Willibrord

Back in Issue 6 of the Heroic Age (www.heroicage.org) Michelle Ziegler published an interesting paper that sought to establish that Bede was wrong about Willibrord "continuing" the work of Wilfrid in Frisia and that Willibrord can not be said to have belonged to Wilfrid's familia by the time he went to Frisia. Its an interesting paper, though in subsequent work I've come to disagree with it but not because of anything wrong with the paper itself. I know, that's confusing.

Anyway, among the evidence that Michelle adduces is the presence of Irish art, script, and works produced at Willibrord's monastery. But I've begun to wonder if this as certain an idicator that Willibrord was not part of Wilfrid's familia as I did those years ago when Issue 6 was published. On further examination of Wilfrid's biography, there is much of the Irish there: from hermits to connections to St. Brigid to his style of being a bishop, there is MUCH that Irish in Wilfrid's career. So pointing to the Irish with Willibrord seems to me not as much of an indication of Willibrord's connections as one might think.