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Book III, Chapter 28. How, when Tuda was dead, Wilfrid was ordained, in Gaul, and Ceadda, among the West Saxons, to be bishops for the province of the Northumbrians. [664 a.d.]

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In the meantime, King Alchfrid sent the priest, Wilfrid, to the king of Gaul,1 in order that he should cause him to be consecrated bishop for himself and his people. That prince sent him to be ordained by Agilbert,2 of whom we have before spoken, and who, having left Britain, was made bishop of the city of Paris;3 and by him Wilfrid was honourably consecrated, several bishops meeting together for that purpose in a village belonging to the king, called In Compendio.4 He stayed some time in the parts beyond the sea for his ordination, and King Oswy, following the example of his son’s zeal, sent into Kent a holy man, of modest character, well read in the Scripture, and diligently practising those things which he had learned therein, to be ordained bishop of the church of York. This was a priest called Ceadda,5 brother to the most reverend prelate Cedd, of whom mention has been often made, and abbot of the monastery of Laestingaeu. With him the king also sent his priest Eadhaed,6 who was afterwards, in the reign of Egfrid,7 made bishop of the church of Ripon. Now when they arrived in Kent, they found that Archbishop Deusdedit had departed this life, and no other bishop was as yet appointed in his place; whereupon they betook themselves to the province of the West Saxons, where Wini was bishop, and by him Ceadda was consecrated; two bishops of the British nation, who kept Easter Sunday, as has been often said, contrary to the canonical manner, from the fourteenth to the twentieth moon, being called in to assist at the ordination; for at that time there was no other bishop in all Britain canonically ordained, except Wini.8

So Ceadda, being consecrated bishop, began immediately to labour for ecclesiastical truth and purity of doctrine; to apply himself to humility, self-denial, and study; to travel about, not on horseback, but after the manner of the Apostles, on foot, to preach the Gospel in towns, the open country, cottages, villages, and castles; for he was one of the disciples of Aidan, and endeavoured to instruct his people by the same manner of life and character, after his and his own brother Cedd’s example. Wilfrid also having been now made a bishop, came into Britain, and in like manner by his teaching brought into the English Church many rules of Catholic observance. Whence it followed, that the Catholic principles daily gained strength, and all the Scots that dwelt in England either conformed to these, or returned into their own country.

← III.27 How Egbert, a holy man of the English nation, led a monastic life in Ireland. [664 a.d.] · Contents · [[BEH III.29|III.29 How the priest Wighard was sent from Britain to Rome, to be ordained archbishop; of his death there, and of the letters of the Apostolic Pope giving an account thereof. [667 a.d.] →]]

Footnotes

  1. In 664. This was the young “Fainéant” king of Neustria, Clothaire III. Wilfrid was probably sent abroad at his own request. Doubtless he desired to have the canonical number of three bishops at his consecration, and Boniface of Dunwich (c. 20; IV, 5) was the only prelate in England whose orders he would have regarded as entirely satisfactory, for Wini might be considered a usurper, and Cedd and Jaruman had been consecrated by schismatics. Archbishop Deusdedit was dead (III, 20, note) and so probably was Damian of Rochester. ↩

  2. He was Wilfrid’s friend: v.s. c. 25, pp. 194-5. ↩

  3. Cf. ibid., note. ↩

  4. Compiègne, a royal “villa.” For the preposition, v. II, 14, note. The ceremony was a specially magnificent one, Wilfrid being carried in a golden chair by twelve bishops in choral procession, according to an ancient custom of the Gallican Church. ↩

  5. Preface, III, 23, et saep. Why Oswy, who had consented to Wilfrid’s consecration (v. V, 19) acted in this manner is not clear. Probably it implies that the Celtic party, during Wilfrid’s prolonged absence, had to some extent recovered their ascendency; and, if it was at this time that Alchfrid (who is not heard of again) rebelled against his father (v.s. c. 14, ad init.) and was deprived of his kingdom, Wilfrid would have lost his warmest supporter. ↩

  6. He retired to Ripon from Lindsey, of which he was the first separate bishop, when Ethelred recovered that province for Mercia in 679. But cf. IV, 12, ad fin., note, for the statement that he was “Bishop” of Ripon. ↩

  7. King of Northumbria, v.s. c. 24, p. 188, note 3. ↩

  8. It does not appear why Boniface (Bertgils) of Dunwich, Bishop of the East Angles, 652-669 (c. 20, IV, 5), is ignored. Ceadda’s consecration was afterwards regarded as of doubtful validity and was completed by Theodore (v. IV, 12). The British (probably Cornish) bishops were schismatical, and Wini’s position was irregular. Moreover, the see to which Ceadda was consecrated was not vacant. ↩

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