In the 15th century, as Christian Europe struggled amid the convulsions of the late Middle Ages—wars, plagues, schisms, and the moral decay of the clergy—men of fire arose, determined to rekindle the flame of faith. Among them was Saint John of Capistrano, a Franciscan priest, a jurist who became an itinerant preacher, an apostle of Church reform, and a hero of Christendom in the face of the Ottoman Empire. Canonized in 1690 by Pope Alexander VIII, he embodies the model of the monk-soldier—not by material weapons, but by preaching and fervor—which rallied peoples and kings to the defense of Christianity.
Born in Capestrano in the Abruzzo in 1386, John of Capistrano was at once a scholar, diplomat, jurist, reformer, preacher, and spiritual leader of Christian armies. His long, intense life testifies to a total commitment to Christ through penance, the word, and action.
Saint John of Capistrano on the website relics.es
Origins and Youth of a Jurist
John was born in Capestrano, a small fortified town in the Abruzzo, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. His father, a German baron who had come to Italy in the king’s service, died when John was still a child. His mother, an Italian, oversaw his education and ensured he received careful schooling focused on letters and law.
Very early on, John displayed a keen mind, remarkable eloquence, and a sharp sense of justice. At seventeen he left to study civil and canon law at the University of Perugia, one of the most renowned in Italy. He caught the attention of his professors, who praised his memory and logic. After earning his doctorate in law in 1412, he was appointed judge and governor of Perugia by King Ladislaus of Naples.
At twenty-six, John seemed destined for a brilliant administrative and political career. He married a noble widow, but the marriage was never consummated—Providence had other plans for him.
Then a decisive event occurred: in 1416, amid the wars between Perugia and the House of Malatesta, John was taken prisoner and confined in a fortress. He lived this captivity as a sign from heaven, and it became the turning point of his life. In silence and meditation he perceived the vanity of honors and resolved to leave everything to devote himself to God.
Conversion and Entrance among the Franciscans
Upon his release, John renounced his office, his goods, and his unconsummated marriage. He went to Assisi and knocked at the door of the convent of the Friars Minor of the Observance, a reformed branch of the Franciscan Order founded to return to strict poverty and the fervor of the origins.
Under the guidance of the famous Saint Bernardine of Siena, whom he soon met and whose disciple he became, John undertook rigorous spiritual formation. He made profession in 1416 at the age of thirty and was ordained a priest a few years later.
His humility and discipline struck all who knew him. The former magistrate and statesman gladly accepted the humblest tasks: sweeping the convent, begging for bread, serving the sick. He imposed upon himself long hours of prayer and penance, slept little, ate little, and sought nothing but Christ.
But his intellect and eloquence were soon placed at the service of the Gospel. Around 1420 he began to preach, first in central Italy, then throughout the peninsula. Crowds quickly flocked to hear him.
The Great Preacher of Reform
Saint John of Capistrano was one of the greatest preachers of his century. He traversed Europe on foot in a rough habit, always carrying a crucifix and a small tablet bearing the Name of Jesus—a symbol dear to his master, Saint Bernardine of Siena.
His eloquence was fiery, direct, and vigorous. He denounced without hesitation the corruption of the clergy, greed, and dissolute morals, and he called for penance and confession. His style, simple and passionate, touched hearts more than minds. The crowds were so large that he often had to preach in public squares or from church rooftops.
The fruits of his preaching were immense. In several Italian cities—Naples, Florence, Milan, Venice—local reforms were enacted: the restitution of ill-gotten goods, mass conversions, reconciliation between feuding families, and the destruction of immoral books or objects of superstition.
His zeal went hand in hand with diplomatic activity: sent by Popes Martin V, Eugene IV, and Nicholas V, he served as a mediator between Christian states, seeking to restore peace among kingdoms in order to unite forces against the Turkish threat.
John of Capistrano also strove to reform the Franciscan Order. At that time, tension between the “Conventuals” (favoring some relaxation of the rule of poverty) and the “Observants” (advocating absolute rigor) threatened unity. John, while supporting reform, worked for concord. He was sent to Rome several times to defend his Order’s cause before the Pope and the Council of Basel.
Defender of the Faith and Inquisitor
His zeal to defend the purity of the faith also led to his appointment as papal inquisitor in various provinces. He vigorously opposed the heresies of his time, notably the Hussites, followers of Jan Hus who were unsettling Bohemia and Moravia.
In 1451 he was sent by Pope Nicholas V on mission to the Holy Roman Empire, accompanied by several Franciscan brothers. His mission: to combat heresy, preach reform, and reconcile divided Christians.
For six years he crisscrossed Bavaria, Austria, Poland, and Hungary, preaching in cathedrals and public squares. Everywhere people flocked to see him: chroniclers speak of crowds of more than one hundred thousand in Vienna and Breslau.
Conversions were countless. He restored ecclesiastical discipline, had heretical books burned, and helped bring religious peace to several regions. His influence on princes and prelates was considerable. Even emperors heeded his counsel: Frederick III consulted him repeatedly.
Apostle of the Crusade against the Turks
But the most famous hour of Saint John of Capistrano came at the end of his life.
In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks under Mehmed II. Christendom, stunned, now feared the invasion of Central Europe.
Pope Callixtus III called for a crusade, but few answered. Then John of Capistrano, nearly seventy years old, set out across Hungary to rouse the Christian peoples.
His eloquence, ardor, and prestige worked wonders: thousands of peasants, artisans, monks, and even nobles took up arms under his banner, carrying the Name of Jesus on their standards. He allied himself with the Hungarian captain John Hunyadi, a great general and national hero. Together they marched toward Belgrade, which the Turks were besieging in July 1456.
The Battle of Belgrade (1456)
The siege of Belgrade was one of the decisive moments in European history. Mehmed II, with 150,000 men and a fearsome artillery, encircled the city. Hunyadi had scarcely 30,000 fighters, half of them poorly armed volunteers, yet animated by faith.
In their midst, John of Capistrano, clad in his habit with a crucifix in hand, went from rank to rank, exhorting the soldiers, hearing the dying, blessing weapons, and singing hymns. His words electrified the troops. He wielded no sword, but his presence accomplished more than all weapons.
On July 22, 1456, after several days of assaults, the Christians launched a daring counteroffensive. Spurred on by the old monk, the volunteers scaled the walls and entered the enemy camp. Panic spread among the Turks, who retreated.
It was a resounding victory, regarded as a miracle. Belgrade, key to Hungary and Europe, remained Christian. The news spread throughout Christendom. The Pope ordered that every day at noon the bells of all churches should ring to recall this victory and invite prayer for peace—a custom that endures to this day: the noonday Angelus.
The Last Days
But the triumph cost the saint dearly. The exhausted Christian army was struck by the plague. Hunyadi died soon after. John, weakened, refused to abandon the sick. He continued to aid them and to preach until he himself fell ill.
He gave his soul to God on October 23, 1456, at Ilok (also Illok) on the Danube in present-day Croatia. He was seventy years old. His last words were:
“Lord, my God, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
He was buried in the Franciscan church of Ilok. Very soon his tomb became a place of pilgrimage. Miracles were reported through his intercession.
Canonization and Cult
The fame of John of Capistrano spread immediately after his death. Grateful Europe venerated him as the savior of Belgrade and defender of the faith. Processions were instituted in his honor in the kingdoms of Austria and Hungary.
In 1690, after a long canonization process, Pope Alexander VIII declared him a saint. His feast day was set for October 23, the day of his death.
His body, transferred several times because of wars, rests today in Ilok, where he is still venerated. The Franciscans, particularly the Observant branch (later the Recollects and the Capuchins), continue to honor him as one of their great reformers.
In 1956, for the 500th anniversary of the victory at Belgrade, Pope Pius XII issued an apostolic letter recalling his role in defending Christian civilization.
Saint John of Capistrano is today the patron of military chaplains, of jurists, and of itinerant missionaries.
Spiritual Portrait and Doctrine
A Man of Fire and Discipline
John of Capistrano was above all a man of iron and prayer. His austere life and fidelity to the Franciscan rule made him a model of renunciation. He slept little, ate only a frugal meal each day, and wore a hairshirt. His moral rigor impressed even his adversaries.
The Centrality of the Name of Jesus
Like Saint Bernardine of Siena, he preached with a banner bearing the monogram IHS, the symbol of the Name of Jesus, which he proposed for the faithful’s veneration. In this Name he saw the power that drives out demons, heals souls, and unites Christians.
In his sermons he said:
“The Name of Jesus is the light of preachers, for it shines and teaches; it is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, joy in the heart.”
A Universal Missionary Zeal
John was also an itinerant apostle, convinced that direct preaching to the people could convert entire nations. He traveled tirelessly on foot for thousands of kilometers, braving the elements, illness, and at times local hostility.
His success rested on his unshakable faith and his charisma: he spoke the language of the people, weaving together anecdotes, biblical images, and urgent appeals to conversion. His sermons sometimes lasted three hours, yet no one wearied of them.
A Reformer of the Church
In a time of spiritual decadence, he called priests and monks to poverty, chastity, and fidelity to the rule. He encouraged the theological formation of the clergy and transparency in the management of ecclesiastical goods.
His reforming action, while remaining faithful to Rome, anticipated in some respects the Catholic Reformation of the following century.
The Monk-Soldier
Finally, John of Capistrano embodies the monk-soldier of Christ. Without ever shedding blood, he led a spiritual and moral crusade. His victory at Belgrade is not merely military: it symbolizes the resistance of faith in the face of fear and despair.
For him, a just war was legitimate only when it defended the faith and the innocent. He urged soldiers to confess before battle and to fight “not for glory, but for love of Christ.”
Legacy and Relevance
Five centuries after his death, Saint John of Capistrano remains a contemporary figure.
In a world where faith grows weak and where corruption and division still threaten spiritual unity, his example recalls the power of courage, of the spoken word, and of prayer.
He embodies militant Catholicism, not in the sense of violence, but of firm and joyful conviction.
He teaches us that the reform of the Church always begins with personal conversion and that faith must take shape in action.
Pope Francis, in a homily on October 23, 2019, spoke of Saint John of Capistrano as a model of evangelical consistency:
“He was a man of truth and courage, who feared neither the powerful nor the crowds. His strength came from prayer and poverty.”
Even today his name is borne by churches, orders, and even cities—most notably San Juan Capistrano in California, founded by Franciscan missionaries in the 18th century, who preserve his memory on the American continent.
Conclusion
Saint John of Capistrano is one of those saints whose life sums up an entire century of spiritual struggle and renewal. A jurist who became a monk, a diplomat who became a missionary, an old man who became the spiritual captain of a crusade—he shows that no vocation is lost when it is placed at the service of Christ.
His example teaches us that faith is not a retreat from the world but an inner and outer struggle for truth, justice, and charity.
From his Italian homeland to the plain of Belgrade, from his blazing sermons to his humble death, Saint John of Capistrano left the image of a man wholly consumed by the love of God.
May we, in his school, rediscover the courage to proclaim Christ in a world that so greatly needs him.
