| John Of Beverley |
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| 721 deaths | |
| anglo-saxon saints | |
| bishops of hexham | |
| archbishops of york | |
| people from the east riding of yorkshire | |
| 7th century bishops | |
| 8th century bishops | |
Saint John of Beverley (d. May 7 721 ) was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop . St. John was said to have been born of noble parents at as both a Deacon and a Priest . He resigned (dates vary) and retired to a monastery which he had founded at Beverley , where he died. VENERATION He was canonized in 1037, and his feast is celebrated annually in the Roman Catholic Church on May 7 . Many miracles of healing are ascribed to John, whose pupils were numerous and devoted to him, and the popularity of his cult was a major factor in the prosperity of Beverley during the Middle Ages. He was celebrated for his scholarship as well as for his virtues. Around 1066 , Folcard was commissioned to write a Life of John.1 The earliest existing mention of the banner of St John is in 1138 when Thurstan incorporated it into the standard which gave its name to the Battle Of The Standard . By 1266 it was accepted that when levies from were made in Yorkshire for the royal army, it was sufficient for Beverley to send one man with the banner of St John. In 1292 a new shrine was commissioned. An extant contract between Roger de Faringdon and the Cannons of Beverley Minster states: For a silver-gilt shrine, made from gold and silver supplied by the Chapter, 5ft long, 1ft wide. Of proportionate height, beautiful, and adorned with plates and columns in architectural style with figures everywhere of size and number as the Chapter determine, and canopies and pinnacles before and behind, and other proper ornaments. Roger to remake any figure at the whim of The Chapter. The pay to be silver equal to the weight used before gilding. Roger may not undertake any other work before completion. Edward I was a devotee of St John and furthered the cult. In 1295 Edward established a Chantry in Beverley Minister in the saint's honour. In 1301, he gave 50 marks towards the building of the shrine and diverted half of a fine owed by the town to the same purpose and ceded the remaining half. On 1307-10-25 John's relics were translated to the new tomb. Edward I visited the Minister in 1296 , 1297 , and 1300 on his way north to fight with the Scottish and took the banner of John to aid him. Edward II , Edward III , and Henry IV also used the banner in military campaigns. During the Middle Ages his name was also attached to the legend of a hermit who commits grave sins but nonetheless enjoys God's grace. This text survives in the Dutch chapbook ''Historie van Jan van Beverley'', first printed by Thomas Van Der Noot in Brussels in 1543. to make offerings at the saint's shrine. In 1541 , the shrine was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII as part of the Reformation . Its contents disappeared from records. In 1664, workmen discovered a vault under the floor of the Minster's Nave . Made of stone, it was 15ft long and 2ft wide at the head and 1ft wide at the base. Encased in lead, were found ashes, six beads, three great brass pins and four large iron nails. The lead had the following inscription: In the year from the incarnation of our Lord, 1138, this church was burnt in the month of September, the night after the feast of St Matthew the Apostle and in the year 1197, the 6th of the ides of March, there was an inquisition made of the relics of the Blessed John in this place, and these bones were found in the east part of this sepulchre, and redeposited; dust mixed with mortar was found likewise and re-intered. In 1738, when the present Minister floor was laid, the same relics were dug up and replaced in the same position with an arched brick vault over them. This was covered by a marble slab, similar to others in the nave. On the roof of the church, over the tomb, ''Reliquas beaati Johanis Beverlacenic his undicat''. The inscription on the tomb now reads: HERE LIES THE BODY OF SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLEY FOUNDER OF THIS CHURCH BISHOP OF HEXHAM AD 687-705 BISHOP OF YORK A.D. 705-718 HE WAS BORN AT HARPHAM AND DIED AT BEVERLEY AD 721 In recent times, the feast of St John has been marked in Beverley in two ways. On the Thursday nearest 7 May the choir and members of the congregation of Beverley Minster go the church at Harpham and process to the well. The well is decorated (prior to the event) with flowers. After singing an Anthem and praying, the procession returns to the church for choral Evensong . On the Sunday nearest 7 May the civic dignitaries process in full Regalia with Mace bearers to the Minster. The procession enters by the Great West Door. During the following service, children from Harpham present Primroses gathered from the woods around the village. The flowers are placed around John's tomb. Julian Of Norwich and St John Fisher were devotees of St John of Beverley. WORKS The following works, none of which now survives, are ascribed to John by J. Bale :
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