under the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, John
had to contend with the violence of thousands of unem-
ployed soldiers. After considering a crusade to lure them
away, he secured from the Estates in December 1363
an important new tax, the fouage, to fi nance an army
to restore order. Continuing unresolved problems with
England were complicated when the king’s son Louis,
a hostage for his father’s ransom, broke parole and fl ed.
John returned to captivity in England and died there in
the spring of 1364.
See also Charles II the Bad; Charles V the Wise
Further Reading
Bordonove, Georges. Jean le Bon et son temps. Paris: Ramsay,
1980.
Cazelles, Raymond. “Jean II le Bon: quel homme? quel roi?”
Revue historique 509 (1974): 5–26.
——. Société politique, noblesse et couronne sous Jean le Bon
et Charles V. Geneva: Droz, 1982.
Deviosse, Jean. Jean le Bon. Paris: Fayard, 1985.
Henneman, John Bell. Royal Taxation in Fourteenth Century
France: The Captivity and Ransom of John II, 1356–70.
Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1976.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
JOHN OF SALISBURY
(ca. 1115–1180)
John was born in Old Sarum, England, and entered a
clerical career as a young man, studying in the schools
of Paris from 1136 until the mid-1140s. There, he heard
lectures by Peter Abélard, Robert of Melun, William of
Conches, Thierry of Chartres, Gilbert of Poitiers, and
other masters of the day. He then traveled to Rome,
where he entered the service of the pope. In 1148, he
attended the synod at Reims where Gilbert of Poitiers
was tried for heresy, a trial that John recounts in his His-
toria pontifi calis. In 1153–54, he returned to England,
where he served as secretary to Theobald, archbishop of
Canterbury, and to his successor, Thomas Becket. John
was part of one of the most striking public confl icts
of royal and ecclesiastical power in the 12th century,
that between Becket and King Henry II Plantagenêt of
England. Becket’s exile to France took John of Salis-
bury there as well. John was present in Christ Church
cathedral, Canterbury, when Becket was attacked, but
he fl ed the scene before the actual murder. In 1176, John
was consecrated bishop of Chartres and died there in
- He knew well the worlds of episcopal patronage,
education in the schools of Paris, the papal and royal
courts, and the web of personal and professional friend-
ships woven by the exchange of letters. Each of these
circles infl uenced his life and writings.
The Metalogicon, a spirited defense of the Trivium,
with emphasis upon the discipline of logic, is a valuable
resource for understanding the world of the 12th-century
schools and lists the masters with whom John studied.
His Policraticus combines political theory, a handbook
for government, criticism of court life, and a program
of education for courtiers. In the Historia pontifi calis,
John offers a history focused on the papal court from the
Synod of Reims (1148) through the year 1152. Among
his other writings are a vita of Anselm of Bec and a brief
vita of Becket, probably meant to serve as preface to a
collection of the murdered archbishop’s letters. Some
325 of John’s letters survive.
See also Abélard, Peter; Becket, Thomas;
Gilbert of Poitiers; Henry IIFurther Reading
John of Salisbury. Memoirs of the Papal Court, ed. and trans.
Marjorie Chibnall. London: Nelson, 1956.
——. The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury: A Twelfth-Century
Defense of the Verbal and Logical Arts of the Trivium, trans.
D.D. McGarry. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1955.
——. The Letters of John of Salisbury, 1 : The Early Letters
(1153–1161), ed. W.J. Millor and H.E. Butler, rev. Christopher
N.L. Brooke. London: Nelson, 1955.
——. The Letters of John of Salisbury, 2 : The Later Letters
(1163–1180), ed. W.J. Millor and Christopher N. L. Brooke.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
Smalley, Beryl. The Beckett Confl ict and the Schools: A Study
of Intellectuals in Politics. Oxford: Blackwell, 1973, pp.
87–108.
Webb, C.C.J. John of Salisbury. London: Methuen, 1932.
Wilkes, Michael, ed. The World of John of Salisbury. Oxford:
Blackwell, 1984.
Grover A. ZinnJOHN OF SEVILLE (fl. 1133–1135)
John of Seville was an astrologer and translator of
scientifi c works from Arabic into Latin. His full name
appears to have been Iohannes His-palensis et Lunensis
(or Limiensis). Attempts to identify him with Avendauth,
the collaborator of Dominigo Gundisalvo, John David
of Toledo, and other Johns are not convincing. He is
known only through his translations, which include Ab ̄u
Ma‘shar’s Greater Introduction to Astrology (1133),
Al-Fargh ̄a nı ̄’s Rudiments of Astronomy (1135), ‘Urnar
ibn al-Farrukh ̄a n’s Universal Book (on astrology), Al-
Qabı ̄sı ̄’s Introduction to Astrology, Th ̄abit ibn Qurra’s
On Talismans (De imaginibus) and astrological works
by M ̄sh ̄a’all ̄a h and Sahl ibn Bishr. These were the most
important texts on astrology in the Arabic world, and
established Latin astrology on a fi rm scientifi c footing.
To them, John added his own Epitome of Astrology or
Liber quadripartitus (1135), which covered all the main
aspects of astrology and, having four books, was clearly
meant to be analogous to, and perhaps to replace, theJOHN II THE GOOD