Parents: Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor, and Margaret of Brabant
Date of Birth: 10 August 1296
House: Luxembourg-Limburg
Spouse(s): (1) Elizabeth, daughter of Wenceslaus II, king of Bohemia, and Judith of Habsburg, then (2) Beatrice, daughter of Louis I, duke of Bourbon, and Mary of Avesnes
Predecessor: Henry
Reign: 1310 – 1346
Summary: An amalgam of nationalities who ruled an assortment of states, John was raised in Paris where he received a French education in German politics. His marriage in 1310 to a Bohemian princess sealed his fate in European politics. When Henry of Carinthia was deposed in Poland that same year, John was elected to replace him by the Bohemian cortes. His election also gave him the title King of Poland & Hungary, though the two thrones were currently occupied by another rival. As a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, John attempted to succeeded his father in 1314 to the imperial throne, but was defeated by Louis IV, duke of Bavaria. Despite his defeat, John generally supported the Bavarian emperor and even participated on the Bavarian side in the Battle of Mühldorf which saw the defeat of Frederick of Habsburg.
As with many foreign Bohemian kings, John was not well liked by the native Czech nobility. Accepting that, John left Bohemia to the cortes and travelled through Europe, living primarily in Paris and Luxembourg. From 1326 to 1332, he participated in conflicts between the Poles and the Teutonic Knights in Livonia in the hope that Wladyslaw I would be deposed in Poland to be replaced with John. John finally abandoned his pretensions to Poland and Hungary in 1335 at the Congress of Visegrád after being paid a significant sum by Wladyslaw's successor, Casimir III. By 1336, John was entirely blind but continued fighting for the Knights in Lithuania. When the Hundred Years' War broke out between England and France, John served as governor of Languedoc. Despite his blindness, John participated in the Battle of Crécy where he was ultimately killed alongside three other semi-sovereign princes. Chronicles of the time state that four of his knights tied horses to the king's horse and they rode into the battle where they killed many men before being overwhelmed. The body of the king and his knights, with their dead horses still tied together, were found the next morning. Edward, the Black Prince, took John's personal crest, a pair of black wings, and his motto, "I Serve", and they have remained a part of the badge of the Prince of Wales ever since. John's final words were said to have been "Let it never be the case that a Bohemian king runs!" And so he did not, but he died all the same, and was succeeded by his son Charles, who became Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, thereby fulfilling one of the many desires of John's life.
Date of Death: 26 August 1346As with many foreign Bohemian kings, John was not well liked by the native Czech nobility. Accepting that, John left Bohemia to the cortes and travelled through Europe, living primarily in Paris and Luxembourg. From 1326 to 1332, he participated in conflicts between the Poles and the Teutonic Knights in Livonia in the hope that Wladyslaw I would be deposed in Poland to be replaced with John. John finally abandoned his pretensions to Poland and Hungary in 1335 at the Congress of Visegrád after being paid a significant sum by Wladyslaw's successor, Casimir III. By 1336, John was entirely blind but continued fighting for the Knights in Lithuania. When the Hundred Years' War broke out between England and France, John served as governor of Languedoc. Despite his blindness, John participated in the Battle of Crécy where he was ultimately killed alongside three other semi-sovereign princes. Chronicles of the time state that four of his knights tied horses to the king's horse and they rode into the battle where they killed many men before being overwhelmed. The body of the king and his knights, with their dead horses still tied together, were found the next morning. Edward, the Black Prince, took John's personal crest, a pair of black wings, and his motto, "I Serve", and they have remained a part of the badge of the Prince of Wales ever since. John's final words were said to have been "Let it never be the case that a Bohemian king runs!" And so he did not, but he died all the same, and was succeeded by his son Charles, who became Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, thereby fulfilling one of the many desires of John's life.
Successor: Charles I
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Michael IV, patriarch of Constantinople (1214)
- Otakar II, king of Bohemia (1278)
- Charles II, count of Alençon (1346)
- Louis I, duke of Flanders (1346)
- Rudolph, duke of Lorraine (1346)
- Antonio, pretender to Portugal (1595)
- Louis-Philippe, king of the French (1850)
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