Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/550

 JOHN

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JOHN

He is influenced by Otto of Freising, and condemns in his chronicle the anti-Roman policy of Emperor Louis tlie Bavarian (1314-47).

Mahhenholtz, Ueber Johami von Viclring als Historiker in Forschungcn zur dcutschcn Geschichte, Xlll (Berlin, 1S73). 535 sqq.; FouRNlER, AbtJokann von Viktrinn (Berlin, 1874); Idem in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographies XIV (Munich, ISSi), 476 sqq.

Patricius Schlager.

John of Winterthur (Johannes Vitoddranus), historian, b. about 1300 at Wintertliur (Switzerland); d. subsequently to 1348, probably at Zurich. All that is known of his life is that he attended the school of his native town from 1309 to 1315, and that as a Francis- can he lived at Basle in 132S, at Villingen in 1336, and at Lindau from 1343 onwards. His chronicle (Chroni- con a Friderico II Imperatore ad annum 1348) was at first published by Eccard, "Corpus hist, medii aevi ", I (1723) ; a better edition was provided by Fusslin, "The- saurus historia; Helveticfe " (1735), but the best edition was given by Wyss in "Archiv fiir schweizerische Geschichte", XI (1856). It was translated into Ger- man by Freuler (" Johanns von Winterthur Chronik ", 1866). It was begun in 1340, and is a full history of events to that year. His record of the following years consists of notes or annals; whether he revised it later, remains to this day a matter of uncertainty. It is at any rate a fruitful source of information on the first half of the fourteenth century, and gives us in particu- lar a clear idea of the conflicts which arose between the cities and the nobles of Upper Swabia. At the same time it affords us a general view of events in the empire, especially of Louis the Bavarian's conduct toward the papacy, and of the attitude assumed in these controversies by the Franciscan Order, which he championed with great ardour. He was a man of cul- ture, well-versed in spiritual and in secular literature, but he not infrequently showed great credulity, and took delight in reporting at length the observations of others, which fact has made his work of great value to the history of civilization.

LoRENZ, Deutschlanda Geschichtsquellen, I (Berlin, 1886), 67-74; Meyer von Knonau in Anzeifjer f ur Schweizer Geschichte, II (Zurich, 1S70). 185; Idem in Historischer Zeitschrifl, XXIX (Munich, 1800), 241.

Patricius Schlager.

John Parvus, called in his day, Jehan Petit or Le Petit, a French theologian and professor in the Uni- versity of Paris; b.most likely at Brachy, Caux, in Nor- mandy, and certainly in the Diocese of Rouen, about 1360; d. 15 July, 1411. Some historians (Duboulay, Wadding) say he was a Friar Minor, others that he was a Dominican ; as a matter of fact, he never was a mem- ber of any religious order. He owed his education to the generosity of the Duke of Burgundy, who granted him a pension. In the first extant document that re- cords his name, he is called master of arts (16 August, 1 385). Two years later his name occurs in the list sent by the University of Paris (31 July, 1387) to Pope Clement VII, recommending its masters for vacant benefices.

The Church at that time was torn by the great West- ern Schism. France sided with Clement VII, but every one was anxious for reunion. John Parvus gave expression to this desire in his "Complainte de I'Eglise ", a poem, which has been recently discovered in the National Library at Paris. This poem of 322 verses was composed in 1 394. He had already written four others, the "Disputation des pastourelles " (1388), wherein he defends the Immaculate Concep- tion of the Blessed Virgin; the "Livre du champ d'or " ; the ' ' Livre du miracle de Basqueville " (1 389) ; and the "Vie de Monsieur saint Leonard ", about the same time. The last three works have recently been published. They do not display much literary talent, but their sentiment is dignified and delicate; they offer an unflattering picture of the society of the day,

and they form a usefid contribution to the study of contemporary manners. He became a licentiate in theology in May, 1400, and received the degree of Doc- tor before 1403, since he is mentioned in that year on the roll of the university as an active member of the theological fac\dty of Paris. In April, 1407, he formed part of the imposing embassy sent by Charles VI to urge Benedict XIII and Gregory XII to abdicate and thus reunite Christendom. This embassy had just returned to Paris, after a fruitless journey, when an event took place that gave John Parvus a great notoriety in history.

On 23 November, 1407, the Duke of Orleans, brother of King Charles VI, was murdered by assas- sins in the pay of John the Fearless, Duke of Bur- gundy. Tlie Duke of Orleans was unpopular with the people and was held responsible for the disorders and the taxations under which the kingdom groaned, during the madness of the king, his brother. The University of Paris was bitterly opposed to him for having renewed obedience to Benedict XIII. The Duke of Burgundy, on the contrary, was very popular; he was regarded as a friend of the commoners and an opponent of taxation and abuses, while the university was grateful to him for his lack of sympathy with the Avignon pope. Being excluded from the royal coun- cil after the assassination, he withilrew to his estates in Flanders, raised an army, and called around him sev- eral of the university professors, including John Par- vus, who for three years had been attached to his suite and was receiving a pension from him. Reas- sured, doubtless, by the talents of his defender, he declared that he would go to Paris and justify himself. In vain the royal council forbade him to enter the cap- ital; he came, and was received with acclamations by the populace. He demanded an audience with the king. It was granted him on 8 March, 1408, in the Hotel de St-Paul, where the court habitually re- sided.

There, in presence of the Dauphin, of the Duke of Anjou, King of Sicily, of Cardinal de Bar, of the Dukes of Berry, Brittany, Bar, and Lorraine, of the rector of the University of Paris, and of many counts, barons, knights, and citizens, John Parvus delivered on behalf of his cUent a pedantic address, bristling with proposi- tions, syllogisms, Scriptural texts, and examples from Holy Writ. His argument may be expressed in the following syllogism: Whosoever is guilty of high treason and becomes a tyrant, deserves to be punished with death, all the more so when he is a near relative of the king; and in that case the natural, moral, and Divine laws allow any subject whatever, without any command or public authorization, to kill him or to have him killed, openly, or by stealth; and the more closely the author of the slaying is related to the king, the more meritorious the act. Now, the Duke of Orleans — so ran the minor proposition — a slave to the passion of greed, the source of all evil, was guilty of high treason, and was a tyrant; which was proved by holding liini guilty of all the pretended crimes which popular imagination and the partisans of the Duke of Burgundy laid to his charge. The conclusion was therefore that the Duke of Burgundy not only should not be punished or blamed for what had been done to the Duke of Orl6ans, but rather should be rewarded. This thesis seemed preposterous to the more rational members of the assembly; but the Duke of Burgundy was present with his troops, ready to suppress any attempt at reply, and further he was in the good graces of the university; so he had no difficulty in obtaining letters of pardon from the king. As for John Parvus, who in his address was not ashamed to admit that he was receiving, and expected still to re- ceive, a pension from the Duke of Burgundy, he found it more prudent to withdraw from Paris and retire to the estate of the Duke of Burgundy at He.sdin, Artois, where he died in a house of his protector, regretting, it