The Synod of Whitby and the Roman cause
The central controversy of Wilfrid's era was the divergence between Roman and Celtic (Ionan) practice, above all the method of calculating the date of Easter. Having studied Roman usage at Lyon and in Rome, Wilfrid returned to Northumbria as a committed champion of the Roman calculation.
At the Synod of Whitby in 664, Wilfrid was chosen to present the Roman position. His argument carried the day, securing the adoption of Roman practice over the older Celtic and Saxon customs, and the speech he delivered made him famous. In the same year he was appointed Bishop of Northumbria and was consecrated in Gaul by Bishop Agilbert.
Disputes, expulsions, and appeals to Rome
Wilfrid's career was marked by repeated conflict with kings and fellow churchmen, chiefly over the reorganization and subdivision of dioceses and over monastic lands. Installed as Bishop of York in 669, he was expelled in 678 by King Ecgfrith. The reasons given include his quarrel with the king, his encouragement of Queen Æthelthryth in her monastic vocation, and opposition from Abbess Hilda.
In response, Wilfrid became the first Englishman to challenge a royal or ecclesiastical decision by petitioning the papacy. A synod under Pope Agatho in October 679 ordered his restoration, but on his return King Ecgfrith briefly imprisoned and then exiled him despite the papal decree. A third expulsion followed in 691 under King Aldfrith. Through these upheavals he also served as acting Bishop of Lindisfarne after the death of Cuthbert in 687 and as Bishop of Leicester in Mercia. He was finally restored under King Osred I in 706 and served as Bishop of Hexham until his death.
Missions and monastic foundations
Wilfrid was an energetic missionary and monastic reformer. In Sussex he spent about five years at Selsey converting the pagan South Saxons, founding Selsey Abbey on land granted by King Æthelwealh and establishing an episcopal see there. In 678 he traveled to Frisia, attempting the conversion of the Frisians at the court of King Aldgisl, and he later supported the Frisian missions of Willibrord.
He introduced the Rule of Saint Benedict to English monasteries and established or controlled a network of houses, including Ripon, Hexham, Selsey, and Oundle. On his continental journeys he was received by King Dagobert II in Austrasia and by the Lombard King Perctarit in Italy, and he made several journeys to Rome to press his appeals.
Churches and craftsmanship
Wilfrid was a notable builder who brought continental architectural and artistic tastes to Northumbria. He built churches at Hexham and Ripon in a distinctive continental basilica style, with porticus, crypts, and glazed windows; the church at Hexham is reported to have had a capacity of some two thousand and to have used stone taken from Hadrian's Wall.
He also commissioned rich furnishings, including silk altar cloths worked with gold thread and gospel books written in gold letters on purple parchment with gem-encrusted covers.
Relics & Shrines
Immediately after his death Wilfrid's body was venerated, and his relics were kept at Ripon. They remained there until 948, when King Eadred destroyed the church. Archbishop Oda of Canterbury then held relics, which were placed in the High Altar in 948 and, after a fire at the cathedral, moved to a separate shrine following 1067.
Secondary relics may have been preserved at Ripon by Archbishop Oswald. Shrines associated with Wilfrid are recorded at Ripon, at Sompting in Sussex, and in Frisia. After the Norman Conquest some forty-eight churches were dedicated to him, with relics reported at eleven sites.
Veneration and legacy
Wilfrid is venerated in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches. He is honored as patron of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Middlesbrough and Leeds.
His life was recorded soon after his death by Stephen of Ripon, who wrote the Vita Sancti Wilfrithi around 715, an important source for the history of the early English Church.
