Jean II "the Good", King of
France 1350-1364, (1319-1364)
Born 26 April 1319 Gue-de-Maulin
Died 8 April 1364 London (as prisoner)
Buried St.Denis
Married (1) 28 March 1332 Melun
Judith of Bohemia, daughter of Johann "the Blind", King of
Bohemia 1310-1346 and Elisabeth of Bohemia
Born 20 May 1315
Died 11 September 1349 Maubuisson
Married (2) 19 February 1350 Nanterre
Jeanne, Comtesse d'Auvergne et Boulogne, daughter of
Guillaume XII-X, Count d'Auvergne et de Boulogne and
Marguerite d'Evreux
Born 8 May 1326
Died 29 September 1360 or 21 November 1361
He was only thirteen when he married Judith of Luxembourg and, in 1350,
succeeded his father as King of France. His first act was the execution
of the constable of France and conferring the office on his
favourte, Charles de la Cerda. At Poitiers on 19 September 1356 the
French army was overwhelmingly defeated by English forces under Edward,
the Prince of Wales, and Jean II was captured.
Taken to London in May 1357, Edward III housed him in the Tower of London
and treated him as an honoured guest. Edward III then negotiated with Jean
II's son, the future King Charles V, who acted as
regent in France. The ransom for Jean II was set at 700,000 pounds
in the first Treaty of London of May 1358, which also called for French
recognition of English sovereignty over Aquitaine and parts of
northern France.
Charles rejected Edward III's terms and Jean II remained in English
hands until 1360 when, at the end of a brief campaign in France, Edward
III resumed negotiations at Bretigny. By the Treaty of Bretigny in May
1360 Jean II was ransomed for 500,000 pounds, a sum for which a group of
hostages, including Louis his second son, were sent as surety to England
until payment had been completed. Louis escaped from English captivity
in 1364 and, in accordance with the chivalric code, Jean II returned to
England, where he died later the same year.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
