John III

1. (Catelinus) died A.D. 574, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 561-574.

2. (John Sobieski) 1624-96, king of Poland 1674-96.

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▪ duke of Brittany

byname  John The Good,  French  Jean Le Bon 

born 1286

died 1341

      duke of Brittany (from 1312), son of Arthur II. His death without heirs resulted in the War of the Breton Succession, pitting two indirect heirs, John of Montfort and Charles of Blois. Despite three marriages—to Isabella of Valois (d. 1309), Isabella of Castile (d. 1328), and Joan of Savoy (1334)—he was left childless and designated Charles of Blois his successor, to whom he espoused his niece (1338).

▪ king of Portugal

byname  John the Pious,  Portuguese  João o Piedoso 

born June 6, 1502, Lisbon, Port.

died June 11, 1557, Lisbon

      king of Portugal from 1521 to 1557. His long reign saw the development of Portuguese seapower in the Indian Ocean, the occupation of the Brazilian coast, and the establishment of the Portuguese inquisition and of the Society of Jesus.

      Shortly after succeeding his father, Manuel I, John married Catherine, sister of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain, while Charles married John's sister Isabella. These marriages paved the way for the eventual succession of Philip II of Spain to the Portuguese throne in 1580. By the Treaty of Madrid (1529), Portugal secured the Moluccas, or Spice Islands (now part of Indonesia), while recognizing Spain's claim to the Philippines; this complemented the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided sovereignty over the New World between the peninsular powers. In 1533 John promoted Portuguese settlement in Brazil and in 1549 set up a central government at Bahia. In India the Portuguese conquered the city of Diu (1535), and they established trade with Siam and a settlement at Macau (Macao) in China. In North Africa John III relinquished some of the costly coastal fortresses, recognizing that Portuguese interests demanded reduction of its commitments.

      John III retained control of the spice trade, but profits declined and costs increased, as did the number of court pensioners and the indebtedness of the state.

      Though at first favourable to Erasmus, John imposed religious orthodoxy, instituting the Inquisition in 1536. He entrusted the Jesuits (Jesuit) with control of the College of Arts of the University of Coimbra, and they remained dominant in Portuguese education and in missionary work in Brazil and the Orient.

      John III's heir, also John, died in 1554. His grandson Sebastian, born in 1554, succeeded him in 1557 under the regency of his widow, the Spanish queen Catherine.

▪ king of Sweden

born Dec. 21, 1537, Stegeborg Castle, Sweden

died Nov. 17, 1592, Stockholm

 king of Sweden (1568–92), a deeply religious ruler who attempted to reconcile the Swedish Lutheran Church with the Catholic leadership in Rome and to revive discarded elements of the Catholic liturgy.

      After being named duke of Finland by his father in 1556, John, the elder son of the second marriage of the Swedish king Gustav I Vasa, pursued a foreign policy independent of the crown, leading to a conflict with his half brother Erik XIV, king of Sweden from 1560. Erik limited John's authority and imprisoned him in 1563 after the Duke had acquired a base in Poland by marrying Catherine (1562), sister of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland. After his release in 1567, John joined with his younger brother, the future Charles IX of Sweden, in 1568 to overthrow Erik and secure the throne for himself. He soon ended Sweden's long war against Denmark by signing the Treaty of Stettin (1570), in which he formally renounced Sweden's Estonian acquisitions, though he actually intended to keep them; the territories were largely regained by the end of his reign.

      An expert theologian, John believed in the possibility of a synthesis of Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism and negotiated to that end with Catholic leaders in Rome and Spain. He introduced a liturgy of his own in 1577, the “Red Book,” which restored some of the Catholic liturgical usages that had been swept away in the triumph of Lutheranism in Sweden. By 1580 he realized that a settlement with Rome was impossible but renewed his efforts to impose the “Red Book” over an opposition led chiefly by his brother, Charles.

      In 1586 John nominated his son Sigismund (Sigismund III Vasa), who had been brought up as a Catholic, for the vacant Polish throne but withdrew his sponsorship when the Poles demanded the return of Estonia as a condition of Sigismund's accession. The Swedish nobility, however, who controlled the state council, supported Sigismund's candidacy, seeing the link with Poland as an aid against Russia and the prospect of an absentee ruler as a way of enhancing their own power. John and Charles, who had contested his brother's religious policy, became reconciled in common opposition to the nobles' aspirations, but Sigismund nevertheless assumed the Polish throne in 1587.

▪ pope

original name  Catelinus?  

born , Rome? [Italy]

died July 13, 574, Rome

      pope from 561 to 574.

      Records of John's pontificate were destroyed during an invasion of Italy by the Lombards, whose kingdom was in northern Italy. John fled to the safety of Naples and in 571 persuaded the Byzantine general Narses to defend Rome. The Romans opposed Narses because he allegedly caused the Lombard invasion. To avoid involvement in the ensuing quarrel, John withdrew to the catacombs until Narses' death (c. 573).

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