JOHN. 246 JOHN. He was sent on imijorlant missions to Popes Eugenius 111. and .Adrian 1'.. liy whom lie was received with great lionor. lien Thomas i Beek- et became Archbishop of Canterbury, he was made his secretary, was with him in his exile in France, returned with liiui to Eng- land, and witnessed his martyrdmu. In llTti he was appointed Bishop of Cliartres. His greatest worlds are: Policiaticus sive de nuyis Curialiiim et Vestigiis Philosophorum , in eight books, a work of great erudition, dealing with government, philosophy, and various learn- ing: and Mclalofiiciis. in four books, a defense of the studies of the scliools against the sneers of the ignorant. His li'/n ct I'lissio f<anctl 'lliomw and his letters, numbering about 300, are of the highest interest. Other works are: Eittheticus, an elegiac poem containing 1852 lines, which deals with the same subject as Poli- craliciis: Vita Snncli Ansehni ; and Hisioria I'onlificalis. He died at Chartres, October 25, 1180. John of .Salisbury is described as a grace- ful Latin poet, an impressive orator, and by far the most learned man of his age. Consult his Opcni. ed. by Giles (5 vols., Oxford, 1848); Rchaarschniidt, Johannes t^lorcsheriritais nach hchoi und Studicn, Schriflen iind Philosopliie (Leipzig, 1362) ; Stubbs, ^eveiileeii Lectures on the Stiidii of Mediwcal and Modern History (Ox- ford. 188(5). JOHN OF Sevij.le. also called .John of Lixa, and .JoiiAXXEs IIisp.li;xsi.s (llispalis, Seville). A .Jewish scholar of the twelfth century. He was engaged by Raimond, Archbishop of Toledo, in the translation of various Arabic works on philosophy and mathematics. He made at least some of his translations in Spanish, and these were put into Latin by Domenico Gondisalvi. Boncompagni published the text of one of his works, Alghourisnii de Practica Arismetrice (Rome, 1857). This is one of t!ie oldest treat- ises eoneerniiig calculations with our numerals and zero. In spite of the title, the original Arabic was probablj' not that of Mohammed ibn JIusa (see Al-kiiuwakizmi) , since it is much more developed than the arithmetical treatise of the latter. JOHN OF Wesel. a German religious re- former who flourished about the middle of the Jiftcenth century. He escaped death at the stake only by recanting, and he then entered a monastery, where he died in 1481. Of his writings there remain only De Potentate Eecle- siaffliea and De [ndulfientiis. Consult: Ullmann, Keformatoren ror der Reformation (2d ed., Ootha, 1866) : and Clemen. Ueher Lehcn nnd flehriften Johatms ron Wesel. in the Deutsche Zeitsehrift fiir Gesehiehtsicisscnschaften, Neue Folge, vol. ii. (Freiburg, 1897). JOHN THE Constant (1468-1532). Elector of Saxony, son of the Elector Ernest. He suc- ceeded his brother. Frederick the ^Vise. in 1525. and soon declared for the Reformation. The next year he entered into the Torgaw XTnion with Philip I. of Hesse, and attended the Diet of Speyer. In 1528 he ordered a general parochial visitation in his dominions and in 152!) protested against a decision of the Diet of Speyer which was unfavorable to the Reformation. During the elosinc years of his life he devn'ted himself to organizing the Schmalkaldic League. JOHN THE Fearless (1371-1419). Duke of Burgundy from 1404 to 1419. He was the son of I'hilip the Bold. At the age of twenty-live he joined the King of Hungary against the Turks, and was made priscmer at the battle of Xicopolis (1396). After nine mcintlis he was ninsomed. He succeeded his father in 1404 as Duke of Burgundy, and on the death of his motlier in 1405 became Count of Flanders, but was op])osed by the French tiueen and the Duke of Orleans, his rival. In 1407 he instigated the assassination of the Duke, and soon ob- tained almost supreme power in France. (See (AnociiiENs.) This was followed by a civil war, in which .John was aided by Henry IV. of Eng- l;ind. In 1416 he formed a secret alliance with Heniy V. of England, invaded France, and cap- tured Paris in 1418, but was murdered on Sep- tember 10, 1419, at the instigation of the Dau- phin, son of Charles VL, on the bridge of .Mon- tereau, where he had gone to meet the Dauphin. JOHN THE Pahhicide (1290-?). The assassin of the German Emperor Albert 1. (of Austria), often known as ,John of Swabia. He was the son of Rudolph, Albert's brother. .John, when he attained his majority, demanded from his uncle the whole or a part of his patrimony, liut w-as met with a curt refusal. After a numl>er of abortive attempts to gain his end. .John, with Walther von Eschenbaeh, Rudolph von Balm, and others, who had cause to complain of -Mbert's rapacitv. formed a conspiracy against the life of the Emperor. While .lbert was cross- ing the Reuss, near the Castle of Hapsburg, on Jlay 1, 1308. he was murdered by the con- spirators. .John disappeared :iiid nolhing definite is known of his later life, though various ac- counts represent him as repenting of his deed and expiating his crime in a cloister. He is one of the characters in Schiller's Wilhelm Tell. JOHN, Epistles of. Three of the canonical Epistles of the New Testament. The First Epistle. The literary form of 1. John is peculiar and some iiave considered it a tract rather than an epistle. Yet it seems clear that the writer has a quite definite circle of readers in mind, whom he addresses in a tone of loving but au- thoritative familiarity: and although without definite address or signature, it is properly desig- nated an Epistle. In an introduction (i. 1-4), which reminds one of the Prologue to the Gospel of .John, the writer states that the Word, who was manifested, with whom he and others had had personal experience, is the Word of life, to know whom is to hijve fellowship with the Father and the Ron. To assist the readers to realize this truth and experience its joy is the purpose of the message that follows. Since God is light, emphasis is laid upon the necessity .and possibility of separation from sin in order to fellowship with the light (i. 5-ii. 0). The result and evidence of fellowship with God is mutual love, the supreme duty of each toward the other (ii. 7-12). while the world with its attractions is to be shunned (ii. 12-17). Tlie readers are then warned against those who deny ,Jesus to be the Christ (ii. 18-29). The full significance of being children of God is then unfolded (iii. 1-17), the realization of which, through faith, is equiva- lent to vital union with the truth (iii. 18-24). Once more (iv. 1-0) the false views, the spirit of .Antichrist, are mentioned. One must oppose these, holding fast to the manifestation of love
