John, Sir Elton (Hercules) orig. Reginald Kenneth Dwight (b.
March 25, 1947, Pinner, Middlesex, Eng.) British rock singer, pianist, and songwriter. He played piano by ear as a child, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at age 11. In the late 1960s he began a suc¬ cessful partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin (b. 1950) that would pro¬ duce hit albums such as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) and songs such as “Rocket Man,” “Bennie and the Jets,” and “Philadelphia Free¬ dom.” The two returned with more hits in the early 1980s, including “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues.” In 1997 John performed a new version of “Candle in the Wind” (1973) at the funeral of his friend Diana, princess of Wales; his recording immediately became the best¬ selling single of all time.
John, Saint See Saint John the Apostle
John Birch Society Organization founded in 1958 by Robert H. Welch, Jr. (1899-1985), a retired American candymaker, to combat com¬ munism and promote ultraconservative causes. It was named for an American missionary and army intelligence officer killed by Chinese Communists in 1945, considered by the society the first hero of the Cold War. Its membership reached more than 70,000 in the 1960s. Its many publications warned of communist infiltration of the U.S. government and called for the impeachment of officials such as Earl Warren. The New American is the organization’s biweekly magazine.
John Damascene, Saint See Saint John of Damascus
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument National monument, north-central Oregon, U.S. With an area of 14,014 acres (5,676 hectares), it is located along the John Day River (named after a Virginian scout of the 1811 Astor overland expedition). Fossils more than 30 million years old provide a paleontological record of five epochs of the Cenozoic Era.
John de Balliol See John (Scotland)
John Lackland See John (England)
John Maurice of Nassau Dutch Johan Maurits van Nassau
(b. June 17, 1604, Dillenburg, Nassau—d. Dec. 20, 1679, Cleves, Bran¬ denburg) Dutch colonial governor and military commander. He fought after 1621 in the campaigns of his cousin Frederick Henry, prince of Orange, against Spain. As colonial governor in Brazil, recently conquered from Por¬ tugal, he secured control of vast areas for the Dutch West India Company in 1636-44, bringing the Dutch empire in Latin America to the peak of its power. He also sponsored the seizure of Angola (1641) and of several key
John III Sobieski, engraving by Carel Allardt.
COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM; PHOTOGRAPH, J.R. FREEMAN & CO. LTD.
John XXIII, 1963
KEYSTONE
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
992 I John of Aviz ► Johns Hopkins University
ports on the western African coast to supply slaves for Brazilian planta¬ tions, and he led a Dutch army in 1665 in the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
John of Aviz See John I (Portugal)
John of Brienne \bre-'en\ (b. c. 1170—d. March 1237, Constantino¬ ple) Count of Brienne (in northeastern France) and later titular king of Jerusalem (1210-25) and Latin emperor of Constantinople (1231-37). The penniless younger son of a French count, he married the queen of the Crusader state of Jerusalem, with the support of Phillip II, and after her death became regent for their infant daughter. He arranged a truce with Egypt (1212) and participated in the unsuccessful Fifth Crusade. In 1228 he became regent and coemperor of Constantinople, and he was crowned emperor three years later. He fended off attacks by Ivan Asen II and John III Ducas Vatatzes.
John of Damascus, Saint or Saint John Damascene (b. c. 675, Damascus—d. Dec. 4, 749, near Jerusalem; Western feast day December 4) Monk and theological doctor of the Greek and Latin churches. He spent his entire life under Muslim rule. As a writer of hymns and theology, he had great influence in the Eastern and Western churches, especially through Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the teachings of the Greek Fathers. He also wrote against the Iconoclasts (see iconoclasm).
John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster (b. March 1340, Ghent—d. Feb. 3, 1399, London, Eng.) English prince, the fourth son of Edward III. John’s additional name, “Gaunt” (a corruption of the name of his birth¬ place, Ghent), was not used after he was three years old; it became the popularly accepted form of his name, however, through its use in William Shakespeare’s play Richard II. John served as a commander in the Hun¬ dred Years’ War against France, then returned to become an important influence in his father’s last years as king and in the reign of his nephew Richard II. Through his first wife, John acquired the duchy of Lancaster in 1362, and he was the immediate ancestor of the three 15th-century monarchs of the house of Lancaster: Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI.
John of Paris or Jean de Paris Vzha n -d3-pa-'re\ or John the Deaf or John Quidort \ke-'dor\ (b. c. 1255, Paris, France—d. Sept. 22, 1306, Bordeaux, Gascony) Dominican monk and disciple of St. Thomas Aquinas. A lecturer at the University of Paris, he wrote on the separation of church and state and the limits of papal authority. His controversial view on the nature of the Eucharist was censured, and he was sentenced to perpetual silence; he died before his appeal could be decided.
John of Salisbury \'s6lz-,ber-e\ (b. 1115/20, Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng.—d. Oct. 25, 1180, Chartres, France) English prelate and scholar. A noted Latinist who studied with Peter Abelard and other important theolo¬ gians in Paris, John was a leading figure in the renaissance of the 12th cen¬ tury. He served as secretary to Theobald and St. Thomas Becket, archbishops of Canterbury. He wrote Historiapontificalis (c. 1163) and the Policraticus and the Metalogicon (both 1159) His defense of Becket and of ecclesias¬ tical liberties led Henry II to exile him to France (1163). He returned to England after the reconciliation of Henry and Becket and was in Canter¬ bury Cathedral when Becket was assassinated. He later wrote a hagiogra¬ phy of Becket and promoted the cult of the murdered archbishop. As bishop of Chartres (from 1176), he was active in the third Lateran Council.
John of the Cross, Saint Spanish San Juan de la Cruz orig. Juan de Yepes y Alvarez (b. June 24, 1542, Fontiveros, Spain—d. Dec. 14, 1591, Ubeda; canonized 1726; feast day December 14) Spanish mystic, poet, Doctor of the Church, and reformer of monasticism. He became a Carmelite monk at Medina del Campo and was ordained a priest in 1567. Joining St. Teresa of Avila in her effort to restore the Carmelites to their original austerity, he cofounded the Discalced Carmelite order in 1568. He opened the first Discalced Carmelite monastery at Duruelo a year later, but reform caused friction within the order and led to his imprisonment at Toledo. He escaped in 1578 and later won high office in the order. In his great mystical poetry, including “The Dark Night of the Soul,” he traced the steps of the soul’s ascent to union with God.
John o'Groat's Village, Scotland. Near Dunnet Head, it was settled in 1793 by John de Groat and his two brothers. It was once considered Brit¬ ain’s most northerly point, giving rise to the expression “from Land's End to John o’Groat’s.”
John Paul II orig. Karol Wojtyfa (b. May 18, 1920, Wadowice, Pol.—d. April 2, 2005, Vatican City) Pope (1978-2005), the bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic church, the first non-Italian pope in
455 years and the first ever from a Slavic country. He studied for the priesthood at an underground semi¬ nary in Krakow during World War II and was ordained in 1946. He earned a doctorate in philosophy in Rome (1948) and returned home to serve in a parish, earning a second doctorate (also 1948), in sacred theology, from the Jagiellonian University. He became archbishop of Krakow in 1964 and cardinal in 1967. Elected pope after the 33-day pontificate of John Paul I (b. 1912—-d. 1978), he became known for his energy, cha¬ risma, and intellect as well as for his conservative theological views and fervent anticommunism. In 1981 John Paul was shot in St. Peter’s Square by a Turkish gunman, but he recovered, resumed his work, and forgave his would-be assassin. His trips abroad attracted some of the largest crowds ever assembled. His non¬ violent activism spurred movements that contributed to the peaceful dis¬ solution of the Soviet Union in 1991. He championed economic and political justice in developing nations. In naming 44 cardinals from five continents (February 2001), John Paul reached out to cultures around the world. He also canonized more saints, from more parts of the world, than had any other pope. His ecumenical efforts, including meetings with Jew¬ ish, Muslim, and Eastern Orthodox religious leaders, were widely praised, but he often drew criticism for his traditionalist views on issues of gender and sexuality. Although afflicted with Parkinson disease since the early 1990s, John Paul remained active and made a historic trip to Jerusalem in March 2000, during which he sought to improve relations between the Roman Catholic church and Jews.