St. Wilfrid

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Bishop ofYork, son of a Northumbrian thegn, born in 634; died at Oundle in Northamptonshire, 709. He was unhappy at home, through the unkindness of a stepmother, and in his fourteenth year he was sent away to the Court of King Oswy, King of Northumbria. Here he attracted the attention of Queen Eanfleda and by her, at his own request, he was sent to theMonastery of Lindisfarne. After three years spent here he was sent for, again through the kindness of the queen, toRome, in the company ofSt. Benedict Biscop. AtRome he was the pupil of Boniface, thepope'sarchdeacon. On his way home he stayed for three years atLyons, where he received thetonsure from Annemundas, thebishop of that place. Annemundas wanted him to remain atLyons altogether, and marry his niece and become his heir, but Wilfrid was determined that he would be apriest. Soon afterpersecution arose atLyons, and Annemundas perished in it. The same fate nearly came to Wilfrid, but when it was shown that he was a Saxon he was allowed to depart, and came back toEngland. InEngland he received the newly foundedmonastery at Ripon as the gift of Alchfrid, Oswy's son and heir, and here he established the fullBenedictine Rule. The Columbitemonks, who had been settled previously at Ripon, withdrew to the North. It was not until he had been for five yearsAbbot of Ripon, that Wilfrid became apriest. His main work at Ripon was the introduction of Roman rules and the putting forward of a Roman practice with regard to the point at issue between theHoly See and the Scottishmonks in Northumbria; to settle these questionsthe synod of Whitby was held in 664. Chiefly owing to Wilfrid's advocacy of the claims of theHoly See the votes of the majority were given to that side, and Colman and hismonks, bitterly disappointed, withdrew from Northumbria. Wilfrid, in consequence of the favours he had then obtained, was electedbishop in Colman's place, and, refusing to receiveconsecration from the northernbishops, whom he regarded as schismatics, went over toFrance to beconsecrated at Compiègne.

He delayed some time inFrance, whether by his own fault or not is not quite clear, and on his return in 666 was driven from his course by a storm and shipwrecked on the coast of Sussex, where theheathen inhabitants repelled him and almost killed him. He succeeded in landing, however, in Kent not far from Sandwich. Thence he made his way to Northumbria, only to find that, owing to his long absence, hissee had been filled up, and that a St. Chad wasbishop in his place. He retired to his oldmonastery at Ripon, and from thence went southwards and worked in Mercia, especially atLichfield, and also in Kent.

In 669 ArchbishopTheodore of Canterbury visited Northumbria, where he found Chad working asbishop. He pointed out to him the defects of his position and, at his instigation, St. Chad withdrew and Wilfrid once more becameBishop ofYork. During his tenure of thesee, he acted with great vigour and energy, completing the work of enforcing the Roman obedience against the Scottishmonks. He founded a great manymonasteries of theBenedictine Order, especially at Henlam and at Ripon, and completely rebuilt the minster at York. In all that he did he acted with great magnificence, although his own life was always simple and restrained.

So long as Oswy lived all went well, but with Ecgfrid, Oswy's son and successor, Wilfrid was very unpopular, because of his action in connection with Ecgfrid's bride Etheldrida, who by Wilfrid's advice would not live with her husband but retired into amonastery. It was just at this juncture that Theodore, possibly exceeding his powers asArchbishop ofCanterbury, proceeded to subdivide the great diocese over which Wilfrid ruled, and to make suffraganbishops ofLindisfarne,Hexham, and Witherne. Wilfrid, whether or not he approved of the principle of subdivision, refused to allow Theodore's right to make it, and appealed to the central authority atRome, whither he at once went. Theodore replied by consecrating threebishops in Wilfrid's own church at York and dividing his wholebishopric between them.

An attempt was made by his enemies to prevent Wilfrid from reachingRome, but by a singular coincidence Winfrid,Bishop ofLichfield, happened to be going toRome at the same time, and the singularity of the name led to his being stopped while Wilfrid got through safely. AtRome a council was called by Pope Agatho to decide the case, and Wilfrid appeared before it in person, while Theodore was represented. The case was decided in Wilfrid's favour, and the intrudingbishops were removed. Wilfrid was to return toYork, and since subdivision of hisdiocese was needed, he was to appoint others as his coadjutors. He came back to Northumbria with this decision, but the king, though not disputing the right ofRome to settle the question, said that Wilfrid had brought the decision and put him inprison at Bambrough. After a time thisimprisonment was converted to exile, and he was driven from the kingdom of Northumbria. He went south to Sussex where theheathen inhabitants had so inhospitably received him fifteen years before, and preached as a missionary at Selsey.

In 686 a reconciliation took place between Theodore and Wilfrid, who had then been working in Sussex for five years. Through Theodore's good offices Wilfrid was received back in Northumbria, where Aldfrid was now king. He becameBishop ofHexham at once, and before long, when York again fell vacant, he took possession there once more. For some years all went well, but at the end of that time great difficulties arose with the king because Wilfrid utterly refused to recognize what had been done by Theodore but annulled byRome in the matter of the subdivision of hisdiocese, and he once more left York and appealed toRome. He reachedRome for the third and last time in 704.

The proceedings atRome were very lengthy, but after some months Wilfrid was again victorious. Archbishop Brihtwald was to hold a synod and seejustice done. Wilfrid started again forEngland but on his way was taken ill at Meaux and nearly died. He recovered, however, and came back toEngland, where he was reconciled to Brihtwald. A synod was held, and it was decided to give back to Wilfrid,Hexham and Ripon, but not York, a settlement which, though unsatisfactory, he decided to accept, as the principle of Roman authority had been vindicated.

Beyond all others of his time, St. Wilfrid stands out as the great defender of therights of theHoly See. For that principle he fought all through his life, first against Colman and the Scottishmonks fromIona, and then against Theodore and his successor in theSee of Canterbury; and much of his life was spent in exile for this reason. But to him above all others is due the establishment of the authority of theRoman See inEngland, and for that reason he will always have a very high place among Englishsaints.

Eddius, the biographer of St. Wilfrid, was brought by that saint fromCanterbury when he returned to York in 669. His special work was to be in connection with the music of the church of York, and he was to teach the Roman method of chant. He was an inmate of themonastery of Ripon in 709, when St. Wilfrid spent his last days there, and he undertook the work of writing the life of thesaint at the request of Acca, St. Wilfrid's successor in theSee of Hexham. The best edition of the work is in Raines, "Historians of the Church of York" (Rolls Series).

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