The Passion of Saint John the Baptist

The Gospels of Mark and Matthew tell that Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, had John the Baptist imprisoned because John told him that it was not lawful for him to have Herodias, his brother's wife. At a banquet on Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced; Herod promised her anything she asked, and at her mother's prompting she asked for John's head on a platter. Herod, unwilling to break his oath before his guests, sent a guard who beheaded John in prison, and John's disciples took his body and buried it. The Jewish historian Josephus also records John's execution and names the fortress of Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea. The feast on 29 August goes back to the dedication of a church at Sebaste in Samaria, where tradition placed his tomb.