Bonne de Luxembourg, first wife of King Jean II the Good (le Bon), was born on the 20th of May 1315. She was the second daughter of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, and his first spouse, Elisabeth of Bohemia. When the baby girl first saw the world, she was...
King Jean II of France: family background, personality, and actions
King Jean II of France known as the Good (le Bon) was born on the 16th of April 1319 at Château du Gué-de-Maulny near Le Mans, in France. Given the horrendous troubles his reign brought to France, I think that he should be known not as the Good, but as...
Jean de Valois, Duke de Berry: though a politician, but more a devout art collector
Jean de Valois, Duke de Berry (known as Jean the Magnificent) was born on the 30th of November 1340 (died on the 15th of June 1416). Jean had many titles: he was Duke de Berry and d’Auvergne, as well as Count de Poitiers and de Montpensier. He was the 3rd...
The Treaty of Brétigny: English temporary triumph over the French
On the 24th of October 1360, the Treaty of Brétigny was ratified, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War. This treaty was a sheer calamity for France and a temporary victory for England. This document was drafted on the 8th of May 1360 between King...
Louis II, Duke d’Anjou: unsuccessful quest for the throne of Naples
Louis II, Duke d'Anjou and Count de Provence from 1384 to 1417, was born on the 5th of October 1377. The eldest son of Louis I of Anjou and Marie de Blois, Louis was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou, which was founded by his father. Louis I of...
Unfit to rule: the merry captivity of King Jean II of France after the 1356 Poitiers catastrophe
King Jean II of France, called the Good (le Bon), was the second Valois monarch, and, as some historians say, ‘The shame of France’. How could the ruler who also has the nickname ‘the Good’ deserve such an epithet? The clue to the understanding of this reasoning is in the...