ABSTRACT
According to Leland, John's first royal patron was Aldfrith, who was king in 687 at the time John was consecrated bishop and appointed to the see of Hexham. 1 Although this claim cannot be verified, the king's approval would doubtless have been required before John was appointed to such a senior ecclesiastical post. Leland also claimed that King Osred donated the church of Dalton to Beverley; and, again, although there is no corroboration for this, the king is associated with John in both a political and social capacity in one of the stories in Folcard's Vita Sancti Johannis. 2
