San Giovanni in Florence. Pope Martin V protested in vain against the inscription on the sarcophagus: "John the former pope". J.P. Kirsch remarks that "Undeniably secular and ambitious, his moral life was not above reproach, and his unscrupulous methods in no wise accorded with the requirements of his high office ... the heinous crimes of which his opponents in the council accused him were certainly gravely exaggerated." One historian concluded that John was "a great man in temporal things, but a complete failure and worthless in spiritual things". Fictional depictions John is portrayed by Steven Waddington in the 2016 television series Medici: Masters of Florence. John is also a main character in A Trembling Upon Rome by Richard Condon. The 1932 thriller Safe Custody by Dornford Yates, references John. Listing the members of an objectionable family, a character in the story says: "Then we come to his nephew—a promising lad of fifteen. He lies, steals, smells, assaults the servants and abuses any animal which he is satisfied will not retaliate. If Gibbon may be believed, Pope John the Twenty-third as a stripling must have resembled him". Russian writer Dmitry Balashov wrote the novel Baltazar Kossa (Бальтазар Косса) about Antipope John XXIII. Numbering issues He should not be confused with Pope John XXIII of the twentieth century. When Angelo Roncalli was elected pope in 1958, there was some confusion as to whether he would be John XXIII or John XXIV; he then declared that he was John XXIII to put this question to rest. There was no John XX, since that number was skipped due to an error by Medieval Pope John XXI; this is why Gibbon refers to the antipope John as John XXII. See also Papal selection before 1059 Papal conclave (since 1274) References Sources Further reading In 1983 political satirist/novelist Richard Condon (The Manchurian Candidate) wrote A Trembling Upon Rome, a novel of historical fiction about the life of Baldassare Cossa. 1370s births 1419 deaths Popes who abdicated People from the Province of Naples Antipopes Cardinal-bishops of Frascati Cardinal-nephews Deans of the College of Cardinals 15th-century antipopes 14th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops