Editing Wilfrid (section)

=== Mercia ===
During his stay in Mercia Wilfrid acted as bishop with the consent of King Æthelred.<ref name=Earliest120>Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' pp. 120–121</ref> Information on Wilfrid's life at this time is meagre, as the ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'' says little of this period.<ref name=Bede105>Kirby "Bede" ''English Historical Review'' p. 105</ref> He is generally considered to have been [[Bishop of Leicester (ancient)|Bishop of Leicester]] until about 706, when he is held to have been transferred to Hexham.<ref name=Handbook218>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 218</ref> Wilfrid became involved in the missionary efforts to the [[Frisians]], which he had started in 678 during his stay in Frisia. Wilfrid helped the missionary efforts of [[Willibrord]], which were more successful than his own earlier attempts.<ref name=Hindley121>Hindley ''Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' pp. 121–122</ref> Willibrord was a monk of Ripon who was also a native of Northumbria.<ref name=Barbarian199>Fletcher ''Barbarian Conversion'' p. 199</ref>

Wilfrid was present at the exhumation of the body of Queen Æthelthryth at Ely Abbey in 695. He had been her spiritual adviser in the 670s, and had helped the queen become a nun against the wishes of her husband King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. The queen had joined Ely Abbey, where she died in 679. The ceremony in 695 found that her body had not decayed, which led to her being declared a saint.<ref name=Narr260>Goffart ''Narrators'' pp. 260–261</ref> Wilfrid's testimony as to the character and virginity of Æthelthryth was recorded by Bede.<ref name=Narr322>Goffart ''Narrators'' p. 322</ref>

In about 700, Wilfrid appealed once more to [[Pope Sergius I]] over his expulsion from York, and the pope referred the issue back to a council in England. In 702 King Aldfrith held a [[Council of Austerfield|council]] at [[Austerfield]] that upheld Wilfrid's expulsion, and once more Wilfrid travelled to Rome to appeal to the pope.<ref name=ASE143 /> The ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'' gives a speech, supposedly delivered by Wilfrid there, in defence of Wilfrid's record over the previous 40&nbsp;years.<ref name=Narr263>Goffart ''Narrators'' pp. 263–264</ref> The council was presided over by [[Berhtwald]], the new archbishop of Canterbury, and the decision of the council was that Wilfrid should be deprived of all his monasteries but Ripon, and that he should cease to perform episcopal functions. When Wilfrid continued his appeal to the papacy, his opponents had him and his supporters [[excommunicated]].<ref name=DNB />