Wilfrid - Resignation and Death

Resignation and Death

After his final return to Northumbria Wilfrid retired to the monastery at Ripon, where he lived until his death during a visit to Oundle, at the age of 75. A little over a year before his death in either 709 or 710 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. Wilfrid was succeeded at Hexham by Acca of Hexham, a protégé who had accompanied him to Rome in 703. 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 was said to have appeared in the sky starting from the gables of the basilica where his bones were laid to rest.

Wilfrid left large sums of money to his monastic foundations, enabling them to purchase royal favour. Soon after his death a Vita Sancti Wilfrithi, was written by Stephen of Ripon, a monk of Ripon. The first version appeared in about 715 followed by a later revision in the 730s, the first biography written by a contemporary to appear in England. It was commissioned by two of Wilfrid's followers, Acca of Hexham, and the Abbot of Ripon, Tatbert. Stephen's Vita is concerned with vindicating Wilfrid and making a case for his sainthood, and so is used with caution by historians, although it is nevertheless an invaluable source for Wilfrid's life and the history of the time.