John the Good ( la, Ioannes Bonus, it, Giovanni Bono or ''Buono'') was Archbishop of Milan from c. 641 to 669. He is honoured as a

Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

in the Catholic Church and his feast day is on January 2.

Life

The reign of John ''the Good'' is remembered for the return of the bishop to the town of Milan after an exile of more than 70 years. Actually in 569, the Lombards invaded Northern Italy and conquered its center, Milan, which was recovering from the terrible

Gothic War Gothic War may refer to: *Gothic War (248–253), battles and plundering carried out by the Goths and their allies in the Roman Empire. *Gothic War (367–369), a war of Thervingi against the Eastern Roman Empire in which the Goths retreated to Mont ...

. The bishop of Milan,

Honoratus Honoratus (french: Saint Honorat; c. 350 – 6 January 429) was the founder of Lérins Abbey who later became an early Archbishop of Arles. He is honored as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Life Honoratus was born in the ...

escaped to Genoa and Honoratus' successors remained in Genoa. Genoa was then a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

of Milan but still under the control of the Byzantine Empire. John ''the Good'' was born in the diocese of Genoa in the village of Recco (also the nearby town of Camogli claims the birth of John). It is not exactly known when he became bishop of Milan, but it is believed that his election was in consequence of the 641 conquest of Genoa by the Lombard's King

Rothari Rothari (or Rothair) ( 606 – 652), of the Harodingi, house of Arodus, was king of the Lombards from 636 to 652; previously he had been duke of Brescia. He succeeded Arioald, who was an Arianism, Arian like himself, and was one of the most energe ...

. John as bishop returned to reside in Milan. In 649, John was invited to participate to the Lateran Council, but he arrived in Rome when the council had already ended. He however subscribed all the documents issued by the council. Two are the main sources for John's life: the ''Catalogue of the Bishops of Milan'' (dated on about the 10th century) and a poetry in his honor (in it, Carme) Biblioteca Ambrosiana, codex S 89 sup which can be dated from the 11th to the 13th century. According to this ''carme'', John was distinguished for his generosity and charity, from which he was given the sobriquet ''the Good'' ( la, Bonus). Also according to the ''carme'', he accomplished miracles, he moved some of the

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s of Saint

Syrus of Genoa Saint Syrus of Genoa ( it, San Siro di Genova) (died around June 29, 381 AD) was a priest and later bishop of Genoa during the fourth century AD. Life Born at Struppa, a neighborhood of Genoa, he had a reputation for holiness and zeal. He succee ...

to Desio which he erected as ecclesiastical/administrative territory (Pievan Church) and he died in 669 leaving all his properties, including estates in the area of Genoa, to the Church of Milan. The 669 as date of his death is however not coherent with the ''catalogue'', which suggests a ten years reign, i.e. a death no later than the 659. John died on 2 January according to the ''catalogue'', or on 10 January according to the ''carme''. The latter date became his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

. Today, his feast is celebrated on 2 January (or 15 January in the

cathedral of Milan Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...

, together with all the saint bishops of Milan on 25 September). The body of John was initially buried in the little church of Saint Michael ''in Domo'' in Milan and the first survey on his relics was made by archbishop

Aribert Aribert ( it, Ariberto) is a Germanic given name, from ''hari'' ("host") and ''beraht'' ("bright"). It may refer to: *Aribert (archbishop of Milan) *Prince Aribert of Anhalt (1866–1933), regent of Anhalt *Aribert Heim (1914–1992), Austrian Schu ...

(1018–1045). On 24 May 1582, shortly before the demolition of the Church of St Michael, cardinal Carlo Borromeo

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

the body of John to the south transept of the

, where it is still venerated. The body of the saint is in height.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:John the Good Of Milan, Archbishop Archbishops of Milan 669 deaths 7th-century Christian saints Italian saints Burials at Milan Cathedral Year of birth unknown