In 766 Æthelbert succeeded Ecgbert as archbishop; he was consecrated 24 April 767, the feast day of his predecessor Wilfrid. This may have been deliberate and a sign that Æthelbert wished to revive Wilfrid's ambitions for the archiepiscopal see. Æthelbert received his pallium from Pope Adrian I in 773. Alcuin was appointed head of the cathedral school after Æthelbert became archbishop. Much of Alcuin's description of Æthelbert's time as archbishop has the flavour of a panegyric, as Alcuin praised Æthelbert as a model bishop suitable for other bishops to use as a role model.