Who was Saint John of God?

Saint John of God became one of the forerunners of modern nursing and was considered the patron saint of this occupation, proving to be an innovative, intelligent and avant-garde figure for his time. Find out who Saint John of God was and the most important milestones in his life.

Infancy of Saint John of God

Saint John of God was born in 1495 in a municipality belonging to the province of Toledo. His origins have been a subject of much confusion for many years because his first biographer, Francisco de Castro, stated that he was born in Portugal, although this fact was not true.

From the age of 12 he began to work as a shepherd, at the same time as he received a Christian education adapted to the knowledge of the time.

Military period

Later, when St. John of God reached adulthood, he decided to enlist in the troops of an infantry captain who was in the service of Emperor Charles V. These events took place when he was 28 years old.

This experience was quite complex, as he had to fight in tough battles until he was expelled for neglecting his company's provisions, which were stolen by the enemy. As a result, he came very close to being hanged. Saint John of God commended himself to the Virgin Mary and his life was spared.

When he finished his duties as a soldier, he landed on the Galician coast, visited Portugal and travelled to Gibraltar to reach Africa.

During the boat trip, he was hired as a servant by a knight who, together with his wife and four daughters, set off for Ceuta. However, the whole family fell ill and asked St. John of God for help, who began to work on the reconstruction of the city walls to feed them, showing signs of his enormous charity.

Conversion of St. John of God

Later, St. John of God moved permanently to Granada, where he opened a small bookshop near the Puerta Elvira and began to come into contact with religious books.

It is worth noting that the moment of his conversion occurred on 20 January after witnessing a sermon by St. John of Avila in the Hermitage of the Martyrs.

After this event, he distributed all his books, stripped himself of his possessions and wandered around the city begging for mercy, until the public authorities admitted him to the Royal Hospital, dedicated to the mentally ill.

There he observed the poor treatment of the patients and decided to work for the rights of the sick.

Contribution to health and help for the sick

St. John of God dedicated the rest of his life to caring for the sick and to improving all the medical centres that cared for them.

In addition, he founded numerous hospitals, initiated medical staff into voluntary work and committed himself to charity. Thus, Granada admired him for being a poor and simple man who fought for the health of the people and the welfare of the most disadvantaged.

Saint John of God died on 8 March 1550 and hundreds of years later he was proclaimed Patron Saint of Hospitals and the Sick, Patron Saint of Nurses and Patron Saint of the Fire Brigade, for his actions in extinguishing a fire that broke out in the Royal Hospital of Granada.

As you have been able to see throughout this article where we give an answer to who San Juan de Dios was, we can see that his acts and his goodness saved the lives of many people and healed the illnesses of different patients, giving rise to the creation of hospitals, sculptural monuments, works of art and an endless number of commemorative places in the city of Granada to remember his work.

Would you like to learn more about one of the most influential figures in the history of the Renaissance in Granada? Buy ➡️ your private tour online on the official ticketing website of the Archdiocese of Granada and discover his experiences.