John I (pope)

John I (Tuscany, c. 470-Ravenna, May 18, 526) was the 53rd.er pope of the Catholic Church, from 523 to 526. He is considered a saint by the Catholic Church, which celebrates his feast day on May 18.

The son of Constantius, he was born in Siena, or the Serena Castle, in the surroundings of Chiusdino, a town in southern Tuscany, between Siena and Grosseto, a small fortress built by Serena, wife of Stilicho, in the 4th century, destroyed in the Middle Ages and now disappeared.

He was a friar at the time of his election as pontiff, just seven days after the death of his predecessor.

He was the first pope to travel to Constantinople when the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great sent him, in 525, to negotiate with the Byzantine emperor Justin I for the cessation of the persecutions against the Arians that had been taking place in the empire since the publication from an imperial edict in 523.

The failure of his mission, since the decree had not been annulled, together with the accusations of lukewarmness in the negotiations with the emperor, caused Theodoric to have him imprisoned in Ravenna, capital of the Ostrogothic kingdom, on his return to Rome, where He died a martyr on May 18, 526.

His remains were brought to Rome and interred in St. Peter's Basilica.