John the Old Saxon facts for kids

John the Old Saxon was an important scholar and abbot (the head of a monastery) who lived around 885 to 904. He was also known as John of Saxony. He likely came from a place called Old Saxony, which is in modern-day Germany. King Alfred the Great invited John to England. John helped King Alfred bring back learning and education to England during his rule. A monk named Asser, who wrote about Alfred's life, said that John was very smart and knew a lot about many subjects. He was also very clever in how he expressed himself.

Who Was John the Old Saxon?

His Name and Where He Came From

John is often called Iohannes. Asser, the monk who wrote about King Alfred, said John was from "Old" Saxony. This means he came from east of the Rhine River, not from Anglo-Saxon England. We don't know exactly where he was born or grew up. Since he was a monk, he might have been raised in a monastery in Saxony, like Korvey or Gandersheim. However, he could also have come from western Francia (modern-day France), just like another scholar named Grimbald did around the same time in the mid-880s. Asser also mentioned that John had some experience with fighting. This suggests he might not have grown up in a monastery his whole life.

John's Role as Abbot of Athelney

Becoming an Abbot

King Alfred was working on translating important books from Latin into Old English. He mentioned that "John my mass-priest" helped him with one of his first translations. This was Pope Gregory's Regula Pastoralis, a guide for church leaders. In 892, John signed one of King Alfred's important documents, which was a grant to a leader named Ealdorman Æthelhelm. This shows that John was likely involved in shaping Alfred's church policies.

Founding Athelney Abbey

When King Alfred decided to build a new monastery at Athelney, he chose John to be its abbot. However, some of the monks at Athelney were from "Gallic" or West Frankish (French) areas. Two of these Frankish monks hired assassins to attack John. The attackers hid in the church and waited for John to come in to pray alone. John was badly hurt, but his cries brought friends who saved him.

Later Life and Death

John survived the attack and continued to be an important figure. He signed several documents for King Edward the Elder, who was King Alfred's son. The latest of these documents is from 904. In these later documents, he is called "priest" instead of "abbot." This might mean he had stopped being the abbot by then, but it's not certain. We don't know the exact date John died. A writer named William of Malmesbury recorded an epitaph (a message on a tombstone) for a "John the scholar" who was buried at Malmesbury. It's possible this was John the Old Saxon, even though he isn't known to have had a connection to Malmesbury.

John's Writings

Poems and Their Meaning

It is very likely that John the Old Saxon wrote a few Latin poems that use a special style called acrostic. In an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line spells out a word. One of these poems is eight lines long and spells "ADALSTAN" down the side and "IOHANNES" at the end of each line. This poem was probably copied in England around the 930s. The spelling "Adalstan" is how someone speaking a German dialect might write the Old English name Æþelstan. This suggests that "Iohannes" is John the Old Saxon's signature. The poem describes Adalstan as a prince. It was probably written to praise Æthelstan, King Alfred's young grandson, who later became king from 924 to 939. This poem also uses some Greek words and old-fashioned language. This style became very popular in English Latin writing during the 10th century. Acrostic poems were rare back then. Because of this, two other acrostic poems dedicated to King Alfred might also have been written by John the Old Saxon.

See also

• Asser
• Grimbald
• Alfred the Great
• History of Anglo-Saxon England
• Anglo-Latin literature
• Old Saxon
• Old Saxony