Giovanni Saraceno (Latin Iohannes Saracenus, sometimes rendered "John the Saracen" in English) was the Archbishop of Bari and Canosa in the Kingdom of Sicily from 1259 until his death on 19 August 1280.
[2] His surname possibly indicates he was of Arab descent,[1] but his most recent ancestors belonged to the Papareschi family of Rome.
[3] Giovanni took over the Bariot diocese after the death of Archbishop Enrico Filangieri, at a time of open warfare between two claimants to the Sicilian crown.
[1] On 20 November 1267, Giovanni had two city judges authenticate some royal and papal grants to the diocese.
He signed as "Humble Brother Giovanni, Archbishop of the See of Bari and Canosa" (frater Johannes humilis barine et canusine Sedis Archiepiscopus).