John entered the double monastery at Whitby when St Hild was there. He was made bishop of Hexham c AD 687 and it was he who ordained the Venerable Bede c AD 703. In AD 705 he was transferred to York. Much drawn to solitude, he resigned his see in AD 717 and withdrew to the religious house he had founded at what is now Beverley. John's memory was widely popular in England and he is praised by Dame Julian of Norwich. He was canonised in 1037. His banner was carried at the Battle of the Standard in 1138 and was later loaned to Edward I, Edward II and Edward III, as well as to Henry IV and Henry V. His name formed the war-cry of the English in the border warfare of the Middle Ages.
The victory at Agincourt came on the feast of John's translation, and thereafter John was made a patron of the royal dynasty. Henry V visited his shrine at Beverley Minster in 1420 and Henry VI did the same c 1448. The shrine was destroyed by Henry VIII.