Capistrano,

Capistrano, GIOVANNI DA, born 24th June 1386, at the little town of Capistrano, in the Abruzzi, entered the Franciscan order at the age of thirty, and there distinguished himself by his eloquence and devotion. From 1426 he was employed as legate by several popes, and acted as inquisitor against the Fraticelli (q.v.). In 1450 he preached a crusade in Germany against Turks and heretics, appealing to the masses, not the nobles, and successfully opposed the Hussites in Moravia, although from Bohemia he was expelled by George Podiebrad; his fanaticism led to many cruel actions, such as the racking and burning of forty Jews in Breslau, on a charge of profaning the Host. When Belgrade was besieged by Mohammed II. in 1456, he led a rabble of 60,000 to its relief; but his enthusiasm was greater than his strength, and he died at Illock, on the Danube, 23d October 1456. He was canonised in 1690.