John II the Great (June 29, 1397,
Medina del CampoMedina del Campo is a small town located in the middle of the Spanish Meseta Central, in Castile-Leon autonomous region. It has some urban features ; but it also retains a clearly rural character, since it is the capital of a farming area and it is far away from the great...
– January 20, 1479) was the King of Aragon (1458–1479) and
jure uxorisJure uxoris is a Latin term that means "by right of his wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right....
King of Navarre (1425–1479). He was the son of
Ferdinand IFerdinand I called of Antequera and also the Just or the Honest, was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica and king of Sicily, duke of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya...
and his wife
Eleanor of AlburquerqueEleanor of Alburquerque became Queen consort of Aragon by her marriage to Ferdinand I of Aragon. In Spanish she is known as Leonor Urraca de Castilla, Condesa de Alburquerque....
. John is regarded as one of the most memorable and most unscrupulous kings of the 15th century.
In his youth he was one of the
infantes (princes) of Aragon who took part in the dissensions of Castile during the minority and reign of
John IIJohn II was King of Castile from 1406 to 1454. He was the son of Henry III of Castile and his wife Katherine of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster by Constance of Castile, daughter of King Pedro of Castile...
.
John II the Great (June 29, 1397,
Medina del CampoMedina del Campo is a small town located in the middle of the Spanish Meseta Central, in Castile-Leon autonomous region. It has some urban features ; but it also retains a clearly rural character, since it is the capital of a farming area and it is far away from the great...
– January 20, 1479) was the King of Aragon (1458–1479) and
jure uxorisJure uxoris is a Latin term that means "by right of his wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right....
King of Navarre (1425–1479). He was the son of
Ferdinand IFerdinand I called of Antequera and also the Just or the Honest, was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica and king of Sicily, duke of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya...
and his wife
Eleanor of AlburquerqueEleanor of Alburquerque became Queen consort of Aragon by her marriage to Ferdinand I of Aragon. In Spanish she is known as Leonor Urraca de Castilla, Condesa de Alburquerque....
. John is regarded as one of the most memorable and most unscrupulous kings of the 15th century.
In his youth he was one of the
infantes (princes) of Aragon who took part in the dissensions of Castile during the minority and reign of
John IIJohn II was King of Castile from 1406 to 1454. He was the son of Henry III of Castile and his wife Katherine of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster by Constance of Castile, daughter of King Pedro of Castile...
. Till middle life he was also lieutenant-general in Aragon for his brother and predecessor
Alfonso VAlfonso the Magnanimous was the King of Aragon , Valencia , Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica , and Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416 and King of Naples from 1442 until his death...
, whose reign was mainly spent in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. In his old age he was engaged in incessant conflicts with his Aragonese and Catalan subjects, with
Louis XI of FranceLouis XI , called the Prudent and the Universal Spider or the Spider King, was the King of France from 1461 to 1483...
, and in preparing the way for the marriage of his son Ferdinand with
Isabella I of CastileIsabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor....
which brought about the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, that was to create the Kingdom of Spain. His trouble with his subjects were closely connected with the tragic dissension in his own family.
John was first married to the
Blanche I of NavarreBlanche I of Navarre was Queen of Navarre from 1425 to 1441.-Life:She was the daughter of King Charles III of Navarre and infanta Eleanor of Castile ....
of the house of
ÉvreuxÉvreux is a commune in Haute-Normandie in northern France in the Eure department, of which it is the capital.Its inhabitants are called the Ébroïcienne and Ébroïciens .-History:...
. By right of Blanche he became king of Navarre, and on her death in 1441 he was left in possession of the kingdom for his lifetime. But a son,
CharlesCharles, Prince of Viana, , sometimes called Charles IV, king of Navarre, was the son of John, afterwards king of Aragon, by his marriage with Blanche I, daughter and heiress of Charles III, King of Navarre...
, given the title "Prince of Viana" as heir of Navarre, had been born of the marriage. John quickly came to regard his son with jealousy. After his second marriage, to
Juana EnríquezJuana Enriquez de Córdoba was a Castilian noblewoman who became Queen of the Kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon.She was a daughter of Fadrique Enríquez, Count of Melba and Rueda and Mariana de Córdoba. Juana married John II of Navarre in April 1444, three years after death of his first wife, Queen...
, this grew into absolute hatred and was encouraged by Juana. John tried to deprive his son of his constitutional right to act as lieutenant-general of Aragon during his father's absence. Charles's cause was taken up by the Aragonese, and the king's attempt to make his second wife lieutenant-general was set aside.
There followed the long
Navarrese Civil WarThe Navarrese Civil War of 1451–1455 pitted John II of the Kingdom of Navarre against his son and heir-apparent, Charles IV.When the war started, John II had been King of Navarre since 1425 through his first wife, Blanche I of Navarre, who had married him in 1420. By the marriage pact of 1419, John...
, with alternations of success and defeat, ending only with the death of the prince of Viana, perhaps by poison given him by his stepmother, in 1461. The Catalans, who had adopted the cause of Charles and who had grievances of their own, called in a succession of foreign pretenders in a War against John II. John spent his last years contending with these. He was forced to pawn
RoussillonRoussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
, his possession on the north-east of the Pyrenees, to King
Louis XI of FranceLouis XI , called the Prudent and the Universal Spider or the Spider King, was the King of France from 1461 to 1483...
, who refused to part with it.
In his old age John was blinded by
cataractA cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
s, but recovered his eyesight by the operation of couching conducted by his physician
Abiathar CrescasAbiathar Crescas was a 15th-century Jewish physician and astrologer in the kingdom of Aragon . He was head astrologer to King John of Aragon, father of King Ferdinand of Aragon.Crescas was a very prominent Jewish figure in Aragon...
, a
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
. The Catalan revolt was pacified in 1472, but John carried on a war, in which he was generally unfortunate, with his neighbour the French king till his death in 1479. He was succeeded by
FerdinandFerdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, de jure uxoris King of Castile and then Regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of his mentally unstable daughter Joanna the...
, his son by his second marriage, who was already married to
Isabella I of CastileIsabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor....
. With his death and son's accession to the throne of Aragon, the unification of Spain under one royal house began in earnest.
Children
From his first marriage to
Blanche of NavarreBlanche I of Navarre was Queen of Navarre from 1425 to 1441.-Life:She was the daughter of King Charles III of Navarre and infanta Eleanor of Castile ....
:
- Blanca of Navarre (1420-1464) married Henry IV of Castile
Henry IV , King of Castile, nicknamed the Impotent , was the last of the weak late medieval kings of Castile. During Enrique's reign the nobles increased in power and the nation became less centralised...
. The marriage was never consummated. After 13 years of marriage, Henry sought and obtained a divorce. Blanca was sent home, where her family imprisoned her, and she was later killed by poison.
- Carlos of Viana (1421-1461)
- Juana (1423-1425)
- Eleanor, Queen of Navarre
Eleanor of Aragon , Regent and the queen regnant of Navarre in 1479...
From his second marriage to
Juana EnríquezJuana Enriquez de Córdoba was a Castilian noblewoman who became Queen of the Kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon.She was a daughter of Fadrique Enríquez, Count of Melba and Rueda and Mariana de Córdoba. Juana married John II of Navarre in April 1444, three years after death of his first wife, Queen...
:
- Fernando II of Aragon
- Joanna of Aragon (1454-1517). Married Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...
.
With Margarita Escobar
- Alfonso de Aragon y Escobar
Ancestry
Sources
- Rivadeneyra. "Cronicas de los reyes de Castilla," Biblioteca de autores espanoles, vols. Ixvi, Ixviii. Madrid, 1845.
- Zurita, G. Anales de Aragon. Saragossa, 1610.
- Prescott W. H. History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. 1854.