Editing Wilfrid (section)

== Resignation and death ==
After his final return to Northumbria Wilfrid retired to the monastery at [[Ripon Cathedral|Ripon]], where he lived until his death during a visit to Oundle,<ref name=Hindley62 /> at the age of 75.<ref name=Making158>Kirby ''Making of Early England'' p. 158</ref> A little over a year before his death in either 709<ref name=Hindley62>Hindley ''Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 62</ref> or 710<ref name=Bede101>Kirby "Bede" ''English Historical Review'' p. 101</ref>{{efn|Both years are given as death dates in sources. The discrepancy over his death date involves the fact that two dates were associated with Wilfrid's cult, 24&nbsp;April and 12&nbsp;October. Stephen of Ripon expressly states that Wilfrid died on a Thursday, and neither date in 709 was a Thursday. 24&nbsp;April 710, however, was a Thursday, and is likely to be Wilfrid's death date. A complication is the fact that the October date is the more common commemoration date, but the April date is the one first associated with Wilfrid's cult, appearing in 7th- and 8th-century saints calendars. The October date probably arose because the April date conflicted with [[Lent]] and [[Easter]].<ref name=DNB />}} Wilfrid suffered another stroke or seizure, which led him to make arrangements for the disposition of his monasteries and possessions. He was buried near the altar of his church in Ripon. Bede records the epitaph that was placed on the tomb.<ref name=DNB />{{efn|The epitaph is recorded in Book V, Chapter XIX. An online translation is at the Medieval Sourcebook, part of the Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies by the [[City University of New York]].}} Wilfrid was succeeded at Hexham by Acca of Hexham, a protégé who had accompanied him to Rome in 703.<ref name=World189>Blair ''World of Bede'' p. 189</ref><ref name=Levinson61>Levison ''England and the Continent'' p. 61</ref> The monastery at Ripon celebrated the first anniversary of Wilfrid's death with a commemoration service attended by all the abbots of his monasteries and a spectacular white arc{{efn|The historian [[Clare Stancliffe]] believes the white arc was actually a [[moonbow]] or "lunar rainbow". Using information on the years that a moonbow was most likely to occur she establishes Thursday 24 April 710 as the date of Wilfrid's death.<ref name=stancliffe21>Stancliffe "Dating Wilfrid's Death" ''Wilfrid'' pp. 21–22</ref>}} was said to have appeared in the sky starting from the gables of the basilica where his bones were laid to rest.<ref name=Narr271 /><ref>Farmer ''Age of Bede '' p.182</ref><ref>Forster ''St Wilfrid of Ripon'' p.16</ref>

Wilfrid left large sums of money to his monastic foundations, enabling them to purchase royal favour.<ref name=Conversion163 /> Soon after his death a ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'', was written by Stephen of Ripon, a monk of Ripon.<ref name=Hindley62 /> The first version appeared in about 715 followed by a later revision in the 730s,<ref name=Conversion12 /> the first biography written by a contemporary to appear in England.<ref name=Farmer38>Farmer "Saint Wilfrid" ''Saint Wilfrid at Hexham'' p. 38</ref> It was commissioned by two of Wilfrid's followers, Acca of Hexham, and the Abbot of Ripon, Tatbert.<ref name=Barbarian175>Fletcher ''Barbarian Conversion'' pp. 175–180</ref> Stephen's ''Vita'' is concerned with vindicating Wilfrid and making a case for his sainthood, and so is used with caution by historians,<ref name=Earliest100>Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' p. 100</ref><ref name=Kings73>Yorke ''Kings and Kingdoms'' p. 73</ref> although it is nevertheless an invaluable source for Wilfrid's life and the history of the time.<ref name=Barbarian175 />