John II, Duke of Brabant: Difference between revisions

 

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{{short description|13th and 14th-century duke of Brabant}}

{{short description|13th and 14th-century duke of Brabant}}

{{Infobox Personnalité politique

{{Infobox

| charte = Monarque

|

| title = [[Duke of Brabant]]<br>[[Duke of Lothier]]<br>[[Duke of Limburg]]|CoA=|tenure=| spouse = {{marriage|[[Margaret of England (1275–1333)|Margaret of England]]|1290}}

| nom = {{noble-|Jean II de Brabant}}

| image = Jan II van Brabant senaat.jpg

| Brabant

| house = [[House of Reginar]]

| légende = Portrait imaginaire de {{noble-|Jean II}} par [[Louis Gallait]], [[Ville de Bruxelles|Bruxelles]], [[Palais de la Nation (Bruxelles)|Palais de la Nation]], v. [[1875]].

| father = [[John I, Duke of Brabant]]

| fonction1 = [[Liste des ducs de Brabant|Duc de Brabant<br>Duc de Basse-Lotharingie]] <br /> [[Liste des ducs de Limbourg|Duc de Limbourg]]

| mother = [[Margaret of Flanders (d. 1285)|Margaret of Flanders]]

| à partir du fonction1 = 3 mai 1294

|predecessor=|successor=| birth_date = 27 September 1275

| jusqu’au fonction1 = 27 octobre 1312<br /><small>({{durée|3|5|1294|27|10|1312}})</small>

| birth_place =

| prédécesseur 1 = {{noble|Jean Ier de Brabant|-}}

| death_date = {{dda|1312|10|27|1275|9|27|df=y}}

| successeur 1 = {{noble|Jean III de Brabant|-}}

| death_place = [[Tervuren]]

| dynastie = [[Famille des Régnier|Régnier]] – [[Maison de Brabant|Brabant]]

| burial_place = [[Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula|Brussels Cathedral]]

| nom de naissance =

| date de naissance = {{date de naissance|27|septembre|1275}}

| date de décès = {{date de décès|27|octobre|1312|27|septembre|1275}}

| lieu de décès = [[Tervuren]] ([[Duché de Brabant]])

| sépulture = [[Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule de Bruxelles]]

| père = {{noble|Jean Ier de Brabant}}

| mère = [[Marguerite de Dampierre]]

| conjoint = [[Marguerite d’Angleterre (1275-1333)|Marguerite d’Angleterre]]

| enfants = <small>”’Avec [[Marguerite d’Angleterre (1275-1333)|Marguerite d’Angleterre]]”'</small><br />{{noble|Jean III de Brabant|-}} [[Fichier:Icone couronne rouge.svg|15 px]]<br><small>”’Illégitimes”’ :</small><br />[[Jean de Corsselaer]] <br>[[Jean Cordeken]] <br>[[Jean de Wytvliet]]

| religion = [[Église catholique|Catholicisme]]

| emblème = Armoiries Brabant Limbourg.svg

| liste = [[Liste des ducs de Brabant|Duc de Brabant]]<br>[[Liste des ducs de Limbourg|Duc de Limbourg]]

}}

}}

[[File:Brabante John II gros tournois.jpg|thumb|John II: Gros tournois.]]

[[File:Brabante John II gros tournois.jpg|thumb|John II: Gros tournois.]]

”’John II”’ (27 September 1275 &ndash; 27 October 1312), also called ”’John the Peaceful”’, was [[Duke of Brabant]], [[Duke of Lothier|Lothier]] and [[Duchy of Limburg|Limburg]] (1294&ndash;1312). He was the son of [[John I of Brabant]] and [[Margaret of Flanders (d. 1285)|Margaret of Flanders]].

”’John II”’ (27 September 1275 &ndash; 27 October 1312), also called ”’John the Peaceful”’, was [[Duke of Brabant]], [[Duke of Lothier|Lothier]] and [[Duchy of Limburg|Limburg]] (1294&ndash;1312). He was the son of [[John I of Brabant]] and [[Margaret of Flanders (d. 1285)|Margaret of Flanders]].

John II succeeded his father in 1294<ref>”[[Balduini Ninovensis Chronicon]]” 1294, MGH SS XXV, p. 546.</ref> During the reign of John II, Brabant continued supporting a coalition to stop French expansion. He tried to conquer South Holland (district of medieval Holland) from the pro-French Count [[John II of Holland]], but was not successful.

== Biography ==

John was sent to England in 1284, reflecting his father’s long-standing alliance with Edward I, King of England. His future had already been decided. In the late 1270s, when he was still a toddlers, plans were laid for his marriage to Edward’s third daughter, Margaret. Born on 15 March 1275, Margaret was a few months older than John, and their wedding took place on 8 July 1290 at Westminster Abbey. (John was fourteen, Margaret fifteen.) He arrived with a sizable retinue—eight knights and sixty ladies—dressed in the colourful costumes of the Duchy of Brabant, a striking display of ducal presence in the English court.

In 1309, the [[Crusade of the Poor]] besieged the castle of [[Genappe]] in Brabant because it was sheltering [[Jews]]. John sent an army that defeated the Crusaders, who incurred heavy losses.<ref name=Badacs>Gábor Bradács, “Crusade of the Poor (1309)”, in Jeffrey M. Shaw and Timothy J. Demy (eds.), ”War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict”, 3 vols. (ABC-CLIO, 2017), vol. 1, pp. 211–12.</ref> According to Chris Harman (2000), during different parts of the XIV century several attacks on Jewish merchants and Christian priests took place, and also awhich, typically, masses of people would march from town to town, looting and being joined by others during their march. Harman quotes the following:

By 1292–93 John was living in the household of Edward I’s nephews, Thomas and Henry of Lancaster. The surviving household accounts give a lively picture of their lives. The young men travelled across England, moving from tournament to tournament, and the records are full of horses, hawks, minstrels, and games. In 1293 they stayed at Kingston with John’s young brother-in-law, the nine-year-old Lord Edward, future king of England. On their way to a joust at Fulham, John kept thirty horses and twenty-one grooms, while the Lancaster brothers had thirty horses and twenty-four grooms of their own. The clerk who recorded these expenses could not hide his dismay at the cost of their short stay.

{{blockquote|”Armed columns appeared, consisting of miserably poor artisans and labourers with an admixture of nobles who had squandered their wealth. These people begged and pillaged their way through the country, killing Jews but also storming…castles…In the end they attacked the castle of the Duke of Brabant…who three years before had routed an army of insurgent clothworkers and, it is said, buried its leaders alive.” N. Cohn, ”The Pursuit of the Millennium”. (London, 1970), p.102.}}

This period of youthful indulgence ended suddenly with the death of John’s father. In late 1294, at just eighteen, John was escorted home by merchants of Brabant and sailed from Harwich, leaving behind the court that had shaped his early years.

John, who suffered from [[kidney stone]]s and wanted his duchy to be peacefully handed over to his son upon his death, in 1312 signed the famous [[Charter of Kortenberg]]. John died in [[Tervuren]] in 1312.<ref>Oude Kronik van Brabant, p. 72.</ref> He was buried in the [[Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula|Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula]] (now Brussels’ cathedral).

Margaret remained in England, maintaining her own household, before joining John II in Brussels in 1297. Their marriage produced only one legitimate child, a son named John, future Duke of Brabant, born around 1300. John II also had four illegitimate sons, all named John, a reminder of the complexities of princely life.

==Family==

In January 1308 John II and Margaret of England attended the wedding of Edward II and Isabella at Boulogne, and a month later were present at the coronation at Westminster. John II brought with him the holy oil of St Thomas of Canterbury, which he had acquired and which carried great symbolic significance.

On 8 July 1290, John married [[Margaret of England (1275–1333)|Margaret of England]] in [[Westminster Abbey]], [[London]].{{sfn|Spencer|2014|p=39}} She was a daughter of King [[Edward I of England]] and his first wife, [[Eleanor of Castile]].{{sfn|Prestwich|1997|p=573}} Only one child was born out of this marriage:

* [[John III, Duke of Brabant]].{{sfn|Warnicke|2000|p=16}}

John II had several illegitimate children:

During the so-called “Crusade of the Poor” in 1309, a largely leaderless band of crusaders swept through the Low Countries, relying on charity—and, at times, on plunder—to fund their march. When they threatened the Jewish communities of Leuven and Tienen, many of whom took refuge in the castle of Genappe in the Duchy of Brabant, Duke John II acted decisively. As the protector of the Jews within his territory, he dispatched a ducal army to confront the crusaders. John II’s troops inflicted heavy losses on the marauders and forced them to retreat, preserving the safety of the local population. While the wider expedition ultimately disbanded at Avignon, John’s intervention ensured that Brabant’s towns and communities were spared the worst of the violence.

* Jan van Corsselaer, was later named Lord of Witthem, Wailwilre, Machelen, la Rochette and Colonster.<ref>Butkens (1724), Vol. I, Preuves, p. 145, “Extraict des registres de la ville de Malines”.</ref>

* Jan van Wyvliet. Lord of Blaesveld and Kuyc. Married to Margaret Pipenpoy.<ref>Butkens (1724), Vol. I, Preuves, p. 144, “Extraict des registres de la ville de Malines”.</ref>

Edward II’s accession marked a particularly friendly period in relations between the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Brabant. John II remained on good terms with his brother-in-law, and the duchy enjoyed some of the warmest relations Edward maintained with any foreign power. In 1311 the Duchy of Brabant was even considered as a possible haven for the exiled Piers Gaveston, while trade between the two lands continued to flourish.

* [[Jan Cordeken]]: Founder of the [[House of Glymes]]. He was legitimized by the emperor [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]] by charter dated of 27 August 1344, lists John II as the father and Elisabeth Gortygin as his mother.<ref>Butkens (1724), Vol. I, Preuves, p. 146, “Extraicts des chartes de la maison de Berges sur Soom”.</ref>

* Jan Magermann. Married to Adelise d’Elsies.

During his reign, the Duchy of Brabant continued to support a coalition aimed at checking French expansion. John II allied himself with England, securing the wool trade with that country and ushering in a golden period in Brabant’s economic history.

* Jan II van Dongelberg (- 1383). His mother was Marguerite van Pamel.

He also attempted to conquer South Holland from the pro-French Count John II of Holland, though this venture met with no success.

== Succession ==

After a long illness, John II died at the age of thirty-seven. He was buried in the St Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Margaret of England survived him by twenty-two years and was laid to rest beside her husband.

John II left as his heir his twelve-year-old son, John III. The wars of his reign had left the duchy deeply in debt, and creditors soon began pressing the merchants of Brabant for repayment. In response, the cities agreed to provide the young duke with a loan of 40,000 pounds, on the condition that they would lead the Duke’s Council for six years, until John III came of age. In 1312, this arrangement was formalised with the famous Charter of Kortenberg signed by John II of Brabant. The cities continued to assert their influence, and on 14 July 1314 John III was persuaded to sign the Charter of Walloon, which granted them political and financial independence.

== Charter of Kortenberg ==

We duke John II of Brabant, agree

1: That no other demands or taxes are levied than those which are known as the three feudal cases:

at the knighthood of my son

the wedding of my daughter

and if I should be taken captive

The taxes will be reasonable (fiscal prerogative).

2: An honourable jurisdiction for rich and poor (judicial prerogative).

3: To recognise the freedom of our good towns (municipal prerogative).

4: To establish a council (Staten van Brabant) which shall be comprised (sic) of :

4 knights or nobles.

12 representatives from the 5 cities as follows:

3 from Leuven

3 from Brussels

1 from Antwerp

1 from ‘s-Hertogenbosch

1 from Tienen

1 from Zoutleeuw

5: That the Estate Council would meets every 3 weeks at the Kortenberg Abbey. It would monitor whether the financial, judicial and municipal prerogatives are observed.

6: That, in the future, improvements are introduced to the administration of the land by the council.

7: That upon the death of members of the Council of Kortenberg, new members be designated.

8: That the members of the Council take an oath on the Holy Gospel that they will pursue the best interests of the public.

9: That the people have the right to resist should the Duke or his descendants refuse to observe the Charter of Kortenberg.

From 1332 onwards the council was extended by two more members; Antwerp was allowed a second member and Nivelles (Nijvel) was added with one member.

Copies of the Charter were made available to all parties concerned. The original copy was kept by the Duke in a separate chest with three different key, one held by the Duke, and one each by the cities of Leuven and Brussels. The chest could only be opened if all three keys were present.

This Council of Brabant (Staten van Brabant) was also the precursor of the “Estate assembly” (members came of the three estates; the first estate was the clergy, the second estate was the nobility, and the third estate was the municipalities.

== Cause of Death ==

He died from kidney stones at the age of thirty-seven. His tomb and that of his wife have since been destroyed during the French revolution.

==References==

==References==

13th and 14th-century duke of Brabant

John II (27 September 1275 – 27 October 1312), also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg (1294–1312). He was the son of John I of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders.

John II succeeded his father in 1294^[1] During the reign of John II, Brabant continued supporting a coalition to stop French expansion. He tried to conquer South Holland (district of medieval Holland) from the pro-French Count John II of Holland, but was not successful.

In 1309, the Crusade of the Poor besieged the castle of Genappe in Brabant because it was sheltering Jews. John sent an army that defeated the Crusaders, who incurred heavy losses.^[2] According to Chris Harman (2000), during different parts of the XIV century several attacks on Jewish merchants and Christian priests took place, and also awhich, typically, masses of people would march from town to town, looting and being joined by others during their march. Harman quotes the following:

“Armed columns appeared, consisting of miserably poor artisans and labourers with an admixture of nobles who had squandered their wealth. These people begged and pillaged their way through the country, killing Jews but also storming…castles…In the end they attacked the castle of the Duke of Brabant…who three years before had routed an army of insurgent clothworkers and, it is said, buried its leaders alive.” N. Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium. (London, 1970), p.102.

John, who suffered from kidney stones and wanted his duchy to be peacefully handed over to his son upon his death, in 1312 signed the famous Charter of Kortenberg. John died in Tervuren in 1312.^[3] He was buried in the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula (now Brussels’ cathedral).

On 8 July 1290, John married Margaret of England in Westminster Abbey, London. She was a daughter of King Edward I of England and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile. Only one child was born out of this marriage:

John II had several illegitimate children:

• Jan van Corsselaer, was later named Lord of Witthem, Wailwilre, Machelen, la Rochette and Colonster.^[7]
• Jan van Wyvliet. Lord of Blaesveld and Kuyc. Married to Margaret Pipenpoy.^[8]
• Jan Cordeken: Founder of the House of Glymes. He was legitimized by the emperor Louis IV by charter dated of 27 August 1344, lists John II as the father and Elisabeth Gortygin as his mother.^[9]
• Jan Magermann. Married to Adelise d’Elsies.
• Jan II van Dongelberg (- 1383). His mother was Marguerite van Pamel.

• Prestwich, Michael (1997). Edward I. Yale University Press.
• Spencer, Andrew M. (2014). Nobility and Kingship in Medieval England. Cambridge University Press.
• Warnicke, Retha M. (2000). The Marrying of Anne of Cleves: Royal Protocol in Early Modern England. Cambridge University Press.
• Harman, C. (2000). A People’s History of the World. Verso Books: London.