James the Deacon

James the Deacon (d. late 7th century). His origin and nationality are unknown, but he was probably from Italy, like Paulinus, whom he constantly assisted during the Northumbrian pioneering apostolate which lasted from 625 until the battle of Hatfield, when King Edwin was killed in 633. Paulinus now retired to Kent with King Edwin's widow and daughter, but James stayed behind in Northumbria, braving the hostile regime of Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon of Gwynedd and continuing Paulinus' work of preaching and baptizing near Catterick (N. Yorkshire). As an old man he took part in the Synod of Whitby in 663–4, where he supported the Roman calculation of Easter which he had followed in Northumbria for nearly forty years. Bede praised his constancy and nobility of soul and described him as a pioneer also in the Roman method of chanting, later taught in England by Eddius Stephanus and John the Archcantor. The date of his death is unknown and his cult seems to have been informal. Not being a monk he had no community to provide a centre for his memory.

Bibliography
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• Bede, H.E., ii. 16, 20; iii. 25; iv. 2; H. Mayr-Harting, The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England (1973), p. 42.