(Alexandria^ i, 161 ; Smith, Diet. Greek and Bom. Biog. ii, 587.
John Akgyropui.us ('ApyvpoTroDAoe), one of the learned Greeks whose flight into Western Europe con- tributed so powerfully to the revival of learning, was born at Constantinople of a noble family, and was a presbyter of that city, on the capture of which (A.D, 1453) he is said by Fabricius and Cave to have fled into Italy; but there is every reason to believe that his re- moval was antecedent to that event, and that he was in Italy several times previously, A passage cited by Tiraboschi (Sto7-ia della Lett. Italiana, vi, 198) makes it likely that he was at Padua A,D. 1434, reading and ex- plaining the works of Aristotle on natural phil()So|)hy. In A.D. 1439 an Argyro])ulus was present with the em- peror John Palieologus at the Council of Florence (Mi- chael Ducas, JJist. Byzant. c. 31), and, though it is not certain that this was our John, it yet seems very prob- able. In A.D. 1441 he was at Constantinople, as ap- pears from a letter of Francesco Filelfo to Pietro Perleoni (see Philelphus, Epistol. 3), engaged in public teachuig, but it is uncertain how long he had been established there. Probably he had returned some time between A.D. 1434 and 1439, and accompanied Bessarion to and from the Council of Florence. Among his pupils at Constantinople was Michael Apostolius. During his abode in Italy, after his last removal thither in 1453, he was honorabh' received by Cosmo de' Medici, and v.-as made preceptor to Lorenzo de' Medici, the celebrated son of Pietro, in Greek and in the Aristotelian philoso- phy, especially in ethics. When Lorenzo succeeded to the throne in A.D. 1469 he established a Greek academy in that city, and in it Argyropulus read and expounded the classical Greek writers to the Florentine youth. From Florence he removed to Rome, on account of the plague which had broken out in the former city ; the time of his removal is not ascertained, but it was before 1471. At Korae he obtained an ample subsistence bj' teaching Greek and philosophy, and especially by pub- licly expounding the works of Aristotle, He died at the age of seventy from an autumnal fever said to have j been brought on by eating too freely of melons, but the I year of his death is variously stated ; all that appears j to be certainly known is that he survived Theodore Gaza, who died A,D, 1478, The attainments of Argy- ropulus were highly estimated in his own and the suc- ceeding age. Thus it is related of Theodore Gaza that, when he found that Argyropulus was engaged in trans- lating some pieces of Aristotle, on which he had also been occupied, he burnt his own versions, that he might not, by provoking anj' unfavorable comparison, stand in the way of his friend's rising reputation. The works of Argyropidus are as follows: Original works — 1, Uipi , rijg rov ayiov ni'ti'/Karoc iKTroptvcrtoDC, Be Processi- one Spiritiis Sancti ; ])rinted with a Latin version in the Gracia Orthodoxa of Leo AUatius, i, 400-418:— 2, Ora- tio qiiarta pro Synodo Floreniina, cited by Nicolaus Comnenus Papadopoli in his Prcenotiones Mystagogicw. We do not know if this has been published, or whether it is in Latin or Greek :— 3, Commentarii in Ethica Ni- comachea (Florence, 1478). This work comprehends the substance of his exjiository lectures on the Nico- machian ethics of Aristotle, taken down and published by Donatus Acciajuoli, who is mentioned as a pupil of Argj'ropulus : — 4. Commentarii in A ristotelis Aldaphys- ica, published with Bessarion's version of that work (Paris, 1515, foL). The other original works of Argy- ropulus are scattered in MSS. through the libraries of Europe (of which a full list is given by Smith, uf infra). He also translated the Prcedicalilia, or De quinqne voci- bus of Porphyry, and the I/omiliie S. Basilii in Hexae- merou. His version of Porphyry was printed with his translations of Aristotle at Venice in 1496, and that of Basil at Rome in 1515. See Hody, De Greeds Illustri- hiis, p. 187-210; Wharton in Cave, Hist. Litt. ii, Appen- dix, p, 168 ; Fabricius, 7MI. Grose, iii, 496, etc. ; xi, 460, etc. ; Smith, Diet. Gr. and Rom. Biog. ii, 587.
JOHX 9
John, abbot OK St. Arnoc l of Metz, is first men- tioned in 9G0. when he succeeded Anstee in that office. He wa-s reputed to Iw a learned and very liberal man for the times. He i,'ranted a charter of freedom to the inhabitants of JIaurville. formerly serfs of the abbey, and divided the land among them, retaining only for the abbey the right of levying certain taxes. He died about 97('. John wrote a Life of St.Glodcsiiide (Mabil- lon, Acta Saticfm, vol. ii, col. 1087) and the Life cf St. John dc Vendiere, abbot of Gorze (Bollandii, vol. iii, Feb.). See Gallia Christ. voL xiii, coL 900 ; Hist. Litt. (h III France, vii, 421 ; Hoefer, Xouveau Biog. Gmerale, xxvi, o3(}. (J. N. P.)
John OF AviLA {Juan de A vila), the apostle of An- dalusia in the 16th century, was born at Almodovar del Campo, a small city of the province of Toledo, about the year 1500. His father intended him for the profes- sion" of law, but, after a short stay at the University of Salamanca, he returned home, and spent three years in strict asceticism. Then, after extended studies in phi- losophy and theology under Domingo de Soto, he com- menced preaching with great success. His popularity excited envy, and he was imprisoned for a very short time by the Inquisition. After preaching for nine j-ears in Andalusia, he visited also Cordova, Granada, Baeza, Montilla, etc., where his sermons — chiefly in honor of the Virgin Mary — proved a great success. The highest ecclesiastical offices were now offered him ; pope Paul in contemplated even creating him cardinal, but John preferred to continue the work of an itinerant mission- ary. With a view to the early religious education of the people, and to elevate their moral standing perma- nently, he established schools at Seville, Ubeda, Baeza, Granada, Cordova, and ]\IontiUa. His health failed him, however, and hi remained for twenty years siclv at the latter place, which accounts for his not accompanying the archbishop of (Jranada to the Council of Trent. Here he composed his KpLitnlnrio espiritual (2 vols. 4to), which has been translated into several languages. He died May 10, 1569. His Life has been written by Luis de Granada (see Obra.'i del V. P. M. Luis de Granada, Madrid, 1849; Luis i\Iunnoz, Vida del Ven. V'aron el Maestro Juan de. A vila ; Antonio de Capmany, Teatro historico de la elocuencia Espanmln). See Fr. J. Schir- mer, Werke des Juan de A vila {Sermones del santissimo Sacramento; de la incarnacion del Hijo de Dios ; del Expiritu Santo ; las festivitates de la santiAsima virr/en Maria, etc.), Regensburg, 1856.— Herzog, Real-Enajklo- padie, vi, 737.