JOHN
491
JOHN
day of triumph. The celebration of the Decolla-
tion of John the Baptist, on 211 August, enjoys almost
the same antiquity. We find also in the oldest
martyrologies mention of a feast of the Conception
of the Precursor on 24 September. But the most
solemn celebration in honour of tliis saint was always
that of his Nativity, preceded until recently by a
fast. Many places adopted the custom introduced by
St. Sabas of having a double Office on this day, as
on the day of the Nati\-ity of the Lord. The first
Office, intended to signify the time of the Law and
the Prophets which lasted up to St. John (Luke, xvi,
16), began at sunset, and was chanted without Alleluia;
the second, meant to celebrate the opening of the
time of grace, and gladdened by the singing of
Alleluia, was held during the night. The resem-
blance of the feast of St. John with that of Clu'istmas
was carried farther, for another feature of the 24th
of June was the celebration of three masses: the
first, in the dead of night, recalled his mission of
Precursor; the second, at daybreak, commemorated
the baptism he conferred; and the tliird, at the hour
of Terce, honoured his sanctity. The whole hturgy
of the day, repeatedly enriched by the additions of
several popes, was in suggestiveness and beauty on
a par with the liturgy of Christmas. So sacred
was St. John's day deemed that two rival armies,
meeting face to face on 2.3 June, by common
accord put off the battle until the morrow of the
feast (Battle of Fontenay, 841). "Joy, which is the
characteristic of the day, radiated from the sacred
precincts. The lovely summer nights, at St. John's
tide, gave free scope to popular display of lively
faith among various nationalities. Scarce had the
last rays of the setting sun died away when, all the
world over, immense columns of flame arose from
every mountain-top, and in an instant, every town,
and village, and hamlet was lighted up" (Gu^ranger).
The custom of the "St. John's fires", whatever its
origin, has, in certain regions, endmed unto this day.
Besides theGospels and the Commentaries thereon, Josephus
and the many Lives of Christ, Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., I, xi; Acta
SS., June, IV (Paris, 1867), 6S7-806; Tillemont. Mcmoires
pour servir a I'histoire eccles., I (Brussels, 1732), 36-47; notes,
pp. 210-222; Hottinger. Historia Orientalis (Zurich, 1660),
144-149; Paciandi, De cultu J. Baptistw in Antig. Christ., Ill
(Rome, 1755); Leopold. ^oAannes der Taufer (Lubeck, 1838);
Chiaramonte, Vita di San Giovanni Battista (Turin, 1892);
Yestivel, SanJvan Bautista (Madrid, 1909).
Chaeles L. Souvay.
John the Deacon (Johannes Diaconus). — Among the writers of the Jliildle Ages who bear this name, four historians deserve particular mention on account of the importance of their work. In chronological or- der they are as follows: — -
(1) John, deacon of Rome, date of birth unknown; (1. before SS2. Johannes, surnamed Hymonides, was towards the middle of the ninth century a monk of Monte Cassino, and later a deacon of the Roman Church. Possessed of no inconsiderable learning, he was closely associated with the learned Anastasius, Librarian of the Roman Church (d. 879), and at the instance of John VIII (S72-S2) wrote a life of St. Gregory the Great, making use of the works of this pope and of extracts made at an earlier date from the pope's letters in the archives of the Roman Church. The work is divided into four books: in the first he gives an account of the life of Gregory up to the time of his pontificate; in the second, of his activities as pope; in the third, of his teachings; and in the fourth, of his progress in perfection. The life is edited by Mabillon ("Acta SS. ord. S. Benedicti", I, .39.S-496; "Acta SS.", March, II, 1.37-211; P. L., LXXV, 50 sqq.). He intended to write also a detailed history of the Church, and at his request the aforesaid Ana.s- tasius compiled a history in three parts (tripartita) from Greek sources for the use of John, whose pur- pose, however, was never executed. On the invitation
of Bishop Gaudericus of Yelletri (867-79). he under-
took to re-edit the " Gesta dementis ", a life of Clem-
ent I (d. about end of first century), but did not live
to finish the work, which Gaudericus undertook to
complete, though it never appeared in full. It is said
that in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris there is
yet in manuscript a short commentary on the Hepta-
teuch based on patristic sources and written by this
John. A letter from a certain Johannes Diaconus to
Senarius, "vir illustris", treats of the ceremonies of
baptism; it is not however, the work of the John
treated here, but of an older deacon of this name (ed.
P. L., LIX, 399-408).
HuRTER. Xomrnclulor, I (3rd ed., Innsbruck, 1903), 858; Wattenbach, Dcul.^fhlaTuls Geschichtsquellen im Mitlelalter. I (7th ed., Berlin, 1904). 338: JIabillo.v. Museum Itaticum, I, II, 78 sq.; Florilegium Bibliothecas Casinicnsis, IV, 373-90; Fried- RtCH in Sitzungsberichte der Miinchener Akadcmie der Wiss. (1S92), 393-442: Potthast, Bibl. histor. medii eevi, II, 1349.
(2) John, deacon of Naples, d. after 910. This dea- con, or head of a diacortia at the church of St. Janu- arius of Naples, flourished towards the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century, and from his writings appears to ha^-e been a very learned and accomplished cleric. We owe to him several his- torical works, which are among the most important sources of information for the history of his time. He first wrote a continuation of the diocesan history of Naples (Gesta episcoporum Ncapolitanorum), begun by another cleric, but which he brings down from 762 to 872. He makes use of both written and oral tra- dition, and contributes from personal knowledge. The narrative is graphic and spirited, and impresses the reader as a frank and accurate story (ed. Waitz in "Mon. Cierm. Hist.: Script. Langobardorum", 398 sqq.; ed. Capasso, "Monumenta ad Neapolitani du- catus historiam pertinentia ", I, Naples, 1881, pp. 307 sqq.). He also wrote a history of the trans- lation in the fifth century of the remains of St. Sev- erinus, the Apostle of Noricum, from the Castellum Lucullanum near Naples to a new monastery within the city. This work contains the important account of the destruction of Taormina in Sicily by the Sara- cens under Ibrahim, and of the martyrdom of Bishop Procopius (ed. "Acta SS.", January, I, 1098 sqq.; ed. Waitz in "Mon. Germ. Hist.", loc.cit., 452-9). Whenin 910 the relics of St. Sos.sius, a companion of St. Janu- arius, were transferred from the ruined Messina to the same monastery at Naples, John wrote a history of St. Januarius and his companions, in which as an eyewitness he describes the aforesaid transfer (Acta SS., Sept., VI, 874 sqq.; the text of the "Translatio" alone is found in Waitz, loe. cit., 4.59-63). A biog- raphy of St. Nicholas of Mira (ed. Cardinal Mai in "Spicilegium Romanum ", IV, 323 sqq.) is not by this John Init liy another author of the same name.
HuRTER, .\'oitiiri'laiar, I (3rd ed.). 889 sqq.: Wattenbach. Geschirhtaqu.llin. I i7lh ed.), 341; Ebert. Allgtm. Gesch. der LiteratuT ,Ux M itlrhdiers im Abendland, III (1887). 206-9; Potthast, Bibl. Hist., I, 666.
(3) John, deacon of Venice, d. after 1008. The oldest chronicle of Venice, formerly known as the "Chronicon Sagornini", was compiled by a deacon John, the chaplain and perhaps a relative of Doge Peter II LTrseolus (991-1009). John enjoyed the con- fidence of this great doge, and was often sent as his ambassador to Emperors Otto III and Henry II. In the first part of his chronicle, which deals with the early period of the republic, the narrative is often con- fused and deficient; later it becomes more accurate and complete, and for the time in which the writer himself lived it is particvilarly valuable. He carries the narrative to 1008 and treats in detail of the reign of Doge Peter LTrseolus [ed. Pertz, "Mon. Germ. Hist.: SS.", VII, 1-36; ed. Monticolo, "Cronache Veneziane antichissime", I (1890), .59-171, in "Fonti per la storia d'ltalia ", IX]. John has also been credited, but erroneously, with the "Chronicon Gradense",
