Who he was
John was a Roman, the son of Gundus, and had long served as archdeacon of the Roman Church when he was elected in December 872. Historians count him among the great popes of the ninth century. His ten years were spent struggling against Saracen raiders, unruly nobles at home and the rivalries of the Frankish princes.
What he is remembered for
He freed St Methodius from prison in Moravia, examined him in Rome, and sent him back with leave to use the Slavonic tongue in the liturgy. He crowned two emperors, Charles the Bald in 875 and Charles the Fat in 881, fortified St Paul's Outside the Walls, and himself led a fleet that beat the Saracens off Cape Circeo in 876. A distant chronicle claimed he was murdered, but most historians do not accept its account.
Sources
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