Ithamar
BISHOP,
The fourth bishop of Rochester, is said to have been a Kentishman born, and the first Englishman ever promoted to the episcopal dignity. He was advanced to the See by Archbishop Honorius, and proved not at all inferior to his predecessors, either in piety or learning. He died on June 10th, 656, and was buried in the body of the church, whence, on account of the many miracles wrought at his tomb, his relics were removed and enshrined in the new church built by Bishop Gundulph. John, a subsequent bishop, believed himself cured of a distemper in his eyes by touching these relics. On this account Ithamar was canonized.
[See "Fuller's Worthies."]