Biography
Wilfrid II
About Wilfrid II
Wilfrid II, called Wilfrid the Younger, was a disciple and successor of John of Beverley at York. The title distinguishes him from the earlier Bishop Wilfrid.
Bede identifies Wilfrid as John’s priest and successor at York, and lists him among Northumbria’s bishops in 731.
Alcuin’s poem on York remembers him as a worthy successor who had previously served as an abbot and deputy in the church. It praises the care he took over the churches entrusted to him. He provided sacred vessels and adorned altars and crosses with gilded silver. Other churches in York shared in his generosity.
The same poem links that care for worship with care for people. Alcuin describes teaching that nourished minds and material help that fed those in need. His portrait combines instruction, example and generosity. At the end of his episcopal service, Wilfrid withdrew to a contemplative life and handed responsibility for the see to Egbert.
Kenneth Harrison’s archaeological and documentary study places his episcopate in 718–732 and identifies Alcuin’s verses as the evidence for his work beautifying the Minster.
Older accounts differ over the precise chronology of his retirement and death. Henschenius’s scholarly commentary discusses these disagreements and records an ancient metrical calendar’s commemoration on 29 April. He also includes Wilfrid among Northumbria’s traditional saintly patrons.
The Catholic Church in Norway continues to list his feast on 29 April, remembering him as John of Beverley’s disciple and successor.
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