Those who have read Hild or Menewood know just how great an influence I suspect James the Deacon had on Hild. Today is his Feast Day.^1,2,3 Frank Stenton considered James the only brave member of the original Roman mission to Britain led by Augustine. (Paulinus, like many other of the mission, had a history of running off with the church silver whenever trouble threatened.)⁴ But James, who came with Paulinus when he accompanied Æthelburh from Kent to Northumbria for her marriage to Edwin, stayed when Edwin died and, according to Bede, lived in a village near Catterick that supposedly still bore James’s name at the time Bede was writing Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (HE).⁵ There are hints that Bede might have known James, and given that he wasn’t born until 671, and that the Augustinian mission arrived in 599, James must both a) have been young when he set out, and b) lived to a ripe old age. Also according to Bede, James was at the Synod of Whitby—though he’s not mentioned in Eddius Stephanus’s Life of Wilfrid. (There again, Wilfrid never liked anyone stealing his scenes; everything always had to be about him.)

I certainly think James is worth celebrating. He is the one who insists to Hild that there can never be too much love in the world; that any deed committed for love can be forgiven—indeed that love itself, no matter its shape, form, or parties—as long as they are willing—can never be a sin; that God is love, and generally inclined towards kindness and forgiveness.⁶ He also is a bit of a hedonist—he very definitely enjoys life and all its fruits.

I see James so clearly: a rotund (though not soft), grey-haired Black man from Rome, given to laughter and the joys of music.⁷ I write him as a teacher of plainsong—which in itself has big impact on Hild. (I also credit him with putting on the first Northumbrian Nativity Play—but I’ll write more about that another time. Perhaps closer to the season.) There are worse people to celebrate.⁸

So go listen to some music, savour a glass of fine wine, and perhaps settle in to read a good book by the fire while the rain drums on the roof and the hearth flames flicker…

1. Also International Coming Out Day, which you will appreciate if you’ve read my version of his story. Coincidence? I think not… ↩︎
2. Also the Feast Day of Æthelburh of Barking. But we haven’t met her yet (in the books) so I’ll save that for another time. ↩︎
3. At least in the Church of England. The Catholic church celebrates 17 August but, well, I forgot. (And thank you Francis and Jessica for reminding me!) So today, though raised Catholic, I take the side. (Having said that, I have zero religious beliefs of my own, so it’s easier to go with whichever date seems most convenient.) ↩︎
4. Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.  ↩︎
5. HE II.20. I use a variety of editions, and then often end up trying to make my own translation of the interesting bits. But the point is, HE was finished c. 731 CE, when Bede was just about 60 years old. There that is, probably within 50 years or so of James’s death. He lived a long time. ↩︎
6. His attitude is, in fact, based on a priest I once knew who made a big difference in my life. ↩︎
7. I tried to find a useable image that wasn’t a young white man, but… ↩︎
8. Such as Agilbert—today is also his Feast Day. But I’m beginning to form an uncomplimentary opinion of Agilbert, so we’ll leave him for another time, too. ↩︎