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 to England. In England he received the newly founded monastery at
Ripon as the gift of Alchfrid, Oswy's son and heir, and here he established the full
Benedictine Rule. The Columbite monks, who had been settled previously at Ripon, withdrew
to the North. It was not until he had been for five years Abbot of Ripon, that Wilfrid
became a priest. 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 the Holy See
and the Scottish monks in Northumbria; to settle these questions the synod of Whitby was held in
664. Chiefly owing to Wilfrid's advocacy of the claims of the Holy See the votes of the
majority were given to that side, and Colman and his monks, bitterly disappointed,
withdrew from Northumbria. Wilfrid, in consequence of the favours he had then obtained,
was elected bishop in Colman's place, and, refusing to receive consecration from the
northern bishops, whom he regarded as schismatics, went over to France to be consecrated
at Compiègne.
He delayed some time in France, 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 the heathen 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, his see had
been filled up, and that a St. Chad was bishop in his place. He retired to his old
monastery at Ripon, and from thence went southwards and worked in Mercia, especially at
Lichfield, and also in Kent.
In 669 Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury visited Northumbria, where he
found Chad working as bishop. He pointed out to him the defects of his position and, at
his instigation, St. Chad withdrew and Wilfrid once more became Bishop of York. During his
tenure of the see, he acted with great vigour and energy, completing the work of enforcing
the Roman obedience against the Scottish monks. He founded a great many monasteries of the
Benedictine 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
a monastery. It was just at this juncture that Theodore, possibly exceeding his powers as
Archbishop of Canterbury, proceeded to subdivide the great diocese over which Wilfrid
ruled, and to make suffragan bishops of Lindisfarne, 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 at Rome, whither he at once went.
Theodore replied by consecrating three bishops in Wilfrid's own church at York and
dividing his whole bishopric between them.
An attempt was made by his enemies to prevent Wilfrid from reaching Rome,
but by a singular coincidence Winfrid, Bishop of Lichfield, happened to be going to Rome
at the same time, and the singularity of the name led to his being stopped while Wilfrid
got through safely. At Rome 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 intruding bishops were removed. Wilfrid was to return to
York, and since subdivision of his diocese 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 of Rome to settle the question, said that Wilfrid had brought the
decision and put him in prison at Bambrough. After a time this imprisonment was converted
to exile, and he was driven from the kingdom of Northumbria. He went south to Sussex where
the heathen 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 became Bishop of Hexham 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 by Rome in the matter of the subdivision of his diocese, and he once more left
York and appealed to Rome. He reached Rome for the third and last time in 704.
The proceedings at Rome were very lengthy, but after some months Wilfrid
was again victorious. Archbishop Brihtwald was to hold a synod and see justice done.
Wilfrid started again for England but on his way was taken ill at Meaux and nearly died.
He recovered, however, and came back to England, 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 the rights of the Holy See. For that principle he fought all through his life,
first against Colman and the Scottish monks from Iona, and then against Theodore and his
successor in the See 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 the Roman
See in England, and for that reason he will always have a very high place among English
saints.
Eddius, the biographer of St. Wilfrid, was brought by that saint from
Canterbury 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 the monastery of Ripon in 709, when St. Wilfrid spent his last days there, and
he undertook the work of writing the life of the saint at the request of Acca, St.
Wilfrid's successor in the See of Hexham. The best edition of the work is in Raines,
"Historians of the Church of York" (Rolls Series).
ARTHUR S. BARNES
Transcribed by Paul Knutsen
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright © |
