John the Fearless

John the Fearless
Copy of an original from c. 1415 by Rogier van der Weyden
Duke of Burgundy
Reign	27 April 1404 – 10 September 1419
Predecessor	Philip II
Successor	Philip III
Born	28 May 1371 Ducal palace, Dijon, Burgundy
Died	10 September 1419 (aged 48) Montereau, France
Burial	Champmol, Dijon
Spouse	Margaret of Bavaria ​ (m. 1385)​
Issue more...	Margaret, Dauphine of France Mary, Duchess of Cleves Philip III, Duke of Burgundy Anne, Duchess of Bedford Agnes, Duchess of Bourbon
House	Valois-Burgundy
Father	Philip the Bold
Mother	Margaret III, Countess of Flanders
Signature

John I (

John played an important role in the development of gunpowder artillery in European warfare, making extensive and successful use of it in his military campaigns.^[2]

Early life

John was born in

John inherited the

Louis tried to gain the favour of the wife of Charles VI, Queen Isabeau of France, and may have become her lover. After his son-in-law, the Dauphin Louis, was successively kidnapped and recovered by both parties, the Duke of Burgundy managed to gain appointment by royal decree—during one of the King's "absent" periods when mental illness manifested itself—as guardian of the Dauphin and the King's children. This did not improve relations between John and the Duke of Orléans. Soon the two rivals descended into making open threats.^{[citation needed]} Their uncle, John, Duke of Berry, secured a vow of solemn reconciliation on 20 November 1407, but only three days later, on 23 November 1407, Louis was brutally assassinated in the streets of Paris.^[3] The order, no one doubted, had come from the Duke of Burgundy, who shortly admitted to the deed and declared it to be a justifiable act of "tyrannicide". According to Thomas Walsingham, Orléans had simply received his just deserts as he had been "taking his pleasure with whores, harlots, incest" and had committed adultery with the wife of an unnamed knight who had taken his revenge by killing him under the protection of the Duke of Burgundy.^[5] After an escape from Paris and a few skirmishes against the Orléans party, John managed to recover the King's favour. In the treaty of Chartres, signed on 9 March 1409, the King absolved the Duke of Burgundy of the crime, and he and Louis' son Charles pledged a reconciliation. A later edict renewed John's guardianship of the Dauphin.^[3]

He moved further closer to securing the Regency for himself when he had

Two years later, with the rivalry between Burgundians and Armagnacs at an all-time high because of the shattering defeat at Agincourt, John's troops set about the task of capturing Paris. On 30 May 1418, he did capture the city, but not before the new Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France, had escaped. John then installed himself in Paris and made himself protector of the King. Although not an open ally of the English, John did nothing to prevent the surrender of Rouen in 1419. With the whole of northern France in English hands and Paris occupied by Burgundy, the Dauphin tried to bring about a reconciliation with John. They met in July and swore peace on the bridge of Pouilly-le-Fort, near Melun. On the grounds that peace was not sufficiently assured by the meeting at Pouilly, a fresh interview was proposed by the Dauphin to take place on 10 September 1419 on the bridge at Montereau. John of Burgundy was present with his escort for what he considered a diplomatic meeting. He was, however, assassinated by the Dauphin's companions. He was later buried in Dijon. Following this, his son and successor Philip the Good formed an alliance with the English, which would prolong the Hundred Years' War for decades and cause incalculable damage to France and its subjects.^[3]

Family

John and his wife Margaret, who were married in 1385, had the following children:

1. Monterberg bei Kalkar); married Adolph I, Duke of Cleves^[7]
2. Duke of Brittany^[3]
3. Philip ΙΙΙ (1396–1467), son and heir^[8]
4. Catherine (1399–1414,
   Louis of Anjou^[9]
5. Joanna (1399–1406), died young[9]
6. Isabelle (1400–1412, Rouvres);
   Olivier de Châtillon-Blois, Count of Penthièvre and Périgord^[9]
7. John, Duke of Bedford^[7]
8. Agnes (1407–1476, Château de Moulins); married Charles I, Duke of Bourbon^[7]

John and his mistress Agnes de Croy, daughter of Jean I de Croÿ, had the following child:^[11]

• John of Burgundy, Bishop of Cambrai

John and his mistress Marguerite de Borsele had the following children:^[12][13]

• Guy of Burgundy, Lord of Kruibeke (killed at the siege of Calais in 1436); married Johanna, illegitimate daughter of Albert I, Duke of Bavaria^[14][13]
• Antoine of Burgundy^[15]
• Philipotte of Burgundy, Lady of Joncy; married Antoine of Rochebaron, Baron of Berze-le-Chatel^[12][14]

Ancestry

Titles

See also

• Dukes of Burgundy

References

Sources

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Poupardin, René (1911). "John, called the Fearless". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 445–46.
• Smith, Robert Douglas &
  ISBN 978-1843831624
  .
• Lindquist, Sherry C.M. (2016). Agency, Visuality and Society at the Chartreuse de Champmol. Routledge. p. 72.
• Vaughan, R. (1998). "John, Duke of Burgundy". Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Vaughan, Richard (2005). John the Fearless. The Dukes of Burgundy. Vol. 2 (reprinted new ed.). Boydell Press.
  ISBN 978-0851159164
  .
• Kasten, Brigitte (2008). Herrscher- und Fürstentestamente im westeuropäischen Mittelalter. Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar. p. 478.
• Kerrebrouck, Patrick van (1990). Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste maison de France. Les Valois. Vol. 3. Villeneuve-d'Arcy. p. 517.
• Library of Congress staff (16 December 2014) [2011]. "Library of Congress Name Authority File: Anne, of Burgundy, Duchess of Bedford, 1404?–1432".
• Sommé, Monique (1998). Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne: une femme au pouvoir au XVe siècle. Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. p. 69.
  ISBN 978-2859395490
  .
• Ward, A.W.; Prothero, G.W.; Leathes, Stanley, eds. (1934). The Cambridge Modern History. Vol. XIII. Cambridge University Press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John the Fearless.

• Jean sans Peur/John the Fearless. Archived.
• Tour Jean-sans-Peur (in French)
• One of John the Fearless' rings (in French)

John the Fearless House of Valois-Burgundy Cadet branch of the House of Valois Born: 28 May 1371 Died: 10 September 1419
Regnal titles
Preceded by Philip the Bold	Duke of Burgundy 1404–1419	Succeeded by Philip the Good
	Count of Charolais 1404–1405
Preceded by Margaret III & II	Burgundy 1405–1419
	Count of Nevers 1384–1404	Succeeded by Philip II