John II of Castile
John II | |
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King of Castile and León | |
Reign | 25 December 1406 – 20 July 1454 |
Predecessor | Henry III |
Successor | Henry IV |
Born | 6 March 1405 Toro, Zamora |
Died | 20 July 1454 Valladolid | (aged 49)
Burial | |
Spouses | |
Issue among others... | |
House | Trastámara |
Father | Henry III of Castile |
Mother | Catherine of Lancaster |
Signature |
John II of Castile (Spanish: Juan; 6 March 1405 – 20 July 1454) was
Regency
John was the son of King Henry III and his wife, Catherine of Lancaster.[2] His mother was the granddaughter of King Peter, who was ousted by Henry III's grandfather, King Henry II. John succeeded his father on 25 December 1406, and united in his person the claims of both Peter and Henry II. His mother and his uncle, King Ferdinand I of Aragon, were co-regents during his minority. When Ferdinand I died in 1416, his mother governed alone until her death in 1418.
Personal rule
John II's reign, lasting 48 years, was one of the longest in Castilian history, but John himself was not a particularly capable monarch. He spent his time verse-making, hunting, and holding tournaments. His
John II's Regents declared the Valladolid laws in 1411, which restricted the social activity of Jews. Among the most notable of the provisions were outlining that Jews must wear distinctive clothes and banned them from holding administrative positions. However, once John took control of the throne for himself in 1418, he (though likely influenced politically by de Luna) reversed such ordinances, favoring instead a more tolerant attitude toward the already battered Jewish population of Castile following the mass wave of conversions between 1391 and 1415.
In 1431, John placed
He was "[T]all and handsome, fair-skinned and slightly ruddy... his hair was the color of a very mature hazelnut, the nose a little snub, the eyes between green and blue... he had very graceful legs and feet and hands."[5]
John II was the single largest contributor to the continuing construction of the Alcázar of Segovia and built the "New Tower" known today as the "Tower of John II".
John II died on 20 July 1454 in Valladolid.
Family and children
In 1418, John married Maria of Aragon, the oldest daughter of his paternal uncle, Ferdinand I of Aragon.[2] The marriage produced:
- Catherine, Princess of Asturias (1422–1424), his heiress presumptive from her birth until her death
- Eleanor, Princess of Asturias (1423–1425), his heiress presumptive from the death of Catherine until the birth of Henry
- King Henry IV of Castile (1425–1474)[2]
- Infanta Maria (1428–1429)
Of all their children, only the future
- Queen Isabella I of Castile (1451–1504)[2]
- Alfonso, Prince of Asturias (1453–1468)[2]
Ancestry
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See also
References
- ^ Piferrer, F.; Busel, A.R. (1859). Nobiliario de los reinos y señorios de España (revisado por A. Rujula y Busel). Nobiliario de los reinos y señorios de España (in Spanish). p. 228. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Previte-Orton 1912, p. 902.
- ^ Eisenberg, Daniel [in Spanish] (1990). "Juan II of Castile; Enrique IV of Castile". In Dynes, Wayne (ed.). Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York: Garland. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- ^ Harvey 1990, p. 251.
- ^ From 'Crónica de Juan II' by Lorenza Galindez de Carvajal (1517)
Sources
- Harvey, L. P. (1990). Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Previte-Orton, C.W. (1912). "The States of Western Europe". The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 872—910.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John II. of Castile". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 441. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the