Wilfrid, Saint, 634–709?, English churchman, b. Northumbria, of noble parentage. He was educated at Lindisfarne and Canterbury. With Benedict Biscop he traveled to Lyons and Rome in 654; Wilfrid remained to study in each city. In 661 he returned to England and became abbot of Ripon. Moved by Wilfrid's eloquence, King Oswy at the Synod of Whitby (663; see Whitby, Synod of Whitby, Synod of, called by King Oswy of Northumbria in 663 at Whitby, England. Its purpose was to choose between the usages of the Celtic and Roman churches, primarily in the matter of reckoning the date of Easter (see calendar ; Celtic Church ).
..... Click the link for more information. ) rejected Celtic usages, including the reckoning of Easter, and established instead the Roman custom. That year Wilfrid was consecrated bishop of Ripon; in 669 his diocese was extended to include all of Northumbria with its see of York. There ensued a long controversy with the archbishop of Canterbury over division of dioceses in England. It was compromised with the aid of the pope, and Wilfrid ended as bishop of Ripon and Hexham. He made many converts and was responsible for the vigorous growth of Roman ecclesiastical practices in England. Feast: Oct. 12.

Wilfrid, Saint

or Wilfrid of York

(born 634, Northumbria, Eng.—died April 24, 709/710, monastery of Oundle, Mercia) English monk and bishop who established close relations between the Anglo-Saxon church and the papacy. As abbot of the monastery at Ripon, he introduced the Benedictine Rule to the kingdom. At the Synod of Whitby, he successfully advocated the adoption of Roman over Celtic traditions. As bishop of York, he built a monastery at Hexham and traveled twice to Rome to defend the see of York in jurisdictional controversies with the see of Canterbury (679, 704). A quarrel over the division of his diocese obliged Wilfrid to take refuge in Sussex, where he Christianized the people and founded a monastery at Selsey; he later served as bishop of Lichfield in Mercia. Following his second dispute with Canterbury, Wilfrid became bishop of Hexham and spent his last years there and at his monastery in Ripon.