Some Donations to Bishop Wilfrid in Northern England

Abstract

THE CONSECRATION AND DEDICATION to St Peter of the church of dressed stone at Ripon, which Wilfrid had built in the 670s,was an impressive occasion. According to the Vita Wilfridi by Stephanus, the ceremony was attended by King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, his brother Aelfwine, together with sub-kings, reeves, abbots and dignitaries of every kind. In their presence Wilfrid read out clearly a list of the regiones (territories) which 'kings had presented to him previously and on that day as well ... and also the loca sancta (holy places) in different regiones which the British clergy, fleeing from the hostile sword wielded by the warriors of our own nation, had deserted'. As Stephanus observed, many lands were assigned to Wilfrid for God's service, and these are the names of the regiones: 'iuxta Rippelet Ingaedyne et in regione Dunutinga et Incaetlaevum in caeterisque locis'. 1The 'other places' , ·apart, the four named regiones were identified conjecturally by Dr Bertram Colgrave as Ribble, Yeadon, Dent, and Catlow, all in northern England.2 Recently, however, these identifications, save that of Dent, have been questioned. 3 This paper will examine the characteristics of Wilfrid's identified estates in order to rehabilitate the case for Yeadon and to identify some of the loca sancta in Northumbria.

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