Editing Wilfrid (section)

== Other aspects ==

=== Cult of St Oswald ===
{{Main article|Oswald of Northumbria}}
Sometime after the translation of the relics of [[Oswald of Northumbria]] to [[Bardney Abbey]] by [[Osthryth]] between 675 and 679,<ref name=OswaldDNB>Craid "Oswald" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> Wilfrid, along with Hexham Abbey, began to encourage and promote the cult of the dead king. Barbara Yorke sees this advocacy as a major factor in the prominence given to Oswald in Bede's ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]''.<ref name=Courts249>Yorke "Adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts" ''Cross Goes North'' p. 249</ref> Historian D. P. Kirby regards Wilfrid's championing of Oswald as being a contributing factor in Wilfrid's expulsion from York in 678. Kirby believes that Ecgfrith felt Wilfrid was promoting Oswald's branch of the Northumbrian royal family over his own.<ref name=Earliest90 /> One of Wilfrid's protégés, Willibrord, became a missionary to the Frisians in 695, perhaps inspired by Wilfrid's example. Willibrord may have felt it expedient to leave Northumbria, where he was known as one of Wilfrid's followers.<ref name=Reassess57>John ''Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 57</ref>

=== Monastic network ===
[[File:Swilfrid1.jpg|thumb|right| upright=1.4 |Later engraving of a picture commissioned in c.1533 showing Cædwalla confirming a grant of land, at Selsey, to Wilfrid|alt=A crowned man hands a scroll to a tonsured man. The crowned man is standing on the steps of a building, surrounded by other men. The man receiving the scroll stands in front of the building, also surrounded by other men.]]

Wilfrid's network of monasteries extended across at least three of the kingdoms of England in his day.<ref name=Campbell46>Campbell ''Anglo-Saxon State'' p. 46</ref> They included Hexham, Ripon, Selsey, and [[Oundle]],<ref name=Barbarian175 /> as well as possibly [[Peterborough Cathedral|Peterborough]], [[Brixworth]], [[Evesham Abbey|Evesham]], [[Wing, Buckinghamshire|Wing]], and [[Withington, Gloucestershire|Withington]].<ref name=Farmer26>Farmer "Introduction" ''Age of Bede'' p. 26</ref> At his monasteries and dioceses he built churches in a style akin to that of the continent and Rome,<ref name=Brown52>Brown ''Rise of Western Christendom'' p. 52</ref> travelling between them with a large entourage of up to 120&nbsp;followers.<ref name=Brown361 /> He made many contacts and friends, not only in Northumbria and the other English kingdoms, but also in Gaul, Frisia, and Italy. Nobles sent their sons to him for [[Fosterage|fostering]], and Wilfrid was known to help his protégés, no matter if they became clerics or not. The historian [[Peter Brown (historian)|Peter Brown]] speculated that one reason for Wilfrid's exile in 678 was that he was overshadowing the king as a patron.<ref name=Brown362>Brown ''Rise of Western Christendom'' pp. 362–363</ref> His contacts extended to the Lombard kingdom in Italy, where they included King Perctarit and his son [[Cunipert]].<ref name=Barbarian175 />

Wilfrid was a prolific founder of churches, which he then controlled until his death, and was a great fundraiser, acquiring lands and money from many of the kings he was in contact with.<ref name=Society97>Blair ''Church in Anglo-Saxon Society'' p. 97</ref> He was also noted for his ability to attract support from powerful women, especially queens. Queen Eanflæd, his first patron, introduced him to a number of helpful contacts, and he later attracted the support of Queen Æthelthryth, who gave the endowment for Hexham Abbey.<ref name=Tyler156>Tyler "Reluctant Kings" ''History'' p. 156</ref> [[Ælfflæd of Whitby|Ælfflæd]], sister of King Aldfrith of Northumbria and daughter of Wilfrid's old patron Queen Eanflæd, helped to persuade the Northumbrians to allow Wilfrid to return from his last exile.<ref name=Mitchell37>Mitchell "Anglo-Saxon Double Monasteries" ''History Today'' p. 37</ref><ref name=BASEAelff>Thacker "Ælfflæd" ''Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 6</ref>

=== Builder and artistic patron ===
Wilfrid built a church capable of accommodating a congregation of 2,000 at Hexham, using stone from [[Hadrian's Wall]].<ref name=Brown362 /> The 12th-century writer [[Ailred of Rievaulx]], whose family helped restore Hexham, credited Wilfrid as the designer of a church beautifully embellished with paintings and sculpture.<ref name=Dodwell92>Dodwell ''Anglo-Saxon Art'' pp. 92 and 275 footnote 38</ref><ref name=Gilbert81>Gilbert "Saint Wilfrid's Church at Hexam" ''Saint Wilfrid at Hexham'' p. 81</ref> It appears that the churches at Hexham and Ripon (which Wilfrid also built) were aisled [[basilica]]s, of the type that was common on the continent. Ripon was the first church in Northumbria to incorporate a ''[[porticus]]'', similar to those of churches in Kent.<ref name=Farmer45>Farmer "Saint Wilfrid" ''Saint Wilfrid at Hexham'' p. 45</ref> 12th-century pilgrims' accounts declared that the church at Hexham rivalled those of Rome.<ref name=DNB /> The crypts at both Ripon and Hexham are unusual, and perhaps were intended by Wilfrid to mimic the [[Catacombs of Rome|Roman catacombs]] which he had seen on his travels.<ref name=DNB /> They are still extant, although the fabric of Wilfrid's churches above ground has been replaced by later structures. The churches were finished with glazed windows, made by glassmakers brought over from the continent.<ref name=Making259>Kirby ''Making of Early England'' p. 259</ref>

As well as his building projects Wilfrid also commissioned works to embellish the churches, including altar cloths made of silk woven with gold threads, and a [[gospel book]] written on [[purple parchment|parchment dyed purple]], with gold lettering. The gospels were then enclosed in a gold book cover set with gems. When the church he had built at Ripon was consecrated, a three-day feast was held to accompany the ceremony.<ref name=Barbarian175 />{{efn|The book, which was given to Ripon, does not survive.<ref name=World228>Blair ''World of Bede'' p. 228</ref>}}