St. John of Capistrano

St. John Capistrano was a Franciscan friar and is the patron saint of judges and military chaplains. He was born in Capistrano, Italy, in 1386. His father was a former German knight. John was working as a lawyer when he was arrested after trying to broker a peace between the two warring factions of Perugia and Malatesta in 1416.
During his imprisonment, he discerned a change of vocation, even though he had married just before the war. The marriage was never consummated, and with his wife’s permission, it was annulled.
He entered the Franciscans at Perugia in 1416 and was ordained in 1420. He was a very good preacher and gave missions to thousands of people throughout Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Russia. He established several communities of Franciscan renewal and had the gift of healing. He also defended the teachings of the Church against many of the heresies of the day.
After the fall of Constantinople, he preached for a Crusade against the Muslim Turks. At age 70 he was commissioned by the Pope to lead it, and marched off at the head of 70,000 troops. He won the great battle of Belgrade in the summer of 1456. He died in the field a few months later, in 1456, but his army delivered Europe from the Muslims.