Journeys of Bishop Wilfrid – a Restless Pilgrim and Traveller ofAnglo-Saxon Times

Abstract

Journeys to Rome were an important phenomenon in the life of bishop Wilfrid, a significant personality of early medieval Britain. A powerful dignitary, an abbot, and a founder of Northumbrian monasteries, Wilfrid belongs to the first Anglo-Saxon travellers. Based on a close reading of Vita sancti Wilfridi, the earliest rendering of Wilfrid’s life, the article views Wilfrid’s journeys from two perspectives: from the point of view of history, it maps what influence his journeys had on establishing the church and cultural life in Northumbria; furthermore, it attempts to examine the journeys and the regions Wilfrid travelled through by means of biblical typology and through the prism of hagiography.