Ioannes 235 was imperialis silentiarius under Constantine V (Konstantinos 7); apparently in late summer 752 he was sent to Rome with iussiones from the emperor, one addressed to pope Stephen III (II) (Stephanos 8), and another to the Lombard king Aistulf 1 demanding the return to imperial rule of those places which Aistulf 1 had seized; he was sent by Stephanos 8 to Aistulf 1 at Ravenna, accompanied by the deacon Paulus (Paulos 49), the pope's brother; they were received there, only to be dismissed with an empty answer and accompanied by a Lombard envoy (Anonymus 243) to Constantinople; they returned to Rome and reported that the mission had achieved nothing; Ioannes 235 returned to Constantinople with papal representatives and a request from Stephanos 8 for the emperor to come and use all means to liberate Italy from the Lombard threat; Ioannes 235 is described several times as "imperialis missus": Lib. Pont. 94. 8-9. The date is inferred from the place in the narrative, following events in the spring and summer of 752. Imperialis silentiarius; he returned from Constantinople with the pope's representatives and the Lombard envoy (Anonymus 243) with orders for the pope to visit Aistulf 1 to discuss the territorial dispute: Lib. Pont. 94. 17. This was in late summer 753. He presumably accompanied the papal party, which left Rome on 14 October 753, on its journey to visit Aistulf 1 at Ticinum (Pavia): Lib. Pont. 94. 19. In Pavia he delivered a letter from the emperor to the Lombard king and appealed for the restoration of the occupied territories, but without result ("nam et imperialis missus" (not named, but presumably Ioannes) "et ille simili modo petiit et imperiales litteras illi tribuit et nihil obtinere potuit"): Lib. Pont. 94. 21. Probably in 756 he was sent as envoy by Constantine V (Konstantinos 7) with Georgios 130 to the Frankish king Pippinus (Pepin 1) ("imperiales missi, Georgius scilicet proto a secreta et Iohannis silentiarius"); on arrival in Rome they were told by pope Stephen III (II) (Stephanos 8) that Pepin 1 was marching against the Lombards, but they refused to believe him; Stephanos 8 then sent them with an envoy of his own (Anonymus 252) to Francia, where they soon reached Marseilles (Maxilia) and learnt that Pepin 1 had already entered Lombard territory: Lib. Pont. 94. 43. They tried to prevent the papal envoy from proceeding to see Pepin 1, and when they failed Georgios 130 went on ahead, Ioannes 235 apparently remaining behind in Marseilles: Lib. Pont. 94. 44. According to a note in Duchesne (Lib. Pont., p. 460, n.48), Ioannes 235 was apparently still in Francia early in 757: Codex Carolinus, no. 11 (p. 506) (referring to an unnamed silentiarius, probably Ioannes 235). See Rochow, Konstantin V, pp. 217-218. Cf. Ioannes 216.

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