John II of France
650 years ago, April 8th 1364 at the age of 44 John II of France (the Good) of the House of Valois, the second son of the King of France Philip VI and Joan of Burgundy, Count of Anjou, the Duke of Normandy from 1332, since 1344 a Count of Poitiers, from 1345 a Prince of Guyenne, 1349 Count of Auvergne and Boulogne, King of France from 1350 and from 1361 the Duke of Burgundy had died in London (whilst in English captivity); an excellent knight (founder of the Order of the Star, whose members’ oath included not taking a step back on the battlefield ), which coincided with the reign of the second phase of the Hundred Years’ War with England; he got captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers (19th of September 1356), commanding until the end the last of his troops when the battle was already lost , released from prison in 1360 he returned voluntarily to captivity, declaring that he will not be able to collect the huge amount of ransom required as it may ruin his subjects.
prof. Jacek Bartyzel
translated by Arek Jakubczyk
Kategoria: Reactionary Diary
