General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> The /Good/
REFN: 12806AN
John II of France (French: Jean II de France; April 16, 1319–April 8, 1364
), was Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, and Duke of Normandy from 1332, Cou
nt of Poitiers from 1344, and Duke of Guyenne from 1345, and King of Fran
ce from 1350 until his death, as well as Duke of Burgundy from 1361 on. Jo
hn was a member of the Valois Dynasty and was the son of Philippe VI and J
eanne of Burgundy. John was nicknamed John the Good (Jean le Bon).
John's coronation as king took place in 1350 in the Notre-Dame de Reim
s. As king, John surrounded himself with poor administrators, preferri
ng to enjoy the good life his wealth as king brought. The men he reli
ed on to administer his kingdom were brutal thieves but eventually King Je
an changed.
In the 1356 Battle of Poitiers against Edward, the Black Prince (son of Ki
ng Edward III of England), Jean suffered a humiliating defeat and was tak
en as captive back to England. While negotiating a peace accord, he w
as at first held in the Savoy Palace, then at a variety of locations, incl
uding Windsor, Hertford, Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire, and Berkhamst
ed Castle in Hertfordshire. A local tradition in St Albans is that he w
as held in a house in that town, at the site of the 15th-century Fle
ur de Lys inn, before he was moved to Hertford. There is a sign on the i
nn to that effect, but apparently no evidence to confirm the tradition [1
]. Eventually, John was taken to the Tower of London.
As a prisoner of the English, John was granted royal privileges, permitt
ed to travel about, and to enjoy a regal lifestyle. At a time when law a
nd order was breaking down in France and the government was having a ha
rd time raising money for the defense of the realm, his account books duri
ng his captivity show that he was purchasing horses, pets and clothes whi
le maintaining an astrologer and a court band.
The 1360 Treaty of Brétigny set his ransom at 3,000,000 crowns. In keepi
ng with the honor between himself and King Edward III, and leaving his s
on Louis of Anjou in English-held Calais as a replacement hostage, John w
as allowed to return to France to raise his ransom funds.
French Monarchy
Capetian Dynasty
While King John tried to raise the money, his son Louis, accorded the sa
me royal dignity, easily escaped from the English. An angry King John surr
endered himself again to the English, claiming an inability to pay the ran
som as the reason. The true motive of John's decision remains murky toda
y, with many pointing to the devastation in France caused by war with Engl
and and the Jacquerie peasant uprising as likely candidates. His councillo
rs and nearly the whole nation was critical of the decision, since they h
ad raised the ransom through painstaking sacrifice. However Jean arriv
ed in England in early 1364, looked upon by ordinary citizens and Engli
sh royalty alike with great admiration. Accordingly, he was held as an hon
ored prisoner in the Savoy Palace but died in London a few months later.
His body was returned to France, where he was interred in the royal chambe
rs at Saint Denis Basilica.
On July 28, 1332, at the age of 13, he 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 of Anjou (July 23, 1339 September 20, 1384)
John of Valois (November 30, 1340 June 15, 1416)
Philippe, Duke of Burgundy (January 17, 1342  April 27, 1404)
Jeanne (June 24, 1343  November 3, 1373), married Charles II (the Ba
d) 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, Du
ke of Milan
On February 19, 1349 (old style), at Nanterre, he married Joanna I of Auve
rgne (d. 1361), Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne. She was widow of Phil
ip of Burgundy, the dec