John of Falkenberg

John Of Falkenberg, surnamed Jacobita de Saxonia, or Doctor de Pratensis, a German Dominican, is celebrated for the zeal with which he defended pope Gregory XII in the Council of Constance. He also endeavored to defend the regicidal opinions of John Petit, but he failed in both instances. He next at the request of the Knights of the Cross, wrote a libel against Wladislas Jagellon, king of Poland, for which he was declared a heretic, and condemned to imprisonment for life at Rome. Pope Martin V, however, liberated him a few years after, and John, encouraged, now demanded of Paul of Russdorf, grand master of the Knights of the Cross, the price of the libel he had written. The latter offering him but a small amount, John of Falkenberg insulted him, whereupon he was again imprisoned, and condemned to be drowned. He escaped, however, retired to the convent of Kampen, and wrote against the order. He was present at the Council of Basle, in 1431, and died shortly after. See Echard, Script. Ord. Froed.; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Générale, 26, 563.