Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/271

* JOHN. 245 JOHN. Meanwhile war had broken out with France also, and as the Black Prince was ill, John took com- mand of the army, but was singularly unsuccess- ful, and the English lost nearly all of their conquests in France. The domestic affairs of England were also approaching a crisis, for Par- liament objected to the corrupt practices of Lord Latimer and Eichard Lyons, whom .John protected, and to the influence of King Edward's mistress, Alice Perrers. In 1370 the so-called '(jood Parliament' banished her, but when the Black Prince died it was dissolved, and .John of Gaunt returned to power. He became involved, on account of his hostility to Bishop Wykeham, in a long contest with the clergv', in which he became allied with Wiclif (q.v. ). His second wife died in 1394, and in 1396 he married his mistress, Catharine Sw^^-nford, whose children, the Beauforts, were declared legitimate bv Parlia- ment in 1397. He died February 3. 1399, at Ely House in Holborn. He was the foremost patron of art and literature of his day, among his pro- teges being the poet Chaucer, whose material fortunes were dependent upon the Duke's career. His son, surnamed Bolingbroke, became in 1399 King of England under the title of Henry IV. (q.v,). Consult: Longman. Life and Times of Edward Iir. (London, 1869): Stubbs, Constitu- tional History of England, vol. ii. (Oxford, 1896) ; Trevelyan. Englayid in the Age of Wi/cliffe (2d ed., London, 1899). JOHN OF Leydex, properly J.j.' Beukels- zoox, BocKELSOx. or Bockold" (c. 1510-36). An Anabaptist fanatic. He was born in Leyden about 1510. For a time he wandered about as a journe>-man tailor, and then settled in his native city. Adopting the opinions of the Anabaptists (q.v.). he became one of their wan- dering prophets. In 1533 he went to Milnster with Jan Matthys (Matthiesen), and when the latter lost his life in 1534 became his successor. He set aside the ancient constitution of the city, set up in Milnster 'the kingdom of Zion,' ajj- pointed judges, and applied in an extravagant manner the principles of the Old Testament theoc- racy. He himself became 'King of Zion.' He in- troduced polygamy, and displayed a great love of kingly pomp. The city was the scene of horrid excesses. In June, 1.535. it was taken by the Bishop of Miinster. .John and his chief accom- plices suffered death under circumstances of fear- ful cruelty (.January 23, 1536), and his body was suspended in a cage from a church tower. He attempted to save his life by confession and submission. JOHN OF LrxEMBtRG (1296-1346). King Of Bohemia. His father, the German Em- peror Henry VII. (Count of Luxemburg), se- cured for him the hand of Elizabeth, daughter of Wenceslas of Bohemia, and in 1310 he was chosen King of that country. After his father's death, which occurred three years later, he hoped to be elected Emperor, but finding that his youth was regarded as an insuperable obstacle, he threw all his influence on the side of Louis the Bavarian and against the Haps- burg candidate. Through the favor of the new Emperor he was able to add considerablv to his kingdom, and so laid the foundations "of that great German-Slavic dominion over which his son. Emperor Charles TV., was to rule. His reign began auspiciously, but was soon disturbed by internal discord, which had its origin in the race hatred of the Germans and the Czechs; and as John, not a great ruler in any case, spent much of his time away from Bohemia waging wars in the interest of Louis, of his native Luxemburg, and of the Teutonic knights, or squandering his kingdom's revenues at the gay Court of France, affairs at home, left to the management of deputies, went from bad to worse. So great!}- did the feeling of his subjects toward him change during these years that when, in 1339, he became totally blind, the same Bohe- mians who had welcomed his accession with extravagant demonstrations of joy now felt he was justly punished by God. Other misfortunes overtook him also. ' His second son. John Frederick, who had married Margaret, famous as ilargaret Maultasch. Countess of Tyrol, was discarded by his wife, who thereupon married the Emperor's son. This and John's glowing in- timacy with the King of France, whose Papal protege at Avignon had always opposed Louis's claims, led to a rupture between him and the Emi^eror. In 1346 he accompanied Philip VI. of France in his disastrous campaign against the English, and at the battle of Crecy, guided by a knight on either side, forced his way into the thick of the fight, and there was killed. It was at this battle that Edward the Black Prince won his spurs, and afterwards he adopted the Bohemian King's insignia, three ostrich plumes, and the motto 'Ich dien,' which ever since have been borne by the princes of Wales, JOHN OF Xepoiii-k, or PoiruK (?-1393). A popular Bohemian saint of the Catholic Church. The history of his life is very uncertain. He is said to have been born at Xepomuk between 1330 and 1340. Having entered into orders, he rose rapidly to distinction, being created a canon of the Cathedral of Prague, and eventu- ally a vicar-general of the diocese. The Queen of Wenceslas TV. having selected him for her confessor. Wenceslas, himself a man of dissolute life, conceiving suspicions of her virtue, required of .John to reveal to him what he knew of her life from the confessions which she had made to him. .John steadfastly refused, and the King resolved to be revenged for the refusal. An opportunity occurred soon afterwards, and Wen- ceslas, having first put .John to the torture, at which he himself personally presided, had him tied hand and foot and flung, already half dead from the rack, into the iloldau, March, 1393, His memory was cherished with peculiar affec- tion in his native country, and he was eventu- ally canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, his feast ■ being fixed for May 10th, By some historians two distinct personages of the same name are mentioned — one the martyr of the confessional zeal, the other of his resist- ance to the simoniacal tvranny of Wenceslas : but the two are probably identical. Consult his life by Wratislaw (London. 1873), and by Frind (Prague. 1879). and Amrhein's examination into the date of his death (Wiirzburg. 1884). JOHN of S.M.TSBrRT (c.1120-80). An Eng- lish scholar and churchman, for thirty years the central figure of English learning. He was born between 1115 and 1120 at or near Old Sarum, In 1136 he went to France, attended the lectures of Ab^lard and other famous mas- ters, and remained there for several years, study- ing logic, granmiar, the classics, and theologv.