants. The king also gave Wilfrid a quarter of the land on the island as a gift.Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 164 In 688, the king relinquished his throne and went on a pilgrimage to Rome to be baptised, but died shortly after the ceremony.Kirby Making of Early England p. 50 Wilfrid was probably influential in Cædwalla's decision to be baptised in Rome.
During his time in Sussex Wilfrid was reconciled with Archbishop Theodore; the Vita Sancti Wilfrithi says that Theodore expressed a desire for Wilfrid to succeed him at Canterbury.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 102 Wilfrid may have been involved in founding monasteries near Bath as well as in other parts of Sussex, but the evidence backing this is based on the wording used in the founding charters resembling wording used by Wilfrid in other charters, not on any concrete statements that Wilfrid was involved.Blair Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 96
Wilfrid appears to have lived at Ripon, and for a time he acted as administrator of the see of Lindisfarne after Cuthbert's death in 687. In 691, the subdivision issue arose once more, along with quarrels with King Aldfrith over lands, and attempts were made to make Wilfrid either give up all his lands or to stay confined to Ripon. A proposal to turn Ripon into a bishopric was also a source of dispute. When no compromise was possible Wilfrid left Northumbria for Mercia, and Bosa was returned to York.
Something of the reception to Wilfrid's expulsion can be picked up in a Latin letter which has survived only in an incomplete quotation by William of Malmesbury in his Gesta pontificum Anglorum. We have it on William's authority that the letter was written by Aldhelm of Malmesbury and addressed to Wilfrid's abbots. In it, Aldhelm asks the clergymen to remember the exiled bishop "who, nourishing, teaching, reproving, raised you in fatherly love" and appealing to lay aristocratic ideals of loyalty, urges them not to abandon their superior.Ehwald (ed.) Aldhelmi Opera pp. 500–502Whitelock English Historical Documents no. 165 Neither William nor the citation itself gives a date, but the letter has been assigned to Wilfrid's exile under Aldfrith in the 690s.Foley Images of Sanctity p. 53.
Wilfrid was present at the exhumation of the body of Queen Æthelthryth at Ely Abbey in 695. He had been her spiritual adviser in the 670s, and had helped the queen become a nun against the wishes of her husband King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. The queen had joined Ely Abbey, where she died in 679. The ceremony in 695 found that her body had not decayed, which led to her being declared a saint.Goffart Narrators pp. 260–261 Wilfrid's testimony as to the character and virginity of Æthelthryth was recorded by Bede.Goffart Narrators p. 322
In about 700, Wilfrid appealed once more to Pope Sergius I over his expulsion from York, and the pope referred the issue back to a council in England. In 702 King Aldfrith held a council at Austerfield that upheld Wilfrid's expulsion, and once more Wilfrid travelled to Rome to appeal to the pope. The Vita Sancti Wilfrithi gives a speech, supposedly delivered by Wilfrid there, in defence of Wilfrid's record over the previous 40 years.Goffart Narrators pp. 263–264 The council was presided over by Berhtwald, the new archbishop of Canterbury, and the decision of the council was that Wilfrid should be deprived of all his monasteries but Ripon, and that he should cease to perform episcopal functions. When Wilfrid continued his appeal to the papacy, his opponents had him and his supporters excommunicated.
Aldfrith died soon after Wilfrid's arrival back in England. The new king, Eadwulf, had been considered one of Wilfrid's friends, but after his accession to the throne he ordered Wilfrid to stay out of Northumbria. Eadwulf's reign lasted only a few months before he was expelled to make way for Aldfrith's son Osred, to whom Wilfrid acted as spiritual adviser. Wilfrid may have been one of Osred's chief supporters, along with Oswiu's daughter Abbess Ælfflæd of Whitby,Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 88 and the nobleman Beornhæth.Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 92 Once Osred was secure on the throne Wilfrid was restored to Ripon and Hexham in 706. When Bosa of York died, Wilfrid did not contest the decision to appoint John of Beverley to York. This appointment meant John's transfer from Hexham, leaving Wilfrid free to perform episcopal functions at Hexham, which he did until his death.Goffart Narrators p. 271
Wilfrid was a prolific founder of churches, which he then controlled until his death, and was a great fundraiser, acquiring lands and money from many of the kings he was in contact with.Blair Church in Anglo-Saxon Society p. 97 He was also noted for his ability to attract support from powerful women, especially queens. Queen Eanflæd, his first patron, introduced him to a number of helpful contacts, and he later attracted the support of Queen Æthelthryth, who gave the endowment for Hexham Abbey.Tyler "Reluctant Kings" History p. 156 Ælfflæd, sister of King Aldfrith of Northumbria and daughter of Wilfrid's old patron Queen Eanflæd, helped to persuade the Northumbrians to allow Wilfrid to return from his last exile.Mitchell "Anglo-Saxon Double Monasteries" History Today p. 37Thacker "Ælfflæd" Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England p. 6
As well as his building projects Wilfrid also commissioned works to embellish the churches, including altar cloths made of silk woven with gold threads, and a gospel book written on purple parchment, with gold lettering. The gospels were then enclosed in a gold book cover set with gems. When the church he had built at Ripon was consecrated, a three-day feast was held to accompany the ceremony.
Wilfrid left large sums of money to his monastic foundations, enabling them to purchase royal favour. Soon after his death a Vita Sancti Wilfrithi, was written by Stephen of Ripon, a monk of Ripon. The first version appeared in about 715 followed by a later revision in the 730s, the first biography written by a contemporary to appear in England.Farmer "Saint Wilfrid" Saint Wilfrid at Hexham p. 38 It was commissioned by two of Wilfrid's followers, Acca of Hexham, and the Abbot of Ripon, Tatbert.Fletcher Barbarian Conversion pp. 175–180 Stephen's Vita is concerned with vindicating Wilfrid and making a case for his sainthood, and so is used with caution by historians,Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 100Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 73 although it is nevertheless an invaluable source for Wilfrid's life and the history of the time.
After the Norman Conquest of England, devotion continued to be paid to Wilfrid, with 48 churches dedicated to him and relics distributed between 11 sites. 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, a tradition which continued until at least 1908."Feast of St Wilfrid" Folklore pp. 464–466 Wilfrid is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion.Holford-Strevens, et al. Oxford Book of Days pp. 411–412 He is usually depicted either as a bishop preaching and baptising or else as a robed bishop holding an episcopal staff.Farmer Oxford Dictionary of Saints pp. 536–538
Wilfrid was one of the first bishops to bring relics of saints back from Rome. The papacy was trying to prevent the removal of actual body parts from Rome, restricting collectors to things that had come in contact with the bodily remains such as dust and cloth.Ortenberg "Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" English Church and the Papacy p. 45 Wilfrid was known as an advocate of Benedictine monasticism, and regarded it as a tool in his efforts to "root out the poisonous weeds planted by the Scots".Quoted in Lawrence Medieval Monasticism p. 57 He built at Ripon and Hexham, and lived a majestic lifestyle. As a result of his various exiles, he founded monastic communities that were widely scattered over the British Isles, over which he kept control until his death.Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 163 These monastic foundations, especially Hexham, contributed to the blending of the Gaelic and Roman strains of Christianity in Northumbria, which inspired a great surge of learning and missionary activity; Bede and Alcuin were among the scholars who emerged from Northumbrian monasteries influenced by Wilfrid. Missionaries inspired by his example went from Northumbria to the continent, where they converted pagans in Germany and elsewhere.Higham Kingdom of Northumbria pp. 155–156
One commentator has said that Wilfrid "came into conflict with almost every prominent secular and ecclesiastical figure of the age".Quoted in Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 62 Hindley, a historian of the Anglo-Saxons, states that "Wilfrid would not win his sainthood through the Christian virtue of humility". 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". His contemporary, Bede, although a partisan of the Roman dating of Easter, was a monk and always treats Wilfrid a little uneasily, showing some concern about how Wilfrid conducted himself as a clergyman and as a bishop.Brown Rise of Western Christendom Second Edition pp. 363–364 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 his motivation to hold together his monastic empire, rather than 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 and Wilfrid who rode ignores the reality that the quickest method of travel in the Middle Ages was on horseback.John Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England pp. 35–37
The historian Peter Hunter Blair summarises 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."Blair World of Bede p. 152 R. W. Southern, another modern historian, says that Wilfrid was "the greatest papal enthusiast of the century".Southern Western Society pp. 57–58 James Campbell, a historian specialising in the Anglo-Saxon period, said of him "He was certainly one of the greatest ecclesiastics of his day. Ascetic, deemed a saint by some, the founder of several monasteries according to the rule of St Benedict, he established Christianity in Sussex and attempted to do so in Frisia. At the same time, his life and conduct were in some respects like those of a great Anglo-Saxon nobleman."Campbell "Bede I" Essays in Anglo-Saxon History p. 16
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