John

correspondent (John) in late-antique Italian letter collections|Ravenna
A correspondent named John (Iohannes) attested across several late-antique Italian letter collections of the Ostrogothic and early papal period (Pope Hormisdas, Cassiodorus, Ennodius of Pavia, Venantius Fortunatus, Pope Pelagius II, and Gregory the Great), with the letters clustering around Ravenna. Because "John" was one of the most common names in the late Roman and early medieval West, this record very likely conflates more than one individual, and no single fully-documented career can be securely reconstructed from it. What can honestly be said is that he appears in the milieu of Italian ecclesiastical and administrative correspondence of roughly the late 5th through 6th centuries; the role and biographical specifics remain uncertain.
2
Letters sent
28
Letters received
30
Total letters
6
Correspondents

Top correspondents

All letters (30)

From Ennodius of Paviac. 502 AD

It is the nature of things that anxiety should turn to joy and complaint should become praise whenever our desires...

ennodius pavia #4012
From Ennodius of Paviac. 507 AD

I have good reasons for what I write, and I trust you will find them compelling.

ennodius pavia #2018
To Hormisdasc. 515 AD

Copy of the report of John, Bishop of Constantinople.

hormisdas #36
To Hormisdasc. 516 AD

Copy of the libellus of John, Bishop of Constantinople.

hormisdas #47
From Cassiodorusc. 522 AD

King Theodoric to John, Vir Spectabilis [Most Respectable], Governor [Consularis] of Campania.

cassiodorus #4010
From Cassiodorusc. 522 AD

King Theodoric to John, Archiater [Chief Physician].

cassiodorus #4041
From Cassiodorusc. 522 AD

King Theodoric to John, Vir Clarissimus [Most Distinguished], Treasurer.

cassiodorus #5007
From Cassiodorusc. 522 AD

Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to John, Chancellor.

cassiodorus #11006
From Venantius Fortunatusc. 574 AD

Ad Iohannem diaconum

venantius fortunatus #3028
From Pope Pelagius IIc. 585 AD

Pelagius, bishop of Rome, to his most beloved brother John, bishop of Constantinople.

pelagius ii #6
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 590 AD

A monastery dedicated to the holy proto-martyr Stephen is to be consecrated, and it is right that such a dedication...

gregory great #1054
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 591 AD

Given the present dangers [the Lombard invasions that were making many Italian towns unsafe], the episcopal seat of...

gregory great #2014
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 591 AD

The case involving Leo, bishop of Catania, has reached a point where I must give you clearer direction.

gregory great #9032
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 593 AD

I want to commend to you the work of Bishop Secundinus, who handled the case of Anastasius with exactly the kind of...

gregory great #4052
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 593 AD

I am directing you to see to it that Centegus and his wife Flora receive the ten pounds of gold that have been...

gregory great #9072
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 594 AD

Sacred vessels belonging to the church have been sold — sold by clergy who had no right to sell them.

gregory great #8026
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 594 AD

A man named Felix has come to my attention.

gregory great #8050
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 594 AD

A dispute has arisen involving the church's land agents [actores — the officials who managed the church's...

gregory great #9013
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 596 AD

Ten pounds of gold are to be paid to the bishop Basil of Capua [for the ransom of captives — ransoming Christians...

gregory great #10009
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 596 AD

I am receiving complaints that the annual grain supply [annona — the public food distribution that had been part of...

gregory great #10021
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 596 AD

I am writing on behalf of Leontius, the ex-consul.

gregory great #10046
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 597 AD

The case of Rusticiana and the invasion of her property has been dragging on for too long.

gregory great #11042
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 597 AD

I am writing to you as well about the unjust encroachment on Faustus's property.

gregory great #11089
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 598 AD

I must address a practice that has been reported to me and that I regard as problematic: the appointment of clerics...

gregory great #5001
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 598 AD

Gregory to John, bishop of Prima Justiniana.

gregory great #11079
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 598 AD

I am granting you the use of the pallium [the wool vestment worn across the shoulders that signified metropolitan or...

gregory great #11084
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 602 AD

We are commanded by the Lord's precepts to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to share in their afflictions as...

gregory great #2035
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 602 AD

Not much time has passed since certain matters concerning your brotherhood were reported to us, about which, as we...

gregory great #2061
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 602 AD

Brother, I must ask you to attend more carefully to the material well-being of your clergy.

gregory great #13046
From Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)c. 604 AD

I must ask your personal intervention on behalf of two men: Passisinus — a man of great distinction — and Blanca,...

gregory great #9236