WILCOX
(521
WILFRID
WUcox, Robert, Venerable, EngUsh martyr b.
M Cheste , 1558; suffered at Canterbury, 1 October
15SS. He arrived at Reims, 12 August 1583, and
received the tonsure and minor orders, 23 bep-
rember following. He was ordamed ^"b-deacon 16
March, deacon, 5 or 6 April, and priest 20 ■^P"l'}^^P'
receiving all these orders at Reims, '^'^'f .»" .^^^^^^I
sion 7 January, 1586, he was imprisoned m the Mar
Zuea that same vear. With him sufTered two other
pr'S C^Sophcr BuxKyi and Edward Campion,
and a lavman, Robert \Vi<imerpool. ■^^^r.o^t
Edward Campion (vcrc Edwards) wasborn ml552at
Ludlow, Shropshire, of a g"*;:! '^""'y^,?"^. ^jl'd was cated for two years at Jesus College, Oxford, and was ah^ds in t'he service of Gregory , tenth Lord Dacre of the South. He armed at Reims, 22 Febru'^g- I'iSfi where he assumed the n:une of Campion. He liSirdained sub-deacon at Laon, 18 S-Pte-ber dea- con at Reims, 19 December the same year, and priest aUhe beg nning of the following Lent being described ^ of tiie Diocese of Canterbury. Sent on the mis- ^on 18 March 1587, he was arrested at Sit ingboume, 3'imprs^nedi^ Newgate and the Marshalsea.
Rote^ Widmcrpool was born at W.dmerpool near NotSgham and was for a time tutor t^ the sons of He irv ninth Earl of Northumberiand. When he had the rope round h.s neck, he thanked God for the glorv of dy^ng in Canterbury for the cause for which St Thomas died. All were condemned under 27
^CBtjo^.H?il/Lo„.r. Pn.^s.l (Edinburgh 1|77) oos.
EngUsh Martyrs '*,*t"'fR™ n^,3?m- FoLET. Record, EnglM ?,»„Tn.?rr. UI^-°on!'f 7|rm^81; Mobh... TrouUes of Our C^holic ForefatHer^. Ill (J^^^^^b! WaVeWBIOHT.
WUd. JoHANN, Scriptural commentator and
nreacher beiter known by his Latin name Ferub, b
Kabi^, 1495; d. at Mainz, 8 S^pt., 1554. Atjm
arlv age he joined the Franciscan Order. He was
«1 cat S a Cologne. His apphcat ion and proficiency
?n tudv were very distinguished, and laid the founda-
tion of that extensive acquaintance with Holy bcrip
^e and the Fathers in which he '-^ftc^^.^'-ds exeeUed.
At a chapter held in the Convent at Tubingen in 1528,
he wl^ ippointed ,.rofe.ssor of rhetoric and belles-let-
tres scrfp^or and preacher. His sermons in the
chu;ches o ^ ainz soon gained a high reputation or
learning and eloquence. Subsequently at a cbapter
cete^rafed in the Convent at Mainz m 1.540, he was
elected d^finitor of the provinceand appointed to tl^
Sus post of Domimdiger (preacher in the cathe-
K^hich he continued to occupy till his death
Rv his unflagging zeal and energj' he preserved his
order and the clcrgN- from the wiles of the Lutherans;
^nd it w^ principallv due to his preaching that Mamz
?ema neTs'^oadfls, in the CathoUc Faith. Not even
Sr enemies disputed his title of bemg the most
kamedTreachcr in Germany in the sixteenth cen-
learnea p Protestant historian, Henr>- Pantaleon,
8^ of him: "His davs and nights were spent in the
Mfilmen of his sacred functions aiid m st,idy,so that
he became a most learned theologian. To profound
Kng and rich eloquence he united great sanctity of
""'when the troops of Albert of Brandenburg burn- inAnd pillaging as thcv went, entered Mainz in 1552, pries"s r^eigious and most of the inhabitants fled from the city Father Wild remained. His courage was Se^'^'^admired by Albert, who solicited him to give UP the religious habit. "For many years , he an- swered "I have worn it, it has never done me any harm whv should I now abandon it?" He was or- dered to preach in the presence of Albert and his fol- fowers on the text, "Render to Orsar the things that are tWrV', etc. At the end of bis discourse he a.l- drcss^lhis a idience on the text, "Render an account
of thy stewardship". The pnnce was so struck by
his apostolic zeal and courage that he promised to
grant him any request he would make. He asked
fhafthe cathedral and Franciscan b"'ldmgs should be
soared from all desecration and injury- His request
was^anTed, and in recognition of this great service a
Tt at ue representing Wild holding the cathedral in h.s
nlTort'Ire' nutrour/onsisting of commen- tar"s on nearfv all the parts of the Old Testament; the Gospels of St. Matthew, St. John, the Acts of the Apostles, Epistle to the Romans, the First Ep.stle of St John sermons, orations, and ascetical books His rnetd n explaining the Holy Scripture ^s^s to op- pose °o the captious quotations of the L"t>^erans a Tearned commentary drawn up rom the works of the Fathers of the Church. Neariy all his works were published after his death, and had not been cotnposed w"th a view to pubUcation. With the, except ion of the Commentaries on Matt., John, and I John his otheVworks were placed on the Index with the cW donee corrigantur. Dominicus a Soto, O.F., extractea from the Commentary of St. John seven y-seven pas- sages which he considered susceptible to false interpre- tation. He was answered by Michael Medina, O S.F., who had been theologian with Dominicus at the Coun- cil of Trent. Sixtus Senensis, Serarius, \A addmg, and many others state that the works of ^^lld were de- Uberately altered by the Lutherans in order to deceive the Catholics. In the Roman edition of the Com- mentary on St. John, the passages criticised were left ^ut J Wild is mentioned a.s present at the chapter held at the Convent of Pforzheim on 15 Apn 1554 He died the same vear, and was buried in the tront oi fhe high altar in "the Franciscan Church at Mamz. His principal works are: commentaries on the Penta- teuch Josue, Judges, Job, Ecclesiastes, Pss. xxxi and "sther, Esdral, Nehemias Lamentations of Jere- m as Jonas, St. Matthew, St. John, Acts of the Apostles, Romans, I John; six voK of sermons; examination of candidates for Sacred Orders^
Franksa.ua' (Madrid, 1732); .P^^-^^^^tr^^fr *(""(« "dS
f^"^SrS"(K' m9T°MiH?Bru,.-n; c^^^.:s,or^
homme.1 \uusires ^rarI», "' .", ,p , laaai l- Glassbebgeb, Znpre,4^ .« '6. SaHrH^<ier,.JCo^o^^lS^^. ^^^^^^
Wilderness. See Israelites; Desert.
WUfrid, Saint, Bishop of York, son of a Northum- brian hegn, b. in 634 ; d. at Oundle in Northampton- shire 709 He was unhappy at home, through he un- lindAess of a stepmother, and in his fourteenth year hewas sent away to the Court of Oswy. King of North- umbria Here he attracted the attention of the Queen Eanfleda and by her, at his o^vn reques , he was sent 1 o rheMona!sterj'of LiAdisfarne. After three years spent here he waslent for, again through <be kindness o fhe queen, to Rome, in the company of St. Benedict Biscop At Rome he was the pupil of Boniface the Don"s archdeacon. On his way home he stayed for ^hree years at Lyons, where he received the tonsure from Annemundas, the bi.shop of that Plaee. Anne mundas wanted him to rem am ^' . Lyons altogether wl marrv his niece and beconie his heir but W ilfnd w^ de ennin.-d that he would be a priest . Soon after neTseci tion arose at Lyons, and Annemunch,.'. perished fn it The same fate neariy came to W ilfnd, but when i" was sho«-n that he was a Saxon he was allowed to depart and came back to I'-ngland. In England he rZwM the ncwlv foun.le.l monastery .at Ripon a-s U,e gift of Alchfrid. Oswy's son and heir and here he cstll she,l the full Benclictine Rule. The f olumb.te monks, who had been settled previously at Ripon,with-
