John Niciota

John Niciota (from Nicius, probably the city of that name in the Thebais), also surnamed the Recluse, patriarch of the Jacobite Alexandrian Church, flourished in the early part of the 6th century, and was in the patriarchal chair from 507 to 517. He is noted for his violent opposition to the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon, and is said to have refused communication with any that did not expressly anathematize them, and to have promised the emperor Anastasius two hundred pounds of gold if he would procure their final and decisive abrogation (see Neale, Hist. East. Ch. [Alexandria] 2, 26, 27; Theophanes, s.a. A.D. 512). Among the Jacobites, who in his day enjoyed especial favors at the imperial court (a period on which, says Neale, "the Jacobite writers dwell with peculiar complacency," and in which "their heresy had gained a footing which it never before or since possessed"), John Niciota, better known as patriarch John II of Alexandria, is reckoned among the saints. He is believed to be the author of a learned work against the Pelagians, addressed to pope Gelasius. Some think it was written by John I of Alexandria, but it is in all probability the production of John Niciota, and was written before his accession to the patriarchal chair. (J.H.W.)