John II of France

John II, a portrait painted on wood panel ca 1350 (Louvre Museum), the oldest profile portrait in Europe

French Monarchy
Capetian Dynasty
(Valois branch)

Philip VI Children    John II John II Children    Charles V    Louis I of Anjou    John, Duke of Berry    Philip II, Duke of Burgundy Charles V Children    Charles VI    Louis, Duke of Orléans Charles VI Children    Isabella of Valois    Catherine of Valois    Charles VII Charles VII Children    Louis XI Louis XI Children    Charles VIII Charles VIII

John II the Good (French: Jean II le Bon) (April 16, 1319 – April 8, 1364), was King of France 1350–1364, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou and Maine 1332–1350, Count of Poitiers 1344–1350, and Duke of Guienne 1345–1350. John, a member of the Valois Dynasty, was the son of Philippe VI and Jeanne of Burgundy.

He was crowned King of France in 1350 in the cathedral at Reims. As king, Jean surrounded himself with poor administrators, preferring to enjoy the good life his wealth as king brought. The men he relied on to administer his kingdom were brutal thieves but eventually King Jean changed.

In the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 against Edward, the Black Prince (son of King Edward III of England), Jean suffered a humiliating defeat and was taken as captive back to England. While negotiating a peace accord, he was at first held in the Savoy Palace, then at Windsor, Hertford, Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire and finally in the Tower of London. As a prisoner of the English, the King of France was granted royal privileges, permitted to travel about, and to enjoy a regal lifestyle. At a time when law and order was breaking down in France and the government was having a hard time raising money for the defense of the realm, his account books during his captivity show that he was purchasing horses, pets and clothes while maintaining an astrologer and a court band.

A local tradition in St Albans is that he was also held in a house in that town, at the site of the 15th century Fleur de Lys inn, before he was taken to Hertford Castle. There is a sign on the inn to that effect, but apparently no evidence to confirm the tradition.

The treaty of Brétigny signed in 1360 set his ransom at 3,000,000 crowns. In keeping with the honor between himself and the English King Edward III, and leaving his son Louis of Anjou in English-held Calais as a replacement hostage, Jean was allowed to return to France to raise his ransom funds.

While King Jean tried to raise the money, his son Louis, accorded the same royal dignity, easily escaped from the English. An angry King Jean surrendered himself again to the English, claiming an inability to pay the ransom as the reason. The true motive of Jean's decision remains murky today, with many pointing to the devastation in France caused by war with England and the domestic peasant uprising known as the Jacquerie as likely candidates. His councillors and nearly the whole nation was critical of the decision, since they had raised the ransom through painstaking sacrifice. However Jean arrived in England in early 1364, looked upon by ordinary citizens and English royalty alike with great admiration. Accordingly, he was held as an honored prisoner in the Savoy Palace but died a few months later.

King Jean died in London in 1364 and his body was returned to France, where he was interred in the royal chambers at Saint Denis Basilica.

Family and children

On July 28, 1332, at the age of 13, he was married to Bonne of Luxembourg (d. 1349), daughter of John the Blind of Luxemburg, king of Bohemia. Their children were:

1. Charles V le Sage (January 21, 1338 – September 16, 1380)
2. Louis, Duc d'Anjou (July 23, 1339 – September 20, 1384)
3. Jean, Duc de Berry (November 30, 1340 – June 15, 1416)
4. Philippe, Duke of Burgundy (January 17, 1342 – April 27, 1404)
5. Jeanne (June 24, 1343 – November 3, 1373), married Charles II the Bad, King of Navarre
6. Marie (September 12, 1344 – October 1404), married Robert I, Duke of Bar
7. Agnès (1345–1349)
8. Marguerite (1347–1352)
9. Isabelle (October 1, 1348 – September 11, 1372), married Gian Galeazzo I, Duke of Milan

On February 19, 1349 (old style), at Nanterre, he married Joanna I of Auvergne (d. 1361), Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne. She was widow of Philip of Burgundy, the deceased heir of that duchy, and mother of the young Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (1344-61) who became John's stepson and ward. John and Joanna had two daughters, both of whom died young:

1. Blanche (b. 1350)
2. Catherine (b. 1352)

He was succeeded by his son, Charles V.