John of Capistrano, Priest

John was the son of a German knight who was brought into the service of the King of Naples, Louis I. While his father died when John was quite young, he had the advantage of access to education. Having studied law, he was appointed governor of Perugia. After bubonic plague claimed thirty percent of the population, many city-states were often at war with each other. John tried to arrange a truce with Malatesta with which Perugia was at war. They threw him into prison and he learned that politics was not his calling. He entered the Franciscan Order and was ordained in 1420 and began working on reform of the order. He turned thousands away from heresy and converted many Jews and Moslems. He organized a crusade and turned back the Turks to save Europe. He contracted the plague and died a few months later. He is the patron saint of jurists and military chaplains.