JOHN. 



council declared them to be fully proved, and then unani- 

 moudy paiTcd a fenteiice of fufpenfion againft the pope. 

 This fentence was coinmunicated to him by a deputation 

 from the counci'. After this, wz. on'the 29th of May 

 141 J, the council proceeded a ftep farther, and unanimoufly 

 palled the definitive fe;itence of John's dcpofition, and or- 

 dered his feals to be broken. He was then committed to 

 the care of Lewis, duke of Bav,ari;i, and count palatine of 

 the Rhine, who kept him prifoner, but treated him with 

 civility and i-efpe£l. At the expiration of about four years 

 he obtained his liberty, and made f.ich concefTions to the ex- 

 ifting pope Martin V. that he created him cardinal bilhop of 

 Tufculum, and dean of the facred college : he alfo ordained 

 that he Hioiild always lit next to the pope, and that his feat 

 fhould be elevated a little above thofc of the other cardinals. 

 He did not live many months to enjoy thefe honours. His 

 charaftcr has already been defcribed ; he was unqucftionably 

 vicious and dcftitute of good principles, and merited thnt 

 fall which he experienced. He was author of a poem " De 

 Varietate Fortunx," which is faid to be diftinguifhed by 

 genius and taile. His bull for alTembling the council of 

 Conllance ; the form of his refignation, and fome of his 

 letters, are ftiTl extant. ■ For farth-'r particulars relating to 

 the popes John, the reader is referred to Bower's Hiflory. 



John- of Bayeux, known alfa by the name of John of 

 Avranches, an illurtrious Galiican prelate in the eleventh 

 century, the firlt of all the bifhops of Avranches, and af- 

 terwards promoted to the archiepifcopal fee of Rouen. He 

 held a provincial council in the year 1074, at which feveral 

 ftatutes were palTed for the regulation of ecclefiaftical dif- 

 cipline, which provoked the refentment of the lax and diffi- 

 pated clergy, who obliged him to feek for fafety in flight. 

 Other perfectitions obhged him to refign his preferment, and 

 retire to his country houfe : here he was attacked by the 

 monks of the abbey of St. Owen, who killed him on the 

 fpot. He was author of a work " On the Duties of Ec- 

 clcfiaftics," which was firfl puhlidied with notes, by John 

 le Prevor, canon of Rouen. Morori. 



John D.-Smascevi-s, or St. John of Damafcus, who lived 

 in the eighth century, is celebrated by the writers of his 

 life, and by ecclefiaftical hiftorian?, as the compiler and re- 

 forn:er of chants is the Greek church, in the fame manner 

 as St. Gregory in the Roman. And Leo Allatius, under the 

 title of OUoechusy telis u= they were compofcd by John Da- 

 mafcenus. Zarlino goes flill farther, and informs us that in 

 the firll ages of Chr;lHanity the ancient Greek notation by 

 letters having been thrown aiide, John Damafcenus invested 

 new charafters, which he accommodated to the Greek eccle- 

 fiaftical tones ; and that thtfe charafiers did not, like our's, 

 merely e.\prels fingle founds, but all the intervals ufed in 

 melody : ,33 a femitone, tenc, third minor, third major, &c. 

 afcendingand defcending with their different duration. 



This refembles, in many particulars, the notation in ancient 

 Romifh milTals, before the time-table and charaders m pre- 

 fent ufe were invented, or even the Gregorian uotss generally 

 received. 



Joii\ DE M'jRis. See MuRis. 



Jon.^J of Saiybury, a learned Englifhman of the 12th cen- 

 tury, was elected bifhop of Chartrcs in France in the year 

 1177, an oince which he held about four years when he 

 died. He wrote the life of Thomas a Becket and feveral 

 other works. This learned prelate feems to have been much 

 offended and fcandalized at the licentioufuefs of the lingers 

 in performing the facred rites. Wo fhoukl fuppofe, by his 

 cenfures, that the clioYal band vi-as outrageouHy addided to 

 flourifliing, aid. that many of thera fung in faliit. What 



the cxmplaints of the good biiltop of Chartres were, the 

 following pafTage from his PoHcraticus will fhew. 



" Mulica cultum rcligionis inceftat, quod ante confpettum 

 Domini, in iplspenetraiibus fanftuarii,lafciYientis vocisluxu, 

 quadam oftentatione fui, muhebribus modis nofularum arti- 

 culorumque cifuris, ilupentes animulas emolhre nituntur. 

 Cum praecinentium, et fuccinentium, canentium, et decinen- 

 tium, interciiientivm, et occinentium, praemoUes modula- 

 tiones audieris, Sirenarum concentus crcUas eile, non homi- 

 num, et de vocum facilitate miraberis, quibus philomela vel 

 pfittacus, aut fi quid fonorius eft, modos fuos requeunt cos- 

 quare. Ea fiquidem ell afcendendi defcendendique facilitas ; 

 ea feftio vel geminatio notularum, ea replicatio articulorum, 

 fingulorumque confolidatio ; fic acuta vel acutifTima, gravi- 

 bus et fubgravibus temperantur, ut auribiis fui indicii fere 

 fubtrahatur autoritas." Policraticus, live de Nugis Curia- 

 lium, lib. i. c. 6. 



" The rites of religion," fays he, «* are now profaned by 

 mulic : and it feems as if no other ufe were made of it than 

 to corrupt the mind by wanton modulations, effeminate in- 

 flexions, and frittered notes and periods, even in the Pent' 

 tralia, or awful fanfluary itfelf. The llupid crowd, de- 

 lighted with all thefe vagaries, imagine they hear a concert 

 of iirens, in which the performers llrive to imitate the note* 

 of nightingales and parrots, not thofe of men ; fometimes 

 defcending to the bottom of the fcale, fometimes mounting 

 to the fummit ; now foftening and now enforcing the tones, 

 repeating paffages, mixing in fuch a manner the grave 

 founds with the more grave, and the acute with the mofl 

 acute, that the aftonilhed and bewildered ear is unable to dif- 

 tinguifh one voice from another." 



JoiiN of Ragifa,a. learned Cathohc prelate, who flourilhed 

 in the fifteenth century, was born in the city whence he de- 

 rived his furname. While young he entered himlelf among 

 the preaching friars, and applied with fuch diligence to 

 his ftudies, that he became one of the moll learned mea 

 of his time. He was particularly celebrated for liis deep 

 acquaintance with the Oriental languages. In 1426 he was 

 appointed attorney-general of his order at tfie court of Rome, 

 and was nominated by pope Martin V. one of his divines at 

 the council of Bafil. At this afiembly he was the principal 

 difputant againft the doftrines promulgated by John Hnfs» 

 After this he was fent on different legations to Conllantiuo- 

 ple, with a defign of bringing about an union between the- 

 eaflern and wellern churches, but his exertions were not at- 

 tended with fuccefs. On his return to Italy he was nomi- 

 nated to the fee of Argos in the Peloponntfiis. It has been 

 afferted by fome authors that he was ni;ide a cardinal. His 

 works are "A Difcourfe agaiiifl the Huffites :" Adtsof hi» 

 Legation to Condantincple :" and "-An Account of his 

 Travels in the Eall. " Moreri, 



JiHX, Pnfler. See Pre.ster. 



St. John's Bread, in Bstany. See Cebatoni.I. 



Jokn's S-zueet. See Pink. 



St. John's Wort. See Hyi'ekiclm. 



St. John's Wort, Hypericum perforatum, in the Materia 

 Medico, a fpecies of hypericum vhich gro-.- s, commonly to 

 the height of a foot and a half, in woods and uncultivated 

 grounds, and flowers in July. This plant has a bitterifh, 

 fub-aflringent talle, and a fweetifh ftnell. Amon;; the an- 

 cients it was in great repute ; and they prefcribed it m hyf- 

 teria, hypochondriafis, and mania : they alfo imagined that 

 it had the peculiar power of curing demoniacs, and it thence 

 obtained the name of " fuga dsmonum.'' It was alfo re- 

 commended intern<dly for wound--, bruifes, ulcers, hxniop- 

 tyf.s, miftus cruentus, gravel, dyfentery, agues, worms; 

 and outwardly as an anodyne, and as a difcutivnt and de- 

 5 tergcnt. 



