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Life of St Wilfrid
Eddius Stephanus, tr. Colgrave, 1927
14. How Chad Had Meanwhile Been Consecrated to Wilfrid’s See
After a lapse of time, when Saint Wilfrid the bishop did not arrive from across the sea, King Oswiu, moved by envy and at the instigation of the ancient foe, consented to allow another to forestall him in his see in an irregular manner; for he was instructed by those who adhered to the Quartodeciman party in opposition to the rule of the Apostolic See; they consecrated to the See of York a deeply pious servant of God and admirable teacher named Chad, who came from Ireland, but they did it ignorantly and in defiance of canon law. Meanwhile St Wilfrid himself knew nothing of it; but when he arrived it became obvious that a wrong deed had been done. He, however, returned to his post of abbot of the monastery and humbly dwelt once more in Ripon for three years, except for the frequent occasions when Wulfhere, King of the Mercians, out of sincere affection for him, invited him into his realm to fulfil various episcopal duties. The Lord raised up for himself this most kindly monarch, who, amongst his other good deeds, for the benefit of his soul, granted our bishop many pieces of land in various places, on which he forthwith founded monasteries for the servants of God. Egbert too, the pious King of Kent, summoned our bishop to his presence, and there he ordained many priests (one of whom was Putta who afterwards became a bishop), and not a few deacons. For Deusdedit, who had been appointed bishop after the death of Archbishop Honorius, was dead.
So he lived in honour, dear to all men, and, after fulfilling episcopal duties in various places, returned to his own land with the singers Aedde and Aeona, and with masons and artisans of almost every kind, and there, by introducing the rule of St Benedict, he greatly improved the ordinances of the churches of God. At that time therefore, by the help of God, a great door of faith was opened in those parts to our holy bishop, as it was to the Apostle Paul.