E06922: Aldhelm, in his poem On the Altars of the Twelve Apostles, records the dedication of an altar to *James (the Apostle, son of Zebedee, S00108), presumably in Britain. Written in Latin in southern Britain, 670/710.

Aldhelm, Carmina Ecclesiastica, 4.4

IV. IN SANCTI IACOBI
Hic quoque lacobus cretus genitore vetusto
Dilubrum sancto defendit tegmine celsum;
Qui clamante pio ponti de margine Christo
Linquebat proprium panda cum puppe parentem.
Primitus Hispanas convertit dogmate gentes
Barbara divinis convertens agmina dictis,
Quae priscos dudum ritus et lurida fana
Daemonis horrendi decepta fraude colebant.
Plurima hic praesul patravit signa stupendus,
Quae nunc in cartis scribuntur rite quadratis.
Hunc trux Herodes, regni tetrarcha, tyrannus
Percussum machera crudeli morte necavit,
Sed pater excelsus, qui sanctos iure triumphat,
Vexit in aethereas meritis fulgentibus arces.


'iv. On St James
Here also St James, who was sired by an ageing father [i.e. Zebedee], defends the lofty church with its holy roof. When Christ was calling him from the shore of the sea, he left his own father behind in the curved boat [Mt. 4:21-2]. St James was the first to convert the Spanish peoples with his teaching, converting the barbaric multitudes with his holy words; deceived by falsehood, they formerly worshipped the ancient mysteries and ghastly shrines of the dreadful demon. Here the marvellous apostle performed a number of miracles, which are now duly recorded in books. The savage tyrant Herod (Agrippa), a tetrarch of the (eastern) empire, murdered St James, striking him (down) with a sword in cruel death. But the heavenly Father, Who justly makes his saints to triumph, transported him to the celestial citadels, his merits resplendent.'


Text: Ehwald 1919, 23. Translation: Lapidge and Rosier 1985, 52, title lightly modified.