Hegesippus's account of James the Just's martyrdom — legendary elements identified and evaluated; the historical core extraction methodology applied

Hegesippus wrote material that contains what Mike identifies as legendary embellishments: Jewish leaders are portrayed as unanimously calling James "the just" to his face, asking him to dissuade people from following Jesus (the Messiah), placing him on the pinnacle of the Temple during Passover to address the crowds. Mike acknowledges these have the feel of legendary development (e.g., enemies praising James, scribes and Pharisees acting out of character). The correct historical approach is not to discard the source entirely but to ask: what historical core gave rise to the legend?