A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

584 JOANNES. JOANNES.
presence there would do most in his favour. But invasion of Italy, rather than by compassion for the
the imperial finances were exhausted, through the independence of the Greeks, roused king Ladislaus
heavy tribute paid to the Turks, and the emperor of Hungary to break the peace which he had conwould have been unable to accept the invitation cluded with sultan Miirad, and to invade Turkey.
but for a timely succour of eight papal gallies laden The dreadful rout of the Hungarians, in 1444, at
with provisions, and the still more acceptable pre- Varna, where king Ladislaus and the cardinal Jusent of a handsome sum of money, to defray the lian were slain, placed John and his capital in jeoexpenses of his journey. John, accompanied by pardy, but the sultan was bent upon retiring from
his brother Demetrius, a host of prelates and the throne, and'refrained from punishing the empriests, among whom was the learned Bessarion, peror. During the Hungarian campaign, the emset out from Constantinople in November, 1437, peror's brother, Constantine, had enlarged his
and safely arrived at Venice, where he was received dominions in Greece so much, that in 1445 he
with all the honours due to his rank. After a short reigned over the whole Peloponnesus and a constay at Venice, he proceeded to Ferrara, and there siderable part of northern Greece. Miirad marched
also was received with great state by the sovereign against him with the victors of Varna, stormed the
of that principality. It was at Ferrara that the Hexamilion, or the wall which, stretching across
council was to assemble. Pope Eugene IV. had the isthmus of Corinth, served as a barrier against
preceded him thither. Particular reasons induced an invasion from the north, took and destroyed
the pope to treat the Greek emperor with much Corinth and Patras, and was only induced through
more attention, and the Greek prelates with much a second invasion of the Hungarians, in 1447, to
less pride, than the mightier emperor of Germany, allow Constantine the further possession of the
or the arrogant prelates of the West. The council Peloponnesus, on condition of paying an annual
of Ferrara was but a continuation of those of Pisa, tribute. The peace between Constantine and the
Constance, and Basel, in which the supremacy of sultan was concluded by the historian Phranza. In
the popes had met with severe checks, especially in the following year, 1448, John died, and was suc-,
the latter, where the authority of the councils was ceeded by his brother Constantine, the last emdeclared to be superior to that of the popes; and peror of Constantinople. John was thrice married,
Eugene flattered himself that, through the re-union 1. to Anna, a Russian princess; 2. to Sophia of
of the widely-spread church of the Greeks with Montferrat; and 3. to Maria Comnena, of the imthat of Rome, he would secure for himself and his perial family of Trebizond; but by none of them
successors that unlimited authority which was once did he leave any issue. (Phranza, lib. ii.; Ducas,
possessed by pope Gregory VII., and others of the c. 28-33; Syropulus, in the edition of Creighton
preceding centuries. In the following year the quoted above.) [W. P.]
council was transferred to Florence, and there, JOANNES, commonly called Joannes of CAPafter long negotiations, carried on with remarkable PADOCIA, because he was a native of that country,'ability and learning by Bessarion and bishop one of the principal ministers of the emperor JusMarcus, of Ephesus, on the part of the Greeks, the tinian I., was appointed praefectus praetorio of the
re-union of the two churches was concluded in July, East in A. D. 530. His services, however, were
1439. The Greek Syropulus has written the his- more in the cabinet than in the field; and in the
tory of the councils of Ferrara and Florence; and to administration of the provinces subject to his auhis work, of which Robert Creighton published a thority he evinced a degree of rapacity and fiscal opLatin translation at the Hague, 1660, fol., we pression that filled his own and the emperor's purse,
refer the reader for particulars. The emperor and but rendered him odious to the people. Nor' had
his suite returned to Constantinople early in 1440, he fewer enemies among the great, for he was conrather disappointed that the western princes had stantly busy in ruining his rivals, or other persons
~declined giving any direct promise of restoring the of eminence, through all sorts of slander and inGreek empire to its ancient splendour, and his dis- trigues. Proud of Justinian's confidence, who, in
appointment was still greater when he went on his turn, was too fond of money not to like a sershore in his capital. The Greek people considered vant of John's description, the praetorian praefect
their spiritual union with Rome as the prelude to a continued his system of peculation and oppression
second Latin empire in the East; the orthodox during thirteen years. John opposed sending an
and the bigotted thought their souls in danger; the expedition against the Vandals in Africa, because
learned were shocked at the idea, that by submit- he would be unable to appropriate so much of the
ting to the infallible decision of the pope they imperial revenues; but Justinian would not take
would henceforth be deprived of all the honours the advice of his favourite, and in 533 Belisarius
and advantages they derived from either remov- set out for the conquest of Carthage. When he
ing or creating religious difficulties; and bishop arrived off Methone, now Modon, in Greece, where
Marcus of Ephesus, who had constantly opposed he put some troops on shore, a disease decimated
a reunion on conditions dictated by the pope, the men, and it was discovered to be the effect of a
raised the standard of Greek orthodoxy, and con- sultry climate combined with bad food: their bread
fined the doctrine of the united church within the was not fit to eat; John, who was at the head of
palace of the emperor, and the narrow cells of his the provision department at Constantinople, having
chaplains. given secret orders to bake the bread at the same
The journeys of several of the Greek emperors fires which- heated the public baths, whence it beto Rome were of great importance in the revival of came not only very bad, but also increased both in
classical learning in Italy, and thaf of John VII. bulk and weight. In this way John robbed the,forms an epoch in the history of literature, the con- treasury. Belisarius soon remedied the evil, and
sequences of which we can trace down to the present was much praised by Justinian, but John was not
day. After his return to Constantinople, John was punished. - The arrogance of this rapacious man
engaged for some time in secret negotiations with became daily more insupportable, and at last he
the pope, who, moved by the dangers of a Turkish undertook to ruin the empress Theodora hi the es.