12 October 709 A.D. Wilfrid of York Passes Beyond World of Disputes
12 October 709 A.D. Wilfrid of York Passes Beyond World of Disputes
Graves,
Dan. “Wilfrid of York Passed Beyond Disputes.” Christianity.com.
Jun 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/wilfrid-of-york-passed-beyond-disputes-11629744.html. Accessed
31 May 2014.
The
leaves were red and gold, falling from the trees late in the year 709. Although
old and unwell, Bishop Wilfrid of Hexham traveled southward through England to
visit religious houses he had founded in Mercia. He had spent only a few days
in Mercia when illness seized him. For many years, the monastery at Ripon,
about twenty miles from York, had been his favorite resting place. He turned
back toward Ripon. But he got only as far as a church at Oundle.
On this day, October
12, 709,
Wilfrid leaned his head against some pillows. He knew he was dying and spoke a
few words of admonition to the men who were with him. Then, as the monks in the
nearby choir were chanting "You will send forth your spirit and they shall
be created, and you will renew the face of the earth," his soul slipped
from this world into another.
He
had been a bishop of the Anglo-Saxons for forty-five years--troubled years in
which he stamped the English church with the form it took during the Middle
Ages.
Wilfrid
had left home at thirteen. His mother had died and he did not get on well with
his stepmother. Under the patronage of Northumbria's queen, he entered the
monastery at Lindisfarne, learning the basics of the Christian faith from
Celtic Christians.
Wilfrid felt that something was lacking in Celtic Christianity. At eighteen, he
set out for Rome. There he met the pope. He became fully persuaded that Roman
ways, not Celtic, were the direction for true Christianity.
On
his way home to England, he was seized along with the Archbishop of Lyons,
France during an outbreak of persecution. The archbishop was executed and
Wilfrid was stripped for the same fate. But one of the judges, discovering he
was a Saxon, declared that Wilfrid was not under their jurisdiction and freed
him.
Back
in Northumbria, Wilfrid was made abbot of the newly-built monastery of Ripon.
The Celtic Christians left as the Roman moved in. Wilfrid's rise was rapid
after that. Disagreement between Christians who wanted to follow the Celtic
tradition and those who favored the Roman divided England. Northumbria's king
called a meeting at Whitby to decide the issue. Wilfrid argued so well for the
Roman position that he won the day. From then on, England celebrated Easter by
Rome's calendar and English priests cut their hair in the Roman style.
Wilfrid
could not win such a battle without making enemies. Partly this was owing to
his lack of tact. For example, when he was named bishop of York, he refused to
be consecrated by English bishops but went to France. He stayed so long that
the king gave York to another man. Later, after suffering shipwreck on the
coast of Sussex, England, Wilfrid returned to claim his see. He had to settle
for Ripon, however. But eventually he was restored to York. There he rebuilt
the church--the first major stone building in England since the Romans left.
However,
he angered the king by supporting the queen who had deserted the palace to
become a nun. The king encouraged the Archbishop of Canterbury to split York
into four smaller sees. Wilfrid protested. When this failed, he traveled to
Rome and appealed directly to the pope. He was the first Englishman to do so,
and set a long precedent of similar appeals. On his way back, he stopped to
carry on mission work in the Netherlands.
Much
of the rest of his life was spent in attempts to have the decision of Rome
honored. Part of the time he was imprisoned. Part of it, he planted churches in
southern and middle England. He even made a third long and dangerous trip to
Rome to appeal to the pope again. Finally he got Roman authority established
over the English church.
Bibliography:
Atherton,
Catherine. "St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York." http://saintgeorgeschurch.org/window_wilfred.htm
Barnes,
Arthur S. "St. Wilfrid." Catholic Encyclopedia.
Bede.
A
History of the English Church and People [Ecclesiastical History of
England]. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1968; Book 4, Section 24.
Keck,
Karen Rae. "Wilfrid." Ecole Glossary.
Yorkshire
Television Ltd. Wilfrid. Memorable Leaders in Christian History.
[Videorecording]
Various
internet articles.
Last
updated June, 2007.
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