Thebeheading of John the Baptist, also known as thedecollation of Saint John the Baptist or thebeheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as aholy day by variousChristian churches. According to theNew Testament,Herod Antipas, ruler ofGalilee under theRoman Empire, had imprisonedJohn the Baptist because he had publicly reproved Herod for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully taking his sister-in-law (his brother's wife)Herodias as his second wife. He then ordered him to be killed bybeheading.
As a non-Biblical source, Jewish historianJosephus also recounts that Herod had John imprisoned and killed due to "the great influence John had over the people", which might persuade John "to raise a rebellion". Josephus also writes that many of the Jews believed that Herod's later military disaster was God's punishment for his treatment of John.[1]
According to thesynoptic Gospels, Herod, who wastetrarch, or sub-king, ofGalilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he reproved Herod for divorcing his wife (Phasaelis, daughter of King Aretas of Nabataea) and unlawfully takingHerodias, the wife of his brotherHerod Philip I. On Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter (whomJosephus identifies asSalome) danced before the king and his guests. Her dancing pleased Herod so much that in his drunkenness hepromised to give her anything she desired, up to half of his kingdom. When Salome asked her mother what she should request, she was told to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Although Herod was appalled by the request, he reluctantly agreed and had John executed by beheading in the prison.[2] In art, the episode is known asThe Feast of Herod.
Jewish historianJosephus also relates in hisAntiquities of the Jews that Herod killed John, stating that he did so, "lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his [John's] power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise), [so Herod] thought it best [to put] him to death." He further states that many of the Jews believed that the military disaster that fell upon Herod at the hands ofAretas, his father-in-law (Phasaelis' father), was God's punishment for his unrighteous behavior.[1]
John the Baptist preached to people and baptised them in the Jordan.
John the Baptist baptised Jesus.
Luke 3:1–22; Acts 1:5, 1:21–22, 10:37–38, 11:16, 13:24–25, 18:25, 19:3–4
John the Baptist preached to people and baptised them in the Jordan.
John the Baptist baptised Jesus.
John 1:19–42, 3:22–36, 4:1
John the Baptist preached to people and baptised them in the Jordan. He denied being theMessiah.
It is unstated whether or not John the Baptist baptised Jesus. He insisted Jesus was superior: theSon/Lamb of God.
Two of John the Baptist's disciples – includingAndrew – defected to Jesus at John's own insistence.
John the Baptist baptised at Enon/Salim before being arrested. His disciples told him Jesus was successful; John endorsed Jesus as his superior and the Son of God.
Jesus heard the rumour he was more successful than John.
Jewish Antiquities 18. 5. 2.
John the Baptist preached to people and baptised them.
John the Baptist was therefore arrested by Herod Antipas.
John the Baptist, in prison, heard about Jesus' deeds, sent some disciples to ask if Jesus was the awaited one. Jesus listed his miracles and said: 'Blessed is he who does not reject me'. The disciples returned to John the Baptist.
Herod wanted to kill John, but was afraid of the people.
John the Baptist criticised king Herod Antipas for marrying his brother's ex-wife Herodias.
John the Baptist was therefore arrested by Herod Antipas.
Herodias wanted John killed, but Herod Antipas protected John because he knew John was a just and holy man.
John the Baptist was executed by beheading by Herod Antipas on the request of Herodias' daughter. His disciples buried his remains.
Luke 3:19–20, 7:18–25, 9:9
John the Baptist criticised king Herod Antipas for marrying his brother's ex-wife Herodias and other evils.
John the Baptist was therefore arrested by Herod Antipas.
John the Baptist [in prison?] heard about Jesus' deeds (inCapernaum andNain), sent 2 disciples to ask if Jesus was the awaited one. Jesus listed his miracles and said: 'Blessed is he who does not reject me.' The disciples returned to John the Baptist.
[no execution motive mentioned]
John the Baptist was executed by beheading by Herod Antipas.
John 3:24
[no arrest motive mentioned]
John the Baptist was arrested.
[no execution motive mentioned]
[no execution mentioned]
Jewish Antiquities 18. 5. 2.
John the Baptist gained a large following.
Herod Antipas feared the widely popular John the Baptist would incite his followers to launch a rebellion against his rule.
Therefore, he had John the Baptist arrested and imprisoned atMacherus.
Herod Antipas later had John the Baptist executed 'to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties'.
Epilogue
Matthew 14:1–6
Word of Jesus' miracles spread.
Herod Antipas concluded Jesus was actually John the Baptist risen from the dead.
Mark 6:14–16
Word of Jesus' miracles spread; some people believed Jesus was actually John the Baptist risen from the dead, others believed he wasElijah, still others he was like a prophet of the past.
Herod Antipas agreed with those saying Jesus was actually John the Baptist risen from the dead.
Luke 9:7–9
Word of Jesus' miracles spread; some people believed Jesus was actually John the Baptist risen from the dead, others believed he was Elijah, still others that an old prophet had risen.
Herod Antipas did not believe Jesus was John the Baptist, but had to be someone else.
John 5:30–38
Jesus said his claims were reliable, because he knew John the Baptist's testimony about Jesus was reliable, even though Jesus did not need human testimony.
John 10:40–42
The narrator downplays John the Baptist's deeds in comparison to Jesus, and claims John's testimony of Jesus had convinced many people to believe in Jesus.
Jewish Antiquities 18. 5. 2.
Some Jews believed God later destroyed Herod Antipas' army as a punishment, because he had unjustly executed John the Baptist.
Worshipers outside a church during the feast day service inPskov, Russia
The liturgical commemoration of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist is almost as old as that commemoratinghis birth, which is one of the oldestfeasts, if not the oldest, introduced into both the Eastern and Western liturgies to honour a saint.
The Beheading of St John the Baptist byJan Rombouts
There are two other related feasts observed by Eastern Christians:
First and Second Findings of the Head of St. John the Baptist (24 February). According tochurch tradition, after the execution of John the Baptist, his disciples buried his body atSebastia, except for his head, which Herodias took and buried in a dung heap. Later,Saint Joanna, who was married to Herod's steward,[7] secretly took his head and buried it on theMount of Olives, where it remained hidden for centuries.
TheFirst Finding is said to have occurred in the fourth century. The property on the Mount of Olives where the head was buried eventually passed into the possession of a government official who became amonk with the name of Innocent. He built a church and amonastic cell there. When he started to dig the foundation, the vessel with the head of John the Baptist was uncovered, but fearful that therelic might be abused by unbelievers, he hid it again in the same place it had been found. Upon his death, the church fell into ruin and was destroyed.
TheSecond Finding is said to have occurred in the year 452. During the days ofConstantine the Great, two monks on apilgrimage to Jerusalem reportedly saw visions of John the Baptist, who revealed to them the location of his head. They uncovered the relic, placed it in a sack and proceeded home. Along the way, they encountered an unnamed potter and gave him the bag to carry, not telling him what it was. John the Baptist appeared to him and ordered him to flee from the careless and lazy monks, with what he held in his hands. He did so and took the head home with him. Before his death, he placed it in a container and gave it to his sister. After some time, ahieromonk by the name of Eustathius, anArian, came into possession of it, using it to attract followers to his teaching. He buried the head in a cave, near Emesa. Eventually, a monastery was built at that place. In the year 452, St. John the Baptist appeared to Archimandrite Marcellus of this monastery and indicated where his head was hidden in a water jar buried in the earth. The relic was brought into the city ofEmesa and was later transferred to Constantinople.[8]
Third Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist (25 May). The head was transferred toComana ofCappadocia during a period of Muslim raids (about 820), and it was hidden in the ground during a period oficonoclasticpersecution. When the veneration oficons was restored in 850,Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople (847–857) saw in a vision place where the head of St. John had been hidden. The patriarch communicated this to theemperorMichael III, who sent a delegation to Comana, where the head was found. Afterwards, the head was again transferred to Constantinople, and here, on 25 May, it was placed in a church at the court.[9]
John the Baptist is said to have been buried at thePalestinian village ofSebastia, near modern-dayNablus in theWest Bank. Mention is made of hisrelics being honored there in the fourth century. The historiansRufinus andTheodoretus record that theshrine wasdesecrated underJulian the Apostate around 362, the bones being partly burned. The tomb at Sebastia continued, nevertheless, to be visited by pious pilgrims, andSt. Jerome bears witness to miracles being worked there. Today, the tomb is housed in theNabi Yahya Mosque ("John the Baptist Mosque").
What became of the head of John the Baptist is difficult to determine.Nicephorus[10] andSymeon Metaphrastes say that Herodias had it buried in the fortress of Machaerus (in accordance with Josephus). Other writers say that it was interred in Herod's palace at Jerusalem; there, it was found during the reign of Constantine and thence secretly taken toEmesa, inPhoenicia, where it was concealed, the place remaining unknown for years, until it was manifested by a revelation in 453.
Over the centuries, there have been many discrepancies in the various legends and claimed relics throughout the world. Several different locations claim to possess the severed head of John the Baptist. Among the various claimants are:[11]
In medieval times, it was rumored that theKnights Templar had possession of the head, and multiple records from theirInquisition in the early 14th century make reference to some form of head veneration.[12]
During the Crusaders'looting of Constantinople in 1204, Wallo or Walo(n) de Sarton, canon ofPicquigny inPicardy, discovered a half-ball of transparent crystal on a silver plate that contained front facial bones of the skull withoutmandible. The Greek lettering around the plate indicated that the bones were from John the Baptist but he could not read Greek and so went from monastery to monastery trying to get information. Walon sold the plate in order to pay for his voyage back home, brought the relic and gave it to the bishop atAmiens. This made theAmiens Cathedral a major pilgrimage site in France, and was the main impetus for building the magnificent Gothic cathedral that still stands.[13][14]
At the beginning of the 17th century there was some confusion about whose relics were venerated in theBasilica of Saint Sylvester the First: some claimed they were bones ofSt. John, the martyr of Rome, and the others that they were the Baptist's.Pope Clement VIII, to remove all reasonable doubt, requested that the canons of Amiens provide a particle of the relics of St John for the basilica. In 1604, he was given a part ofparietal bone that was inserted into a wax skull, and is still kept in the basilica.[15][16] TheRoman Catholic tradition holds that the bone on display inSan Silvestro in Capite is a true relic of John the Baptist.[17]
According to some traditions,Luke the Evangelist went to the city ofSebastia, the place of John's burial site, from which he took the right hand of the Forerunner (the hand that baptized Jesus) and brought it toAntioch, his home city, where it performed miracles. It is reported that the relic would be brought out and shown to the faithful on the Feast of theExaltation of the Cross (14 September). If the fingers of the hand were open, it was interpreted as a sign of a bountiful year; if the hand was closed, it would be a poor harvest (1 September was the beginning of theliturgical year and the harvest season).
The arm is then said to have been transferred from Antioch toConstantinople in 956. On 7 January, the Orthodox Church celebrates the "Feast of the Transfer of the Right Hand of the Holy Forerunner" from Antioch to Constantinople and the Miracle of Saint John the Forerunner against theHagarines atChios.
Having been brought fromAntioch to Constantinople at the time ofConstantine VII, the arm was kept in the Emperor's chapel in the 12th century, then in theChurch of the Virgin of the Pharos, then in the Church of Peribleptos in the first half of the 15th century. Spanish envoy Clavijo reported that he saw two different arms in two different monasteries while on a visit to Constantinople in 1404.
The Turks allege that in 1585,Sultan Murad III managed to retrieve a part of the relic from theChristian Knights and had the arm brought back to Constantinople (presentlyIstanbul, Turkey), where it remains up to this day at theTopkapı Palace. The arm is kept in a gold-embellished silver reliquary. There are several inscriptions on the arm: "The beloved of God" on the forefinger, "This is the hand of the Baptist" on the wrist, and "belongs to monk Dolin" on the band above the elbow.[20]
The right hand of John the Baptist that is kept inSiena Cathedral (in the chapel in the north arm of the transept) was acquired by the firstSerbian archbishopSaint Sava, as testified by the inscription on the reliquary, sometime after the fall of Constantinople. It was kept in theŽiča monastery, and around 1290, when warfare made the northern areas of Serbia unsafe, transferred to the newly established archiepiscopal see of theSerbian Orthodox Church atPeć. From there it was presumably relocated byHelena, daughter of the last Byzantine emperor,Constantine XI Palaiologos and widow of the despot of Serbia,Lazar Branković, either to Constantinople or directly to her uncleThomas Palaiologos, despot of the Morea, who fled to Italy in 1461 and sold his whole collection of relics toPope Pius II. The pope bequeathed the hand to Siena cathedral in 1464. A special chapel was built for it. The relic is displayed only once a year, onWhit Monday.[24]
Other purported relics include:
It has also been claimed that a fragment of the right forearm is kept at theDionysiou Monastery onMount Athos, Greece. At the beginning of the 19th century, the advisor toPrussia in Constantinople, John Frangopoulos, was in possession of this relic and he adorned it with jewels. On 10 March 1802 it was brought to Dionysiou Monastery through the efforts of its abbot, Joachim Agiostratiti.[25]
Aachen Cathedral, inGermany, contains a robe supposedly worn by John the Baptist, adored as a relic.
In July 2010, a smallreliquary was discovered under the ruins of a 5th-century monastery onSt. Ivan Island, Bulgaria. Local archaeologists opened the reliquary in August and found bone fragments of a skull, a hand and a tooth, which they believe belong to John the Baptist, based on their interpretation of a Greek inscription on the reliquary. TheBulgarian Orthodoxbishop who witnessed the opening speculated that the relics might have been a gift from an 11th-century church on the island possibly dedicated to the saint.[27] The remains have beencarbon-dated to the 1st century.[citation needed]
A reliquary with a purported finger of Saint John the Baptist is displayed in theNelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.[28]
St. John died a martyr to his calling. Having been called by God to be a preacher of penance, he represented Herod's sin to him, and reminded him of the law of God. On this account he died a violent death at the age of thirty-two. To him applies the eighth beatitude: "Blessed are they who suffer persecution, for justice' sake." His soul passed directly into Limbo, where he, like St. Joseph, awaited the arrival of the Messias, and the speedy accomplishment of the work of Redemption. When our Lord ascended into heaven, he was taken up with Him into everlasting happiness. The Church honours him as a great Saint, and on the 24th of June celebrates his nativity, because he was born without original sin.[29]
The subsequent history of Herod andSalome is related in thegreat commentary ofCornelius a Lapide:
Wherefore the just vengeance of God burned against all who were concerned in this crime. Herod was defeated by Aretas. Afterwards he was banished with Herodias to Lyons, and deprived of his tetrarchy and everything by Caligula, at the instigation of Herod Agrippa, the brother of Herodias, as Josephus relates (xvii. 10). Moreover, the head of the dancing daughter was cut off by means of ice. Hear what Nicephorus says, "As she was journeying once in the winter-time, and a frozen river had to be crossed on foot, the ice broke beneath her, not without the providence of God. Straightway she sank down up to her neck. This made her dance and wriggle about with all the lower parts of her body, not on land, but in the water. Her wicked head was glazed with ice, and at length severed from her body by the sharp edges, not of iron, but of the frozen water. Thus in the very ice she displayed the dance of death, and furnished a spectacle to all who beheld it, which brought to mind what she had done.[30]
Depictions of Salome, Herod, and the death of John the Baptist
Scenes from the events around the death of John were an extremely common subject in the treatment ofJohn the Baptist in art, initially most often in smallpredella scenes, and later as a subject for larger independent works. The following list does not attempt completeness but begins with works with their own articles, then includes many of the best-known depictions in chronological order (to see each work, follow the link through the footnote):[31]
^Wendy M. K. Shaw (2010). "Between the secular and the sacred: a new face for the Department of the Holy Relics at the Topkapı Palace Museum".Material Religion (6/1). Taylor and Francis Ltd.:129–131.ISSN1743-2200.
^Danica Popović (January 2017). "The Siena relic of St John the Baptist's right arm".Zograf (41). Department of History of Art, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade:77–94.ISSN0350-1361.
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