Diuma

Saint Diuma was the first bishop of Mercia in England and reposed around 650, or somewhat later according to some scholars. He is commemorated on 7 May in our calendar. All that is known of him comes from a short account in Bede.

He was an Irishman and one of the four priests from Northumbria, with Cedd, Atta and Betti, who accompanied the newly baptized Peada, son of King Penda, back to Mercia in 653. Peada had become a Christian by marrying Alhflaed, daughter of King Oswiu of Northumbria, and the priests were to bring the Christian faith to the region. After Penda's death Diuma was consecrated bishop by Finan. It is assumed that he established his see at Repton; according to Bede he was bishop of both the Middle Angles and the Mercians. His episcopate was fruitful but short, and he died at a place called in-⁠feppingum in the territory of the Middle Angles, which has never been identified. He was succeeded by Ceollach, then Trumhere, and in 669 his successor Chad moved the see to Lichfield. An early eleventh-⁠century list of resting places of the saints names a Dioma resting at Charlbury in Oxfordshire, which suggests a later Anglo-⁠Saxon cult.