St. John was born in Capistrano, Italy in 1385. He was a student of the law at the University of Perugia and was a practicing lawyer for some time in Naples. He was appointed governor of Perugia and during war with a neighboring town was betrayed and imprisoned.
After he was released from his imprisonment he entered the Franciscan community in 1416. John traveled throughout Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Russia preaching penance and establishing Franciscan communities wherever he went.
His feast day is October 23 and he is the patron saint of jurists.