Talk:John of God

St John of Gods?

This last sentence makes no sense. What are "St. John of Gods"? 70.161.208.216 (talk) 02:28, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

João Duarte Cidade or João Cidade Duarte?

I see his name has been changed from João Duarte Cidade to João Cidade Duarte. I’ve checked the Portuguese and Spanish Wikipedia articles on him. The Portuguese article has João Duarte Cidade, and the Spanish article has João Cidade Duarte. He was born in Portugal, but died in Spain. So which takes precedence? I don’t know, but I’d have thought the English version would be João Duarte Cidade.TheTruth-2009 (talk) 18:54, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Good question. His paternal surname was Cidade and the maternal was Duarte. In Spanish usage, the paternal surname precedes the maternal one. In Portuguese usage, the maternal surname is used as a middle name, similar to American usage. Since he is more closely identified with Spain, where he lived from his childhood, between the two, I'd vote for the Spanish form. The different forms might be worth noting, though. Daniel the Monk (talk) 19:55, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for that information. I wasn’t surprised, as I had heard that the Spanish convention was different from the English/American (my understanding was that a woman retained her maiden name when she married), but I didn’t know about the Portuguese convention. I have now looked up the Wikipedia article on last names, and I see it’s a complex topic (which thankfully we don’t need to go into here). I have two comments. One is that, as this is the English version of Wikipedia, and it is based in America, the English/American convention should be followed, so his name should be shown as João Duarte Cidade, which is what it was before the recent change. The other comment is that, if the recent change is retained, then he should be referred to as Duarte throughout the article, so all those Cidade names should be changed accordingly, for consistency. Nevertheless, I agree that the article should mention the two forms. The simplest solution is to give both forms initially, and then leave the Cidade names as is.TheTruth-2009 (talk) 17:54, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

I have now implemented my “simplest solution”.TheTruth-2009 (talk) 08:48, 10 September 2013 (UTC)

How are we to see the subject of this afrticle against the earlier widespread association - e.g.in the orders of Hospitallers and the Knights of Malta - between St John and hospitals?94.194.2.12 (talk) 20:46, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Your "simplest solution" works in any event, for, even though the Spanish use both family names for the formal form, a person is generally referred to by that of the father. Confusing?

Also, I think that asserting that the English Wiki is American-based would start a debate which you cannot imagine. Daniel the Monk (talk) 21:18, 10 September 2013 (UTC)

I’m relieved that my “simplest solution” is acceptable, despite the confusing complexity.

I’ll be more careful in my description of the English Wikipedia in future.TheTruth-2009 (talk) 05:20, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Latin name of John of God

I have searched the Internet and I have found only 5 instances of Joannes Dei / Ioannes Dei. AFAIK the correct (and most widely) used version is Joannes a Deo, which should be used instead (it is used in the Roman Catholic search anyway). I personally would prefer using I instead of J (i.e. Ioannes a Deo), but that is a matter of taste.

Anyway, I could edit it, but I want to hear another opinion on the matter first. :) 7otto (talk) 17:06, 26 August 2020 (UTC)