Pope St. John I
Little is known of John's life before he took office as pope, except that he was born in Tuscany and that his father was Constantius. He was elected a week after the death of his predecessor Hormisdas.
Thanks to the recent reunification of the Eastern and Western Churches under Hormisdas, relations were very good with the Byzantine empire, but for the same reason they were strained with Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths. The Byzantine emperor Justin persecuted heretics with enthusiasm, and he issued an edict against Arianism in 523. Theodoric, an Arian, distrusted the papacy's affinity to Justin, and he pressured John to go to Constantinople and convince the emperor to withdraw the edict.
John did indeed go to Constantinople and was well-received, but the edict was not withdrawn. Upon his return to Italy, Theodoric had John arrested and imprisoned in Ravenna. Worn out by his journey and probably starved, John died in prison soon after.
John is honored as a martyr. His successor is Felix IV.
Important Dates
Elected pope: Aug. 13, 523
Died: May 18, 526
On the Web
Pope John I
Concise and heavily-hyperlinked biography at Wikipedia.Pope St. John I
Substantive biography by Léon Clungnet at the Catholic Encyclopedia.
In Print
The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the book's page at one of the online merchants.
Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II
by Richard P. McBrienChronicle of the Popes: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Papacy over 2000 Years
by P. G. Maxwell-Stuart
Related Resources
The Papacy
Index of sites regarding the Popes and the political entity of the Papal States, their impact on medieval culture, and the schisms they endured and overcame.Early Europe
Directory of sites that offer useful resources for the study of Europe in Late Antiquty, or shortly after the fall of Rome.
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