John was said to have been born of noble parents at Harpham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire,[1] He is said to have received his education at Canterbury under Adrian,[1] and not Oxford as per some sources.

[5] Of his new activity little is known beyond that he was diligent in visitation, considerate towards the poor, and attentive to the training of students whom he maintained under his personal charge.

[6] 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.

[8] An account of John's miracles was written by William Ketel in the 11th or 12th century which contains the first mention of King Æthelstan's visit to Beverley.

By 1266 it was accepted that when levies were made in Yorkshire for the royal army, it was sufficient for Beverley to send one man with the banner of John.

An extant contract between Roger de Faringdon and the canons 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.

[2] 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.

Henry made John one of the patrons of the royal household and ordered that his feast was to be celebrated throughout England.

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, 1188, 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-interred.In 1738, when the present minster floor was laid, the same relics were dug up and replaced in the same position with an arched brick vault over them.