The true date of John's beheading was in the spring. However, this date was chosen for commemoration, as it was when the church built over John's relics, and those of his disciples, was consecrated.
     Herod Antipas was the son of the Herod who killed the children up to two years of age in search of Jesus. He took his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, while Philip was yet alive, and put his own wife, who was the daughter of an Arabian prince, away. John severely criticized Herod Antipas for this, and so he was imprisoned. Even though Herod "wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet...... Matthew 14:5. During a feast, Salome, Herod's niece, asked for the head of John on a platter. "And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it...... Matthew 14:9. John's disciples buried his body. Salome ordered that John's head be buried deep in the earth in an unclean place, for she feared that he would come back to life again. However, it was soon found and reburied on the Mount of Olives by a Christian woman of Herod's court.