Editing Wilfrid (section)

== Early life ==

=== Childhood and early education ===
Wilfrid was born in Northumbria around 633.<ref name=Harting107>Mayr-Harting ''Coming of Christianity'' p. 107–112</ref> James Fraser argues that Wilfrid's family were aristocrats from Deira, pointing out that most of Wilfrid's early contacts were from that area.<ref name=Fraser190>Fraser ''Caledonia to Pictland'' pp. 190–191</ref> A conflict with his stepmother when he was about 14 years old drove Wilfrid to leave home, probably without his father's consent.<ref name=Hindley78>Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' pp. 78–83</ref> Wilfrid's background is never explicitly described as noble, but the king's retainers were frequent guests at his father's house, and on leaving home Wilfrid equipped his party with horses and clothes fit for a royal court.<ref name=Barbarian175 />

Queen [[Eanflæd]] became Wilfrid's patroness following his arrival at the court of her husband, King Oswiu.<ref name=Hindley78 /> She sent him to study under Cudda, formerly one of her husband's retainers, but by that time in about 648 a monk on the island of Lindisfarne.<ref name=DNB>Thacker "Wilfrid" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> The monastery on the island had recently been founded by [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|Aidan]], who had been instrumental in converting Northumbria to Christianity.<ref name=Barbarian175 /> At Lindisfarne Wilfrid is said to have "learned the whole [[Psalter]] by heart and several books".<ref name=QConversion181>Quoted in Yorke ''Conversion of Britain'' p. 181</ref> Wilfrid studied at Lindisfarne for a few years before going to the Kentish king's court at [[Canterbury]] in 652, where he stayed with relatives of Queen Eanflæd.<ref name=DNB /> The queen had given Wilfrid a letter of introduction to pass to her cousin, King [[Eorcenberht of Kent|Eorcenberht]], to ensure that Wilfrid was received by the king.<ref name=Barbarian175 /> While in Kent, Wilfrid's career was advanced by Eanflæd's cousin [[Hlothhere of Kent|Hlothere]], who was later the [[List of monarchs of Kent|King of Kent]] from 673 to 685.<ref name=Kings36>Yorke ''Kings and Kingdoms'' pp. 36–37</ref> The Kentish court included a number of visiting clergymen at that time, including [[Benedict Biscop]], a noted missionary.<ref name=Earliest36>Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' p. 36</ref> Wilfrid appears to have spent about a year in Kent, but the exact chronology is uncertain.<ref name=World156>Blair ''World of Bede'' p. 156</ref>

=== Time at Rome and Lyon ===
[[File:7th-century Hexham crypt.jpg|250px|thumb|7th-century [[crypt]] at [[Hexham Abbey|Hexham monastery]], where Wilfrid may have deposited any relics he brought back from the continent|alt=An underground stone lined crypt.]]
Wilfrid left Kent for Rome in the company of Benedict Biscop,<ref name=EncASE>Thacker "St. Wilfrid" ''Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 474–476</ref> another of Eanflæd's contacts.<ref name=DNB /> This is the first pilgrimage to Rome known to have been undertaken by English natives,<ref name=Herrin267>Herrin ''Formation of Christendom'' pp. 267–268</ref> and took place some time between 653 and 658.<ref name=Barbarian175 /> According to Wilfrid's later biographer, Stephen of Ripon, Wilfrid left Biscop's company at [[Lyon]], where Wilfrid stayed under the patronage of [[Annemund]], the archbishop. Stephen says that Annemund wanted to marry Wilfrid to the archbishop's niece, and to make Wilfrid the governor of a Frankish province, but that Wilfrid refused and continued on his journey to Rome.<ref name=DNB /> There he learned the Roman method of [[Computus|calculating the date of Easter]], and studied the Roman practice of relic collecting.<ref name=Brown29>Brown "Royal and Ecclesiastical" ''Renascence'' pp. 29–31</ref> He developed a close friendship with [[Boniface Consiliarius]] during his time in Rome. After an audience with the pope, Wilfrid returned to Lyon.<ref name=DNB />

Stephen of Ripon says that Wilfrid stayed in Lyon for three years, leaving only after the archbishop's murder. However, Annemund's murder took place in 660 and Wilfrid returned to England in 658, suggesting that Stephen's chronology is awry.<ref name=DNB />{{efn|Annemund was murdered at the command of [[Balthild]], the regent of [[Chlothar III]].<ref name=Levinson10>Levison ''England and the Continent'' p. 10</ref>}} Stephen says that Annemund gave Wilfrid a clerical [[tonsure]], although this does not appear to mean that he became a monk, merely that he entered the clergy. Bede is silent on the subject of Wilfrid's monastic status,<ref name=Cubitt277>Cubitt "Clergy in Early Anglo-Saxon England" ''Historical Research'' p. 277</ref> although Wilfrid probably became a monk during his time in Rome, or afterwards while he was in Gaul.<ref name=Farmer22>Farmer "Introduction" ''Age of Bede'' p. 22</ref> Some historians, however, believe that Wilfrid was never a monk.<ref name=Cubitt277 /> While in Gaul, Wilfrid absorbed Frankish ecclesiastical practices, including some aspects from the monasteries founded by [[Columbanus]]. This influence may be seen in Wilfrid's probable adoption of a Frankish ceremony in his consecration of churches later in his life, as well as in his employment of Frankish masons to build his churches.<ref name=Sanc1>Coates "Construction of Episcopal Sanctity" ''Historical Research'' pp. 1–2</ref> Wilfrid would also have learned of the ''[[Rule of Saint Benedict]]'' in Gaul, as Columbanus' monasteries followed that monastic rule.<ref name=Ceolfrid76>Coates "Ceolfrid" ''Journal of Medieval History'' pp. 76–77</ref>

=== Abbot of Ripon ===
After Wilfrid's return to Northumbria in about 658, [[Cenwalh of Wessex|Cenwalh]], [[List of monarchs of Wessex|King of Wessex]], recommended Wilfrid to [[Alhfrith of Deira|Alhfrith]], Oswiu's son, as a cleric well-versed in Roman customs and liturgy.<ref name=Earliest87 /> Alhfrith was a sub-king of Deiria under his father's rule, and the most likely heir to his father's throne as his half-brothers were still young.<ref name=Convert42 /> Shortly before 664 Alhfrith gave Wilfrid a monastery he had recently founded at Ripon,<ref name=EncASE /><ref name=Earliest87 /> formed around a group of monks from [[Melrose Abbey]], followers of the [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Irish monastic customs]].<ref name=Convert42>Higham ''Convert Kings'' p. 42</ref> Wilfrid ejected the abbot, Eata, because he would not follow the Roman customs;<ref name=Earliest87 /> [[Cuthbert]], later a saint, was another of the monks expelled.<ref name=DNB /> Wilfrid introduced the ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' into Ripon, claiming that he was the first person in England to make a monastery follow it,<ref name=Monasticism57>Lawrence ''Medieval Monasticism'' p. 57</ref> but this claim rests on the ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'' and does not say where Wilfrid became knowledgeable about the ''Rule'', nor exactly what form of the ''Rule'' was being referred to.<ref name=World199>Blair ''World of Bede'' p. 199</ref> Shortly afterwards Wilfrid was ordained a priest by [[Agilbert]], [[Bishop of Winchester|Bishop of Dorchester]] in the kingdom of the Gewisse, part of Wessex.<ref name=Hindley78 /> Wilfrid was a protégé of Agilbert, who later helped in Wilfrid's consecration as a bishop.<ref name=World111>Blair ''World of Bede'' pp. 111–112</ref> The monk [[Ceolfrith]] was attracted to Ripon from [[Gilling Abbey]], which had recently been depopulated as a result of the plague. Ceolfrith later became Abbot of [[Wearmouth-Jarrow]] during the time the medieval chronicler and writer Bede was a monk there.<ref name=World162>Blair ''World of Bede'' pp. 162–163</ref> Bede hardly mentions the relationship between Ceolfrith and Wilfrid, but it was Wilfrid who consecrated Ceolfrith a priest and who gave permission for him to transfer to Wearmouth-Jarrow.<ref name=Ceolfrid82>Coates "Ceolfrid" ''Journal of Medieval History'' p. 82</ref>