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| John II the Good | |
| King of France (more...) | |
 Portrait of John painted on wood panel around 1350, Louvre Museum |
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| Reign | 22 August 1350 – 8 April 1364 |
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| Coronation | 26 September 1350, Reims |
| Titles | Count of Anjou and Maine, Duke of Normandy (1332 – 1350) Count of Poitiers (1344 – 1350) Duke of Guyenne (1345 – 1350) John I, Duke of Burgundy (1361-1363) Jure uxoris Count of Auvergne and Boulogne (1349–1360) |
| Born | 16 April 1319 |
| Died | 8 April 1364 (aged 44) |
| Place of death | Savoy Palace, London, England |
| Buried | Saint Denis Basilica |
| Predecessor | Philip VI |
| Successor | Charles V |
| Consort | Bonne of Bohemia (1315-1349) Joanna I of Auvergne (1326-1360) |
| Offspring | Charles V (1338-1380) Louis of Anjou (1339-1384) John, Duke of Berry (1340-1416) Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342-1404) Jeanne, Queen of Navarre (1343-1373) |
| Royal House | Valois Dynasty |
| Father | Philip VI (1293-1350) |
| Mother | Joan of Burgundy (1293-1348) |
John II (16 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: Jean le Bon), was Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, and Duke of Normandy from 1332, Count of Poitiers from 1344, Duke of Aquitaine from 1345, and King of France from 1350 until his death, as well as Duke of Burgundy (as John I) from 1361 to 1363. By his marriage to Joanna I, Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne, he became jure uxoris Count of Auvergne and Boulogne from 1349 to 1360. John was a member of the House of Valois, and was the son of Philippe VI and Jeanne of Burgundy.
John succeeded his father in 1350 and was crowned at Notre-Dame de Reims. As king, John surrounded himself with poor administrators, preferring to enjoy the good life his wealth as king brought. Later in his reign, he took over more of the administration himself.
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Treaty of Mantes
In 1354, John's son-in-law and cousin, Charles II of Navarre, who, in addition to his small Pyrenean kingdom, also held extensive lands in Normandy, was implicated in the assassination of the Constable of France, Charles de la Cerda. Nevertheless, in order to have a strategic ally against the English in Gascony, on 22 February 1354, John signed the Treaty of Mantes with Charles. The peace did not last between the two and Charles eventually struck up an alliance with Henry of Grosmont, the first Duke of Lancaster. The next year (1355), John signed the Treaty of Valognes with Charles, but this second peace lasted hardly longer than the first. In 1355, the Hundred Years' War flared up again.
In the Battle of Poitiers (1356) against Edward, the Black Prince, (son of King Edward III of England), John suffered a humiliating defeat and was taken as captive back to England. While negotiating a peace accord, he was at first held in the Savoy Palace, then at a variety of locations, including Windsor, Hertford, Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire, Berkhamsted Castle in Hertfordshire and briefly at King John's Lodge, formerly known as Shortridges, in East Sussex. A local tradition in St Albans is that he was held in a house in that town, at the site of the 15th-century Fleur de Lys inn, before he was moved to Hertford. There is a sign on the inn to that effect, but apparently no evidence to confirm the tradition [1]. Eventually, John was taken to the Tower of London.
Prisoner of the English
As a prisoner of the English, John was granted royal privileges, permitting him to travel about and to enjoy a regal lifestyle. At a time when law and order was breaking down in France and the government was having a hard time raising money for the defense of the realm, his account books during his captivity show that he was purchasing horses, pets, and clothes while maintaining an astrologer and a court band.citation needed
The Treaty of Brétigny (1360) set his ransom at 3,000,000 crowns. Leaving his son Louis of Anjou in English-held Calais as a replacement hostage, John was allowed to return to France to raise the funds.
While King John tried to raise the money, his son Louis, accorded the same royal dignity, easily escaped from the English. An angry King John surrendered himself again to the English, claiming an inability to pay the ransom as the reason. The true motive of John's decision remains murky today, with many pointing to the devastation in France caused by war with England and the Jacquerie peasant uprising as likely candidates. His councillors and nearly the whole nation was critical of the decision, since they had sacrificed much to raise the ransom. When John arrived in England in early 1364, however, he was viewed with admiration by ordinary citizens and English royalty alike. Although treated with honor while held in the Savoy Palace, he died in London a few months later.
His body was returned to France, where he was interred in the royal chambers at Saint Denis Basilica.
Personal relationships
Like many sodomites in the Middle Ages or ancien regime, John was more of a bisexual than a homosexual in the modern sense of the word; he took a wife Bonne de Luxembourg, and fathered 10 children, in eleven years. Yet the love of his life was Charles de la Cerda, a childhood friend. La Cerda was given various honours and appointed to the high position of connetable when John became king; he accompanied the king on all his official journeys to the provinces. La Cerda's rise at court excited the jealousy of the French barons, several of whom stabbed him to death in 1354 [1]. La Cerda's fate paralleled that of Edward II's Piers Gaveston in England, and John II of Castile's Alvaro de Luna in Spain; the position of a royal favourite was a dangerous one.
John's grief on La Cerda's death was overt and public, producing episodes of fury and despair - the king's feelings, as was often true in the case of similar liaisons in early modern Europe, were well known.[2]
Ancestry
John's ancestors in three generations
Family and children
On July 28, 1332, at the age of 13, John was married to Bonne of Bohemia (d. 1349), daughter of John I (the Blind) of Bohemia. Their children were:
- Charles V (January 21, 1338–September 16, 1380)
- Louis I, Duke of Anjou (July 23, 1339–September 20, 1384)
- John, Duke of Berry (November 30, 1340–June 15, 1416)
- Philippe II, Duke of Burgundy (January 17, 1342 – April 27, 1404)
- Jeanne (June 24, 1343 – November 3, 1373), married Charles II (the Bad) of Navarre
- Marie (September 12, 1344–October 1404), married Robert I, Duke of Bar
- Agnès (1345–1349)
- Marguerite (1347–1352)
- Isabelle (October 1, 1348–September 11, 1372), married Gian Galeazzo I, Duke of Milan
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On February 19, 1349 (old style), at Nanterre, he married Joanna I of Auvergne (d. 1361), Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne. She was widow of Philip of Burgundy, the deceased heir of that duchy, and mother of the young Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (1344-61) who became John's stepson and ward. John and Joanna had two daughters, both of whom died young:
- Blanche (b. 1350)
- Catherine (b. 1352)
He was succeeded by his son, Charles V.
External links
References
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John II of France
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty
Born: 16 April 1319 Died: 8 April 1364 |
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| French nobility | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New Creation (Philip VI of France) |
Count of Anjou and Maine 1332–22 August 1350 |
Succeeded by Merged into crown (eventually Louis I of Naples) |
| Preceded by New creation (John I of England) |
Duke of Normandy 1332–22 August 1350 |
Succeeded by Merged into the crown (eventually Charles V of France) |
| Preceded by New Creation (Philip V of France) |
Count of Poitou 1344–22 August 1350 |
Succeeded by Merged into crown (eventually John II) |
| Preceded by Edward III of England |
Duke of Guyenne 1345–22 August 1350 |
Succeeded by Merged into the crown (eventually Charles, 5th Dauphin) |
| Regnal titles | ||
| Preceded by Philip VI |
King of France 22 August 1350 – 8 April 1364 |
Succeeded by Charles V |
| Preceded by Philip of Burgundy |
Count of Auvergne and Boulogne by marriage with Joanna I 13 February 1349 – 29 September 1360 |
Succeeded by Margaret of Dampierre |
| Preceded by Philip of Rouvres |
Duke of Burgundy as 'John I' 1361 – 1363 |
Succeeded by Philip the Bold |
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