Ithamar of Rochester

Saint Ithamar of Rochester was the first bishop in England to be Saxon-⁠born, neither consecrated by the Irish nor chosen from Augustine's Roman missionaries. He was also the first Saxon bishop of Rochester, a successor of Saint Paulinus. He reposed around 656. He is commemorated on 10 June.

Bede says he was of the Kentish nation, but not inferior to his predecessors in learning and conduct of life. He was consecrated by Archbishop Honorius of Canterbury. On consecration he took his new name from Ithamar, a son of Aaron in the Old Testament, a practice rare in the Roman tradition but more common in the Celtic Church. As bishop he consecrated Deusdedit as the first Saxon archbishop of Canterbury on 26 March 655. He died between 655 and 664, probably close to 656, at Rochester.

After his death he was considered a saint and given a shrine in Rochester Cathedral. There is no written Life of him, only a short work on his miracles composed in the twelfth century, when his remains were moved to a new, larger shrine in the cathedral.