St John the Baptist

The description of John of Wurzburg (which probably covers the period 1160-1170) records: "Opposite the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on the other side of the street leading south, there is a beautiful church built in honor of St John the Baptist, and adjoining it there is a hospital in whose various rooms they gather great numbers of the sick, men and women, and heal them at great expense. When I was there, I saw that the numbers of the sick reach two thousand, of whom they sometimes carry out about fifty a day for burial - they die, and as many new sick people arrive there. What can I say? This foundation serves as many people outside as are within, and also assists with alms for the poor who beg for bread from door to door and have no house to live in, so that it is difficult to calculate the expenses of the foundation and the expenses of its overseers and laborers."

John the Baptist has always been held in high repute because of his austere life in the desert. His intercession was believed to lead to the coming of Christ within the souls of the devout, just as his work in history had been to prepare for the earthly coming of Christ.

John the Baptist was immensely popular in the Middle Ages: no fewer than 496 churches were dedicated in his honor, a total exceeded only by Mary, Peter, Michael, Andrew and All Saints. One of his many patronages was the Knights Hospitaller, whose principal work was to guard the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem and protect pilgrims to and from the Holy Land. Several of their round churches survive in England.

In art John is represented both as prophet and baptiser: his association with baptism especially made him familiar to the medieval laity. His image could also be frequently seen on wall paintings, stained glass windows, bench ends and statues, dressed in skins and pointing to the lamb lying on a book; he also carried a long cross in his other hand. His principal feast of 24 June is that of his earthly birth. (source: The Oxford Dictionary of Saints)

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the Baptist