John II of France

John II of France, called the Good (in original French, Jean II le Bon) (Le Mans, April 26, 1319-London, April 8, 1364), was the second King of France of the House of Valois. He was the son of Philip VI of France and Joan of Burgundy.

Biography

At the start of the Hundred Years' War, John was appointed an officer and later a general of the French troops, fighting mainly in Brittany. As a general he was greedy for money, poor in judgment, stubborn and mainly ill-advised. However, he was generous with his own and endowed with a courageous spirit in battle, which earned him the nickname "El Bueno".

He was crowned on his 30th birthday. His reign was marked by serious financial problems, intrigues generated by the King of Navarre, Carlos the Bad (pretender to the French throne), by the crisis of the States General and by the prolonged Hundred Years' War with England.

The English, cleverly led by Edward III and his son the Black Prince, took King John prisoner at the Battle of Poitiers along with his son, Philip, in 1356. He was taken to London and released four years later, at signed the Treaty of Brétigny with the commitment of a payment of 3 million gold escudos. As a guarantee, two of his sons (Juan and Luis) had to go to London and take the place of his father and brother. However, Luis fled in 1363, and the king had to return and surrender, complying with the code of honor that required him. He died a few months later, in April 1364.

Personality

Letter from Juan el Bueno during his captivity in Windsor, to his son Carlos about Pierre de la Batut

John the Good was in fragile health. He did not engage in much physical activity, seldom participated in jousting, and only occasionally enjoyed hunting. Contemporary accounts note that he was quick to anger and resort to violence, leading to frequent political and diplomatic confrontations. He liked reading (he had the Decades of the Roman historian Tito Livio translated into French by the Benedictine Pierre Bersuire, whom he also protected), and he was also a patron of painters and musicians.

The image of a "warrior king" probably stems from his courageous behavior at the Battle of Poitiers and the creation of the Order of the Star (Ordre de l'Étoile), both prompted by political necessity rather than love of chivalry, for John was determined to prove the legitimacy of his crown, particularly as his reign, like his father's, was dominated by continual disputes over the Valois claim emanating from both Charles II of Navarre and Edward III of England.

However, he demonstrated his honor and respect for the rules of chivalry prevailing at the time, by surrendering to the English, once his son Luis escaped and broke his word.

From a young age, Juan resisted the decentralizing forces that affected the cities and the nobility, each of them attracted either by the economic influence of the English, or by the reformist party. He grew up amid intrigue and treachery, and consequently ruled in secret with only a few trusted advisers.

He married Bona from Luxembourg and fathered eleven children in eleven years. Due to his close relationship with Carlos de la Cerda, rumors were spread by Carlos II of Navarre that there was a romantic relationship between them. De la Cerda was conferred various honors and was appointed to the high office of connetable (constable), so when John became king, he accompanied him on all his official trips through the provinces. De la Cerda's rise at court excited the jealousy of the French barons, several of whom stabbed him to death in 1354. Carlos de la Cerda's fate was much the same as that of Edward II of England's favorite, Piers Gaveston, and that of Juan II of Castile, Álvaro de Luna; the position of royal favorite was dangerous. The pain of King Juan for the death of de la Cerda was open and public.

Context

The court of Philip VI of France was highly cosmopolitan. John I of Bohemia was regularly present at court, as was his son, Charles of Luxembourg, future Holy Roman Emperor. This is how John was betrothed at the age of 13 to Bona of Luxembourg, Charles's sister and daughter of Juan de Bohemia. France exerted an economic and administrative attraction since the time of Saint Louis, the modernization of the legal system attracted neighboring nations to take advantage of this new system and gradually integrate culturally. Particularly in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire, in the cities of Dauphiné, in the county of Burgundy or Franche-Comté, French justice was used to mediate disputes. For example, the king sent his representatives from Mâcon to intervene in Lyon.

Marriage and Dolphin

The French kings knew how to take advantage of the relationship with the nobility around the Rhône, granting them rents and putting into practice a skilful marriage policy. Thus, the House of Savoy paid homage to the King of France. In the same way, Count Humberto II of Vienne, constrained by debts and without heirs after the death of his only son, sold Dauphiné to Felipe VI with the dream of becoming a crusader, with the only condition that they be the firstborn princes who will wear the dolphin crown. In this way, the Dauphiné would always enjoy an exclusive king for them and young enough not to intervene too much in their affairs.

Thus, John was the first dauphin of France, a title that would be retained until the end of the French monarchy.

Duchy of Normandy

John received Normandy as an inheritance and found that much of his nobility was under English influence. In fact, economically Normandy depended on both the maritime trade of the English Channel and the river trade of the River Seine. The Norman rebels wanted to see their leader Godfrey of Harcourt as duke, who was seeking greater autonomy for the duchy. His castle Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte was occupied by royal troops, and Godfrey had to take refuge in the Duchy of Brabant., his mother's hometown. Three of his allies were caught and later beheaded in Paris on April 3, 1344, and their heads were placed at the main entrance to Saint-Lô.

In Brabant, the rebel Godfrey found that the Flemings led by Jacob van Artevelde had recognized King Edward III of England as sovereign of France due to the succession conflict between the two kingdoms.

Godfrey went to England, where Edward took him under his wing. In addition to the Norman and Flemish homage, France was increasingly threatened by England due to the instability of the Valois on the throne and the disasters of the Battle of Crécy and the English siege of Calais. This was how the French began to lose prestige fighting against their own vassals who went over to the enemy's side. At this point the Valois decided to parley. Juan met with Godfrey de Harcourt, to whom all his assets were restored, and King Felipe VI named him Sovereign Captain of Normandy.

The Norman nobility had long been divided into two camps: the Earls of Tancarville and the Earls of Harcourt fought a merciless war that had already lasted many generations. It was necessary that, after Godfrey's appointment, John should reconcile with the Tancavilles in order to dominate Normandy.

Viscount Juan de Melun was betrothed to Juana, sole heiress to the county of Tancarville, and was at the head of this party. The Melun-Tancarvilles were part of the party in favor of Juan, since between Godofredo and Carlos the Malo, claimant to the throne of France as a descendant of Philip IV the Fair, a secret alliance was obvious.

In 1347, after the battle of Crécy and the siege of Calais, Felipe VI was already a highly discredited 53-year-old man, so his son Juan along with his allies from Normandy seized power, entered the Council of the King and in the Chamber of Counts, to gradually assume high positions in the administration of the State. It was Juan who finalized the negotiations with the Dauphinado.

John's wife, Bona of Luxemburg, who had borne him eleven children (four of whom were boys), died on September 11, 1349 of the Black Death. Felipe, to increase his possessions, made a diplomatic move by having his son marry the widow Juana I of Auvergne, daughter of William of Auvergne and Margaret of Évreux.

Joan, aged 24, was Countess of Boulogne and Auvergne, widow of Philippe of Burgundy, Count of Auvergne. Thus, the dauphin Juan was seen at the head of the duchy and the county of Burgundy, in addition to Artois, as regent on behalf of his son, Philip.

Rise to power

Consecration of John II.

The Hundred Years War had a lull during the period when Europe was affected by the Black Death.

The first stage of the war had been conspicuously advantageous for England; in it, Edward III had won overwhelming victories. The Valois forces were scattered and poorly organized. Eduardo III and Carlos el Malo de Navarra, both descendants of Felipe IV el Hermoso, aspired to the French crown to the detriment of the Valois.

On August 22, 1350, Felipe VI died. On August 29, a fleet under the command of Carlos de la Cerda landed in Winchelsea, a town a few kilometers from Hastings. Edward, who was on his way to Reims to be recognized as sovereign of France, had to divert attention from him. The naval battle decided in favor of the English, although they suffered heavy losses, and the King of England could no longer oppose the hasty coronation of John II who was consecrated, along with his second wife Joan I of Auvergne, in the Cathedral of Reims on September 26, 1350 by Archbishop John II of Vienne.

Carlos de Navarra el Malo was the son of Juana II of Navarre, who had been deprived of her rights to the French crown when her legitimacy as the daughter of Louis X of France was questioned, due to the infidelity of his mother, Margarita de Borgoña, and finally recognized as queen of Navarre where the Salic law did not apply. In his claims to the throne, the Navarrese king, with possessions in Normandy, had known how to surround himself with nobles dissatisfied with the administration of the kingdom and was supported by many allies: the counts of Boulogne and their relatives from Auvergne, as well as the barons of Champagne., faithful to their mother Juana II of Navarre (who was also a countess of that place) and to Roberto III of Artois, a fugitive of Felipe VI. He also had the support of the University of Paris and of the North-West merchants, for whom trade across the English Channel was essential.

The execution of Raúl de Brienne

On November 19, 1350, John had Constable Raul II of Brienne executed. The latter had recently returned from imprisonment in England. The causes of the execution were kept secret, although he was probably accused of high treason, since his possessions and interests stretched across the kingdoms of France, England, and Ireland.

As lord of a coastal region in northwestern France, he had economic interests with the enemy, at a time when maritime transport was more convenient and safer than land transport. Raúl had negotiated his release with the commitment to recognize Eduardo as king of France and John would have learned of this from spies. John would not have wanted this made public lest he be forced to re-raise the question of his legitimacy on the throne. Within 24 hours, Raoul II of Brienne He was arrested, tried behind closed doors, and beheaded. All his assets were confiscated.

Silence about the reasons for the conviction would leave the field free for gossip and suspicion, saying that the constable had been beheaded for having had a relationship with the king's first wife. These gossips gave rise to the population to discredit the descendants of the Valois and brand them as illegitimate, which resulted in the questioning of the right of inheritance of the descendants of Juan.

The feeling that remained was very negative. Raúl de Brienne had many followers and friends who noticed the conflict of interests, the Norman lords and the nobility of the northwest (Picardy, Artois, Vermandois, Beauvais and Flanders) whose economy partly depended on the English, felt threatened.

The constable's execution allowed Juan to name one of his favorites, Carlos de la Cerda, known as Carlos of Spain, grandson of Alfonso de la Cerda the Disinherited and Blanca of France, daughter of King Louis IX of France.

Reorganization measures

Creation of the Ordre de l'Étoile

John II invising Knights.

The Order of the Garter, created by Edward III, was putting the loyalty of many French knights at risk, given that after generations of matrimonial alliances, seigneurial domains depended on more than one kingdom. For this reason, when the kings summoned under a certain honorary order, many times they did not know which sovereign to obey. The lords of western France had been able to follow a more economic logic, since the English Channel was an important area of exchange, and tended in favor of the English.

That is why John II created the Ordre de l'Étoile (Order of the Star). During this time, feudalism was in crisis and the nobility was facing a noticeable decline in numbers. their rents, added to the increase of their own population. The incomes of the nobility were defined by an extremely expensive tradition of honor: living off the labor of their commoners. The nobleman in return had to protect his people from the threats he might be exposed to.Many noblemen would have been able to switch sides if their English lands were profitable. It was for this that the Knights of the Order of the Star were given a salary.

The rules of the order reflected the chivalrous ideal, and its headquarters were established in Saint-Ouen, near Saint-Denis, where the kings were buried and the royal insignia were preserved. The members distinguished themselves with a necklace from which hung a white and red star with the following legend: Monstrant regibus astra viam (The stars show the path of the king).

His first mission was to change the perception of military courage and discipline, which had been badly weakened by the disastrous results of the Battle of Crécy.

The statutes stated that members of the order were never to turn their backs on the enemy, and during the first meeting they swore never to go back more than four steps. While these measures were honorably sensible, in practice if a military unit is threatened and does not fall back, it is at great risk of being lost. In fact, in the battle of Poitiers this rule led to the death and capture of many combatants, including the king himself who, together with one of his sons, was taken prisoner. The Order of the Star thus ended its short history.

Regulation of the economy

Currency with the image of John II.

The demographic effects of the Black Death brought with it a great decrease in labor and agricultural products. To avoid inflation, John froze wages with an ordinance of January 30, 1351, imitating what Edward III of England had done two years earlier with his "Charter for Laborers". The ordinance prohibited begging, as inactivity It greatly affected the lack of labor and vagabondage was strongly linked to criminal gangs that were active throughout the kingdom. Anyone who was under the protection of the corresponding guilds could establish himself as a craftsman in Paris, whose mission was to prevent the price hike; the licenses were distributed opportunely and their prices were fixed.

War Regulations

On April 30 of that same year, a new ordinance increased the salary of the soldiers, introduced an inspection department for the control of the troops: each combatant had to be part of a company under the command of a captain.

Suspension of debts

After the death of Felipe VI, the truce signed in 1347 lost its validity. The king's troops marched to Saint-Jean-d'Angély on August 11, 1351. Under the pretext of building up a war treasury in the event of renewed hostilities, John suspended payment of debts.

It was normal at that time to ask for loans from wealthy bankers, who were reimbursed with the collection of taxes. As these tax collectors were very unpopular, the measure was very well received. On the other hand, it brought to light the need to reform the tax system.

Conflict with the King of Navarre and continuation of the Hundred Years' War

Carlos el Malo in front of Juan el Bueno.

When Joan II died in 1349, the throne of Navarre and the county of Évreux passed to her son, Carlos, barely 18 years old, who would later be known as “Charles the Bad”.

Apparently Charles was short but extremely ambitious, and in 1350, when Philip VI of France died and the future John II of France tried to occupy the throne, he claimed the crown for himself, being on his mother's side the most next descendant of Felipe IV el Hermoso.

To make up for it, John II gave him in marriage his own daughter, Joan of Valois, who was only eight years old. The marriage took place in February 1352 at the castle of Vivier, in the Île-de-France region.

Shortly thereafter, problems began between the father-in-law, John II of France, and his son-in-law, Charles II of Navarre, which led the latter to be implicated in the assassination in 1354 of the new Constable of France, the Frenchman of royal ancestry Castilians Carlos de la Cerda, to whom the new King of France had assigned some French property that had been the secular property of the Navarrese royal family as descendants of the House of Champagne. The English king immediately took advantage of the situation to establish an alliance with Navarre. In order to hinder this agreement, Juan II offered Charles the Bad a pardon and to expand his Normandy territories. During the signing of this treaty, there was a new conflict between Juan II and Carlos II of Navarre, and the latter fled to Avignon to resume talks with the King of England.

Edward III's eldest son, Edward of Woodstock the Black Prince, arrived in Bordeaux and for two months devastated the region. Juan II gave in again to Carlos' requests for fear of invasion.

John the Good asked for the support of Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg, his brother-in-law until the death of his first wife Bona in September 1349, who in return asked that the regions of Verdun, Vienne and Cambrai be restored to him. John sent his son, the dauphin, then king from 1364 as Charles V of France, to pay homage to the emperor for the imperial fief. But when he arrived, Juan had already been taken prisoner by the English, and the emperor granted the dauphin and heir to the French throne the appointment of imperial vicar for the regions, but ultimately he will do nothing in favor of Juan II.

In the summer of 1356, Charles the Bad tried to ally the Normans and Navarrese with the Dauphin Charles, heir to the French throne. Juan reacted by imprisoning the King of Navarre and confiscating all his assets in Harcourt and those of all the Navarrese nobles in Normandy; he also sent several Normans and Navarrese to the gallows.

Eduardo III received a request for help from the accused and sent troops to support them. From Bordeaux, his son the Black Prince crossed the Loire and, finding himself face to face with the French army, retreated and regrouped in the vicinity of Poitiers, where he fought and defeated the French at the Battle of Poitiers, in which John II was taken prisoner.

About 7,000 Englishmen faced almost 15,000 Frenchmen. King John used a new tactic, the French cavalry. Contrary to what was done at Crécy, he dismounted to fight on foot, divided into three divisions to break through the English archers and engage the melee infantry. However, this did not happen, since the archers managed to keep them at a distance and the few horse troops that they had not dismounted were not enough to turn the tide of the battle.

First captivity

John the Good surrender in the battle of Poitiers.

John the Good was treated with great courtesy by the Prince of Wales, Edward, who urgently sent him to Bordeaux.

In the spring of 1357, after agreeing to a two-year truce, the Prince of Wales led John II to London, where he was greeted by an enormous number of onlookers. There he waited for his release for almost three years, dedicated to hunting and jousting, treated with great courtesy and receiving money from his subjects. Only in recent years has the regime of his “captivity” hardened somewhat.

Struggle for power in France

Meanwhile, the kingdom of France was in the young and inexperienced hands of the Dauphin Charles, later dubbed the Wise One by the council of nobles.

This council included Étienne Marcel, a wealthy cloth merchant who wanted to introduce changes in French trade policy. He had a large part of the population of Paris in favor of him and was also a supporter of Carlos the Bad, from whom he demanded his release. In November 1357, Carlos de Navarra achieved his release and met with Marcel in Paris, with the intention of controlling the prince and regent of the kingdom. The Dauphin, however, left Paris and at Compiègne summoned the Estates General who were faithful to him, calling on troops to defend his cause.

Both sides began to raid the outskirts of Paris, looting the fields and bringing suffering to the peasants, so that on May 28, 1358, after the execution of some lords from the Picardy area, anger exploded of the peasantry against the nobility, guilty of all the misfortunes the kingdom was going through. The revolt, which was called the Jacquerie, was led by William Carle, and was extremely hard on the nobility, especially with the looting and theft of their properties and castles.

Étienne Marcel supported Jacquerie while Carlos the Bad faced her and managed, thanks to deceit, to lure Guillermo Carle and have him put to death. Thus came an end to the revolt, which without a leader was quickly put out. By June, more than 20,000 serfs had died.

The King of Navarre intended to enter Paris and proclaim himself King of France, but when Étienne Marcel was assassinated on July 21, 1358, Charles renounced his intentions. On August 2, the dauphin entered Paris and was enthusiastically welcomed by the city.

When the Estates General was convened, it was decreed to continue the war with the English, but before, Carlos preferred to attack the King of Navarre by besieging Melun, for fear that the English would help Carlos the Bad. In June 1359 the definitive peace was sealed, which decreed that the King of Navarre kept all his properties and received others, in addition to returning the privilege of entering Paris.

As the Bordeaux truce had expired, Edward III marched that autumn to Reims to have himself crowned King of France. But Reims resisted and Eduardo will have to spend the winter in Burgundy. In spring he grouped in front of Paris.

On May 1, 1360, peace talks began, which concluded about a week later:

• King Edward III of England renounced the throne of France but in compensation obtained various territories from which France was to retire: Ponthieu, Calais, Gascuña, and much of Aquitaine.

• France had to pay a ransom for its king of three million crowns of gold, in different quotas, the first of which was 600,000 crowns of gold.

• A number of hostages, chosen among the best nobles of France, were to be delivered as a pledge for the payment of the following assessments. Two of them were the sons of King John: Luis de Anjou and Juan de Berry.

John arrived in Calais in July, Edward III received the hostages and only 400,000 crowns were paid out of the first installment; the treaty was ratified on October 24, 1360.

Back in France, Juan will have to make the treaty effective. The pledged territories were delivered in two years, while the collection of funds was a little slower. The first installment was completed the following year and due to frost and the return of the plague, finances were negative. That is why in the year 1361, John still owed about a million crowns to the King of England, and his children were still captive.

Another negative element was the fact that the camps fell victim to armed gangs, known as “Grandes Compagnies”, who after fighting for so long in the war, now that peace had come, had reorganized and lived off the land. looting and ransoms, and they were particularly cruel when they did not get the desired garment. These bands were distributed among the richest agricultural areas. Only in Normandy, where Bertrand du Guesclin was responsible, were the gangs defeated, but in the rest of the kingdom they continued looting and even defeated the Royal Army. But eventually the companies dispersed in various directions, lightening the situation.

Successor of Burgundy.

After the death of Felipe I of Burgundy in 1361, the case of the succession of his dukedom was reopened, which according to Carlos the Bad corresponded to him, as he was the closest relative. However, Juan II annexed the territories to the crown and in 1363 he personally appeared in Dijon to take possession and deliver it to his son, Philip.

Seeing himself expropriated from Burgundy, Carlos the Bad resumed hostilities, but this time against the dauphin Carlos, since Juan II was again in prison in London.

Second captivity and death

Given the difficulties in collecting the last part of the ransom, Juan had to give the English new territorial concessions. He was trying to free the royal princes still in prison in London when his second son, Louis of Anjou, betrayed his word and fled.

Juan, after harshly disapproving of his son, decided to save his honor and surrender to the English. The dauphin Charles was made regent and John returned to London in 1364, where he was received with great magnificence.

Return of John the Good to England, illustrated in the Great chroniques de France Jean Froissart.

However, a few months later, he fell ill with an unknown disease, dying on April 8 of that same year. His body was returned to France and buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

Marriages and offspring

John II married Bona of Luxembourg on July 28, 1332 at the young age of 13. They had eleven children:

• White of France (1336)
• Charles de France (1338-1380), dolphin of Viennois, Duke of Normandy and King of France
• Catherine of France (1338)
• Louis de France (1339-1416), Duke of Anjou and Maine, later king of Naples.
• John of France (1340-1416), Duke of Berry and Count of Poitiers.
• Philip of France (1342-1404), Duke of Burgundy.
• Juana de France (1343-1373), queen consorte de Navarra as the wife of Carlos II.
• Mary of France (1344-1404), duchess consort of Bar as wife of Roberto I.
• Inés de France (1345-1349)
• Margarita de France (1347-1352)
• Isabel de France (1348-1372), duchess consort of Milan as the wife of Gian Galeazzo Visconti.

Bona died of the Black Death in 1349, and John married Joan I of Auvergne the following year, with whom he had three children who died very young.

• White of France (1350)
• Catherine of France (1352)
• a male (1354)

Ancestors

Predecessor: Integrated in the French Royal Domain (previous Philip I)	Count of Anjou 1332 - 1350	Successor: Integrates into the French Royal Dominion (Next headline Luis I de Anjou)
Predecessor: Integrated in the French Royal Domain	Duke of Normandy 1332 - 1350	Successor: Integrates into the French Royal Dominion (Next headline Carlos de Valois)
Predecessor: Felipe VI	King of France 1350 - 1364	Successor: Carlos V