The Church Fathers · c. 710–720
The Life of Wilfrid
Stephen of Ripon · 8th century
What it is
The combative career of the bishop who argued the Roman case at Whitby, was repeatedly expelled from his see, and twice appealed to Rome over the head of his king.
Why it lasted
The earliest substantial English biography, and a partisan account of the quarrel that aligned the English church with Rome.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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