york00orns

78 YORK.
scholar, the wise and holy Aldhelm of ISIalmesbury.
They were to cling lovingly to him. The appeal was
not in vain. Prayer was solemnly offered for him in
all the communities over which he had ruled. Several
accompanied him to Rome, the most eminent of whom
was Acca, so long associated in after years with the
church of Hexham.
To Rome then, for the third time, Wilfrid
[a.d. 704.]
proceeded. The long and weary journey was made
on foot. He arrived there early in 704, and presented
a memorial to the pope, John VI. In this he recounted
what had heretofore taken place, and prayed
that the apostolic see would charge Ethelred to continue
protection to his monasteries in Mercia, and
that Aldfrid might at the least interpose no obstacle
to his having Ripon and Hexham, even though the
see of York should be otherwise disposed of. And
he promised all fitting subjection to Bertwald, providing
always that on the archbishop's part the treatment
he received was in conformity with the papal
decrees. A counter memorial was handed in on the
part of Bertwald. The matters in dispute were
argued at prodigious length. Seventy sittings of the
council took place, occupying four months. Its final
decision exonerated Wilfrid from all blame, and
affirmed the decrees of Agatho, Benedict, and Sergius.
The pope wrote to Ethelred and Aldfrid,
calling their attention to these decrees, but not
absolutely demanding the reinstatement of Wilfrid.
Bertwald and Wilfrid were to meet each other in a
synod called by the former, to which Bosa and
John were to be summoned. If this synod failed