Wilfrid (Bishop, St Davids)

Wilfrid (also Wilfre or Wilfredus ) († 1115 ) was a Welsh clergyman . From 1085 he was Bishop of Saint David's . He is considered the last traditional and independent bishop of the Welsh diocese before he submitted to the suzerainty of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Little is known about Wilfrid's origins. Despite his name, he was a native of Welsh. After Bishop Sulien resigned from office , he became bishop of the diocese of Saint David's in 1085 . As a bishop he came into conflict with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury . This also claimed spiritual suzerainty over the Welsh dioceses . After the death of Prince Rhys ap Tewdwr von Deheubarth in 1093, Wilfride had no hope of asserting himself against the Archbishop of Canterbury, so that he finally recognized the sovereignty of Canterbury. However, the relationship between the two was still unclear, so that Anselm suspended Wilfrid in 1095. When a Welsh revolt against the Norman conquest broke out in South West Wales in 1096 , Wilfrid supported the Welsh when they besieged Pembroke Castle . After repelling the siege, Gerald , the commandant of the castle, plundered the bishop's possessions in Pebidiog in 1097 . Wilfride was captured by Arnulf de Montgomery , who, according to the chronicler Gerald the Welshman , held him captive for twenty days. After the uprising was put down, Wilfrid had apparently made up with Archbishop Anselm. Around 1100 he defended the rights of Wilfrid against the claims of the Norman barons in South Wales.

Web links

• Robert Thomas Jenkins: WILFRE (WILFREDUS, and other forms of the name), bishop (Dictionary of Welsh Biography)

Individual evidence

1. ^ John Edward Lloyd: History of Wales from the earliest times to the edwardian conquest , Vol. 2, Longmans, Green, London 1912, p. 451.
2. ^ John Edward Lloyd: History of Wales from the earliest times to the edwardian conquest , Vol. 2, Longmans, Green, London 1912, p. 452.

predecessor	Office	successor
Sulien	Bishop of St. Davids 1085–1115	Bernard