Saint John I, Pope of Rome, passed away on this day in 526. John was from Siena in Italy. The future pope was born around 470. Therefore, he was a teenager when the schism between Pope Felix and Patriarch Acacius in Constantinople occurred. While a deacon in Rome, John is known to have been a supporter of Antipope Laurentius, who was an opponent to Pope Symmachus, and had the support of Byzantine Emperor Anastasios, In 506, John condemned Peter of Altinum and Laurentius and asked for forgiveness from Pope Symmachus. Most likely, he was meant by the confident "deacon John," who signed, among others, the Acta (decisions) of the Roman synod of 499 and 502. Pope John I was in feeble health when he was elected to the papal throne. Theodoric the Great, king of Ostrogoth, called Pope John to Ravenna and required him to lead an embassy to Constantinople to stop forced conversions to Orthodoxy of Germanic military units within the Byzantine Army. Theodoric threatened that if John did not carry out his mission, the persecution against Orthodox in the West would mirror the Byzantine persecution of the Arians. Pope John went to Constantinople with a significant retinue. Among his associates were Bishop Ecclesius of Ravenna, Bishop Eusebius of Fano, and Sabinus of Campania, as well as senators Flavius Theodorus, Flavius Inportunus Junior, Agapitus, and the patrician Agapitus. He was the first pope to visit Constantinople in an embassy. John could not and hardly wanted to successfully execute the mission entrusted by the king. Upon his return, he was imprisoned in Ravenna on suspicion of conspiring with Emperor Justin (an uncle of St. Emperor Justinian). In prison, John died from neglect and abuse. His body was transported to Rome and buried in St. Peter's Basilica.
Source:
A Chronology of Byzantine Empire, Timothy Venning ed. (New York, 2006).
| 
