JOHN
475
JOHN
John of Nikiu, an Egyptian chronicler who
flourished in the latter part of the seventh century.
The Uttle we know of his life is gathered from the
"History of the Patriarchs" by Severus of Ash-
munein. He lived under John of Semnild, Isaac, and
Simeon, respectively fortieth, forty-first, and forty-
second patriarchs, and seems to have played an im-
portant part in the affairs of the Egyptian Church,
both as Bishop of N'ikiu (Coptic, Pshati in the Delta)
and as general atlministrator of the monasteries of
Egypt. But having disciplined a monk guilty of a
grave offence against morals so severely that he died
ten days later, he was deposed from both offices by
the patriarch Simeon, and reduced to the rank of
a simple monk. His "Chronicle", composed very
hkely before his tleposition, is a work of no mean
value, extending from Adam to the end of the Arabic
conquest. In many respects it does not materially
differ from the Byzantine chronicles, which the author
often copies, especially those of John Malalas, and
the monk John of Antioch. But it has preserved
some local traditions, not to be found elsewhere, on
the ancient history of Egypt, also some details other-
wise unknown, and apparently authentic, on certain
periods of the Eastern Empire, in particular on the
revolution which brought about the fall of Phocas
and the accession of Heraclius I, and the condition of
Egypt during the seventh century. The last chapters
contain a relation of the conquest of Egypt by the
Arabs, but little posterior to the events.
This chronicle was originally written in Greek, with the exception of some of the chapters concerning Egypt, which were very probably written in Coptic. It has come down to us in an Ethiopic version made in 1602 by an Abyssinian scholar, with the assistance of an Egyptian monk, on a much older Arabic text now lost like the original. The text, unfortunately, has suffered much at the hands of the translators and copyists, especially in passing into Arabic. Such as it is, it has been the subject of a careful study and analysis by H. Zotenberg, in the " Journal Asiatique ", 7th series, vols. X, XII, XIII (Paris, 1877-79), "La Chronique de Jean de Nikiou, notice et ex- traits" (also in book form, Paris, 1S79); later it was published in its entirety, with a French version, by the same scholar; "La Chronique de Jean de Ni- kioii " (Paris, 1S.S3), in " Notices et Extraits des manu- scrits de la Bibliotheque Nationale", t. XXIV, I, pp. 125-605 (also separately, Paris, 1883).
The two above-named publications of Zotenberg; cf. the reviews of Noldeke, Gidtinger gelehrte Ameigen {Gottingen. 1881), 587-594; (Gottinffen, 1883), 1364-1374; Drouin, Le Muscon, III (Louvain, 1884), 235-268.
H. Hyvernat.
John of Paris (called also Qdidort and de So.4R- Dis), theologian and controversialist; b. at Paris, date unknown; d. at Bordeaux, 22 Sept., 1306. Having oljtained the degree of Master of Arts with distinction, he joined the Dominican Order, when about twenty years of age, at the convent of St. James in his native city. There he taught philosophy and theology, and olitained the degree of Master of Theology. He was endowed with great ability, was the niost subtle dia- lectician of the age, po.s.sessed great literary and lin- guistic attainments, and was considered one of the best theologians of the university. Some ten of his works on theology, physics, and metaphysics, still exist in manuscript; two others, " De Antichristo " and "De modo existendi corporis Christi in Sacra- mento altaris", appeared in print centuries after his death. A treatise, "Contra corruptorem Sancti Thoma; ", published in 1516 under the name of ^Egidius Romanus, is commonly attributed to John of Paris; it was certainly not written by iEgidius. All these show vast erudition. In his work on the temporal and spiritual power, "De potestate regia et papali", written during the controversy between Boniface VIII
and Philip the Fair, he favours the king, and advances
some untenable propositions. He holds, for instance,
that the pope, for grave crimes, e. g. heresy, may be
deposed. The treatise on the Blessed Sacrament, in
which he maintained that the Body of Christ is, or
might be, present by assumption (i. e. by the body of
Christ assuming the bread and wine), and that the
doctrine of transubstantiation was not of faith,
brought him into trouble. The faculty of the univer-
sity reported the error to William of Baufet, Bishop of
Paris, who forbade him under penalty of excommuni-
cation to defend such a doctrine, and deprived him of
the offices of lecturing, preaching, and hearing con-
fessions. John appealed to the Holy See, but died
soon after, and the case was dropped. In justice to
him, it must be said that he advanced these propo-
sitions tentatively; for in the beginning of the treatise
he writes that he believes in the Catholic doctrine of
transubstantiation, and if it is shown that transub-
stantiation is of faith, or should it be defined, he will
willingly retract.
QUETIF AND EcHARD, Scriplores Ord. Praed.. I (Paris, 1719). 500; Natalis Alexander, Hist. Eccl., VII (Paris, 1714), 149; HuRTER, Nomenclator, II (3rd ed.), 477-9.
Victor F. O'Daniel.
John of Panna, Blessed, Minister General of the Friars Minor (1247-1257), b. at Parma about 1209; d. at Camerino 19 Mar., 1289. His family name was probably Buralli. Educated liy an uncle, chaplain of the church of St. Lazarus at I'arma, his progress in learning was such that he quickly became a teacher of pliilosophy (magister logicw). When and where he entered the Order of Friars Rlinor, the old sources do not say. Affo (Vita, p. 18, see below) assigns 1233 as the year, and Parma as the probable place. Ordained priest he tauglit theology at Bologna and at Naples, and finally rea<l the "Sentences " at Paris, after having assisted at the First Council of Lyons, 1245. Through his great learning and sanctity, John gained many ad- mirers, and at the general chapter of the order at Lyons in July, 1247, was elected minister general, which office he held till 2 Feb., 1257. We may judge of the spirit that animated the new general, and of his purposes for the full observance of the rule, from the joy felt (as recorded by Angelus Clarenus) by the sur- vivors of St. Francis's first companions at his election, though Brother Giles's words sound somewhat pessi- mistic: "Welcome, Father, but you come late" (Ar- eliiv. Litt., II, 263). John set to work immediately. Wishing to know personally the state of the order, he began visiting the different provinces. His first visit was to England, with which he was extremely satis- fied, and where he was received by Henry III (Anal. Franc, I, 252). At Sens in France St. Louis IX hon- oured with his presence the provincial chapter held by Jolm. Having visited the pro\'inces of Burgundy and of Provence, he set out in Sept., 1248, for Spain, whence Innocent IV recalled him to entrust him with an embassy to the East. Before departing, John ap- pears to have held the General Chapter of Metz in 1249 (others put it after the embassy, 1251). It was at this cliapter that John refused to draw up new statutes to avoid overburdening the friars (Salimbene, "Mon. Germ. Hist. Script.", XXXII, 300). Only some new rubrics were promulgated, which in a later chapter (Genoa, 1254) were included in the official ceremonial of the order, beginning: Ad omnes lioras canonicas (last published by Golubovich in ".\rchi- vum Franc. Hist.", Ill, Quaracchi, 1910). The ob- ject of John's embassy to the East was the reunion of the Greek Church, whose representatives he met at Nice, and who saluted him as "angel of peace". John's mission bore no immediate fruit, though it may have prepared the way for the union decreed at the Council of Lyons in 1274.
In his generalate occurred also the famous dispute between the Mendicants and the University of Paris.
