John the Conqueror second cousin/That little Johnny Conqueroo", and in "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" it is called "John De Conquer Blue". John the Conqueror was an African prince who was sold as a slave in the Americas. Despite his enslavement, his spirit was never broken and he survived in folklore as a sort of a trickster figure, because of the tricks he played to evade his masters. Joel Chandler Harris's Br'er Rabbit of the "Uncle Remus" stories is said to be patterned after High John the Conqueror. Zora Neale Hurston wrote of his adventures ("High John de Conquer") in her collection of
Johannes Remus Quietanus of Padua in 1608 where he studied medicine. There he was also acquainted with Galileo. In Italy, he took up the latinized name Johannes Remus Quietanus and converted to Catholicism. In 1609, he made a southbound trip to Sicily and Malta. In 1611, he was in Rome where he sent the first letter to Kepler. In Rome, Remus Quietanus was well received by the pontifical circle. He befriended a number of cardinals and Giovanni Faber, secretary of the Accademia dei Lincei. He made astronomical observations, especially solar and lunar eclipses, and wrote two pamphlets on this subject. In 1618, Remus