Wilfrid was one
of the most influential – and at times
controversial – figures in the early English
church.
Wilfrid was born into an aristocratic Northumbrian
family in 634. He joined the monastery of
Lindisfarne as a teenager, before making the first
of his three trips to Rome. On the way back to
England, he spent three years with the Bishop of
Lyons, where he learned the ways of the continental
church.
Upon his return to Northumbria in 658, he was given the newly founded monastery of Ripon to be its Abbot. Here he immediately set about building a new stone church – one of the first in Northern England – on the site where the present Cathedral still stands. He also introduced the Benedictine Rule for his monks and promoted the most up-to-date Roman customs, including the singing of Gregorian chant. In 664 he represented the Roman party at the Synod of Whitby, after which he was made Bishop of York.
Upon his return to Northumbria in 658, he was given the newly founded monastery of Ripon to be its Abbot. Here he immediately set about building a new stone church – one of the first in Northern England – on the site where the present Cathedral still stands. He also introduced the Benedictine Rule for his monks and promoted the most up-to-date Roman customs, including the singing of Gregorian chant. In 664 he represented the Roman party at the Synod of Whitby, after which he was made Bishop of York.
Wilfrid’s career as a Bishop seems to have been
somewhat tumultuous. He chose to be consecrated in
France, but by the time he returned to Northumbria,
he found that St Chad had been installed as bishop
in his place. Wilfrid withdrew to his monastery at
Ripon until 669 when Archbishop Theodore of
Canterbury restored him to his bishopric. A few
years later in 678, however, Theodore decided to
divide the huge northern diocese into three. This
was strongly resisted by Wilfrid, who left for Rome
to appeal to the Pope. Although successful, further
disputes with the king of Northumbria, as well as
his ongoing quarrel with Archbishop Theodore, meant
that Wilfrid spent much of his episcopacy in exile.
During these periods he served as a bishop at
Lichfield in the kingdom of Mercia, undertook
missionary work in Holland and the kingdom of the
South Saxons (Sussex), and founded numerous
monastic churches all over the country.
In 704 Wilfrid made his third and final trip to
Rome, and was once again vindicated by the Pope’s
ruling. After his return to England it was agreed
at the Synod of Nidd that he should retain the
monasteries of Ripon and Hexham. Three years later
in 709 (or was it 710?), Wilfrid died at Oundle.
His monks immediately brought his body back to his
favourite monastery of Ripon, where he was buried
to the south of the high altar, which today would
be somewhere under the south transept...
