Jean II, Duke of Alençon
John II the Beautiful ( born March 2, 1409 Argentan, † September 8, 1476 in Paris) was Duke of Alençon and Count of Perche. He was the son of Duke John I of Alençon from the House of Valois - Alençon and Mary of Brittany.
Biography
He was only six years old when his father fell in 1415 at the Battle of Agincourt. In 1424 he was defeated at the Battle of Verneuil and captured. It was not until 1429 he was a ransom freely again, which made him destitute, especially since his duchy was under English control.
A little later he met Jeanne d' Arc and was their most important supporters in the royal family. After the liberation of Orléans ( 1429) he commanded the army of King Charles VII Jeanne d' Arc at his side. His interests led him to Paris, where Joan of Arc was wounded while trying to occupy the city on 8 September 1429 and then to Normandy, where he fought against the English and the Bretons.
The reconciliation between France and Burgundy by the Treaty of Arras ( 1435 ) brought him into opposition to Charles VII, as he had hoped to be compensated by the plundering of Burgundy his ransom and the loss of his duchy. He joined the conspiracies against a royal government, which did not consider sufficient in his opinion the interests of the French princes. One of these conspiracies was the Praguerie 1439 /40, could not prevail against the king; Johann was pardoned.
In April 1440, he entered into negotiations with the British. He was also a Knight of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece - and took yet 1449/50 on the conquest of Normandy by France in part.
Shortly after his testimony in the rehabilitation of Joan of Arc ( 1456 ) he was arrested by Jean de Dunois and imprisoned in Aigues Mortes. The Cour des Pairs sentenced him to death in 1458 for lese majesty, Charles VII commuted the death sentence to a prison to lock hole to. King Louis XI. , Who had participated in the Praguerie as Dauphin, leaving him on the occasion of his accession in 1461 again. As he, however, with Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy allies, he was sentenced on July 18, 1474 to death again. His duchy was seized, the execution not run. He died in 1476 in captivity in the Louvre.
Progeny
He completed his first marriage in 1424 in Blois, Johanna ( 1409-1432 ), daughter of Duke Charles of Orléans and Isabella of France; this marriage remained childless. He completed his second marriage on April 30, 1437 in L' Isle- Jourdain with Mary of Armagnac ( 1420-1473 ), daughter of John IV, Count of Armagnac, and Isabella of Évreux; Children from this marriage were:
- Catherine (1452-1505), ∞ 1461 in Tours Guy XV. († 1500), Count of Laval (House Montfort- Laval )
- René (1454-1492), Duke of Alençon
In addition, he had several illegitimate children:
- Jean, testified in 1483
- Robert, testified in 1489
- Jeanne, Countess of Beaumont- le -Roger, ∞ 1470 Guy de Maulmonts
- Madeleine, ∞ Henri de Breuil