John the Baptist was an itinerant Jewish preacher active in the early first century, associated with a movement of ritual baptism at the River Jordan. According to the Gospels, he was a cousin of Jesus, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, and proclaimed a message of repentance in preparation for the coming of Christ. He is traditionally described as the forerunner or precursor, and is believed to have baptised Jesus, inaugurating Christ’s public ministry.