John II, Count of Nevers

John II of Nevers
Count of Nevers, Rethel and Eu
John II, Count of Nevers
Born	before 20 October 1415 Clamecy, Nievre
Died	25 September 1491(1491-09-25) (aged 75) Nevers
Noble family	Valois-Burgundy-Nevers
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline d'Ailly Pauline de Brosse Marie d'Albret
Father	Philip II, Count of Nevers
Mother	Bonne of Artois

John II, Count of Nevers (fr. Jean de Nevers , 1415–1491), known as John of Clamecy prior to acquiring titles, was a French nobleman and the last male member of the House of Valois-Burgundy. He was initially Count of Étampes from 1442 to 1465, and later became Count of Nevers and Rethel from 1464, and also Count of Eu from 1472. Since John had no male heirs, his counties of Nevers and Eu were inherited by his grandson Engelbert of Cleves, son of John's older daughter Elizabeth of Nevers (d. 1483), while the County of Rethel was inherited by John's younger daughter Charlotte (d. 1500).

Life

  Domains of count John II of Nevers during the War of the Burgundian Succession (1477-1482-1493)

Coat-of-arms of John II, Count of Nevers

John was the son of Philip II, Count of Nevers and Bonne of Artois, daughter of Philip of Artois, Count of Eu. His father was the youngest son of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. As the younger son, John became Count of Étampes in 1442. John's elder brother, Charles I, Count of Nevers and Rethel, had no legitimate children, and so on his death in 1464 his titles passed to John. In 1472, his uncle Charles of Artois, Count of Eu, died, and having no legitimate children, his title also passed to John.

John fought in the army of his stepfather Philip the Good and was active in Picardy (1434), Calais (1436), Luxembourg (1443), and Flanders (1453). But he clashed with Philip's successor, Charles the Bold, and he defected to King Louis XI of France. He fought alongside Louis XI in the War of the Public Weal and became Lieutenant General of Normandy.

Being the closest male cousin of duke Charles of Burgundy, who died in 1477 without male heirs, John was excluded as a potential heir by the French king Louis XI, who seized the Duchy of Burgundy as a reverted royal fief, while the exclusion of John was based on the royal charter of 1364, that was restricting the Burgundian succession to direct male descendants, thus eliminating potential heirs from collateral branches.

Family

John was first married on 24 November 1435 in Amiens, to Jacqueline d'Ailly, Dame d'Ingelmunster (died 1470), they had two children:

• Elizabeth (c. 1439 – 21 June 1483), who married John I, Duke of Cleves.
• Philip (1446–1452).

Upon Jacqueline's death in 1470 he married secondly on 30 August 1471, in Château de Boussac, to Pauline de Brosse (c. 1450-1479), daughter of Jean II de Brosse. They had one child:

• Charlotte (c. 1472 – 23 August 1500), Countess of Rethel (1491-1500), who married John d'Albret and had a daughter, Marie d'Albret, Countess of Rethel.

John's final marriage was on 11 March 1480, in the château de Châlus-Chabrol (Limousin), to Marie d'Albret (c. 1454-1521).

Ancestors

Ancestors of John II, Count of Nevers

16. Philip VI of France 8. John II of France (= 28) 17. Joan the Lame 4. Philip the Bold 18. John I of Bohemia 9. Bonne of Bohemia (= 29) 19. Elisabeth of Bohemia (1292–1330) 2. Philip II, Count of Nevers 20. Louis I of Flanders 10. Louis II of Flanders 21. Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy 5. Margaret III, Countess of Flanders 22. John III, Duke of Brabant 11. Margaret of Brabant 23. Marie d'Évreux 1. John II, Count of Nevers 24. Robert III of Artois 12. John of Artois, Count of Eu 25. Joan of Valois 6. Philip of Artois, Count of Eu 26. John I of Melun 13. Isabeau of Melun 27. Isabeau d'Antoing 3. Bonne of Artois 28. John II of France (= 8) 14. John, Duke of Berry 29. Bonne of Bohemia (= 9) 7. Marie, Duchess of Auvergne 30. John I of Armagnac 15. Joan of Armagnac 31. Beatrice of Clermont

Sources

• Boltanski, Ariane (2006). Les ducs de Nevers et l'État royal: genèse d'un compromis (ca 1550 - ca 1600) (in French). Librairie Droz S.A.
• de Mandrot, B. (1907). "Jean de Bourgogne, Duc de Brabant, Comte de Nevers, et le Proces de sa Succession (1415–1525)". Revue Historique (in French). T. 93, Fasc. 1.
• Nash, Susie (1999). Between France and Flanders: Manuscript Illumination in Amiens. University of Toronto Press.
• Potter, David L. (1995). A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
• Saenger, Paul (1977). "Burgundy and the Inalienability of Appanages in the Reign of Louis XI". French Historical Studies. 10 (1): 1–26.
• Vaughan, Richard (2010). Philip the Good. The Boydell Press.