CHAPTER 51: The text of the petition
CHAPTER 51
The text of the petition
‘To the Apostolic Lord and thrice-blessed universal father, Pope John, Wilfrid, a simple and humble servant of God’s servants and a bishop, pays honour. I wish to make known to your Holiness the reasons why I have come a third time to the Holy See from the far ends of the earth to seek help in your presence. They are these: First I hope to hear you confirm and corroborate all those most just and merciful decrees of your blessed predecessor Pope Agatho. Such a hope is grounded both on the belief that your action would bring about the salvation of many souls and on the fact of the undivided solidarity of judgement in the line of the popes. Secondly I would have your Holiness understand that we are only too ready to submit humbly to your commands. I have been led to make this appeal by the recent disturbances in Britain caused by that faction which, in contravention of Pope Agatho’s decrees, have robbed me of my bishopric, monasteries, land, and everything I possessed. I adjured my assailants by the Most High God and by St Peter to follow the procedure laid down by Pope Sergius if they had anything to charge me with, and to accompany me hither to be judged in your presence. In view of the patent urgency of my claims I have been at pains to have a list of my humble petitions delivered to your august Eminence, in addition to which I now make bold to assail your ears with the request that your benign clemency may see fit to confirm with abounding holy benevolence all those good and just decrees made so unanimously on my poor behalf by your illustrious predecessors, the Apostolic lords St Agatho, blessed Sergius, and the glorious Pope Benedict. Moreover I myself and my companions here humbly beg you from the bottom of our hearts, should anyone appear with charges against us, to use your inflexible authority to bid him come forward and make them openly in your presence. If even the smallest accusation holds water we will gladly submit to your judgement; if, however, my opponents do not scruple to foist a pack of lies on your Holiness, backed up with false documentation, then please give us leave to clear ourselves in person. I also earnestly ask your Holiness to send orders to King Aethilred of Mercia regarding my well-being, repeating what was laid down by your three predecessors – that no one is to presume, either through foul greed or envy, to lay hands on those monasteries or their lands which Aethilred or his brother Wulfhere or anybody else may have given me for their souls’ salvation. I urge you to give your orders the same force of authority as those of your forerunners. Furthermore, and this is most important, I implore you to be so kind as to advise King Aldfrith of Northumbria, in very quiet diplomatic tones, to carry out all the decrees of Pope Agatho and the synod. But if this should go against the grain with him, because of my part in the business, then use your own judgement in deciding who is best fitted to govern the see of York and all its numerous monasteries – except the houses of Hexham and Ripon which Pope Agatho included under one and the same privilege. Ask that they be restored to us with all their lands and possessions.
‘To all these partitions I add this: I always show proper respect and fraternal charity towards Archbishop Berhtwald and I shall continue to do so. Only let him carry out those firmly established decrees made on behalf of my poor self by Agatho and his successors.’