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Giovanni Battista de' Cavalieri: Pope John II
Pope John II, engraving by Giovanni Battista de' Cavalieri, 1587; in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
John II
pope
Also known as: Mercurius
John II (born, Rome [Italy]—died May 8, 535, Rome) was the pope from 533 to 535. He was the first pontiff to change his original name, which he considered pagan, assuming the name of the martyred St. John (523–526).
John’s pontificate opposed Nestorianism, the heresy that separated the divine and human natures of Christ and denied the Virgin Mary the title Mother of God. Nestorianism had been condemned by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. In 534 the Byzantine emperor Justinian I persuaded John to condemn the Acoemeti, a group of monks in Constantinople who had adopted Nestorianism. They were excommunicated on March 24/25, 534, thus ending the Theopaschite controversy.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Mindy Johnston.
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