{{Short description|French nobleman (1392–1441)}} {{more citations needed|date=July 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox noble | name = John II of Luxembourg | title = [[Counts of Ligny|Count of Ligny]], [[Counts and dukes of Guise|Count of Guise]], Lord of [[Beaurevoir|Beauvoir]] and [[Richebourg-l'Avoué|Richebourg]] | image = Jean II de Luxembourg-Ligny.jpg | caption = | alt = | predecessor = [[Joan, Countess of Ligny|Joan]] | successor = [[Louis I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol|Louis, Count of Saint-Pol]] | spouse = [[Jeanne de Béthune, Viscountess of Meaux|Joan of Béthune]] (m. {{abbr|1418|23 November 1418}}) | spouse-type = Spouse | noble family = [[House of Luxembourg]] | house-type = Dynasty | father = [[John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir|John of Luxembourg I]] | mother = [[Margaret, Countess of Brienne|Margaret of Brienne]] | birth_date = 1392 | birth_place = | death_date = 5 January 1441 | death_place = [[Guise]], France | burial_date = | burial_place = [[Old Cambrai Cathedral|Cambrai Cathedral]] | occupation = }} '''John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny''' (1392 – 5 January 1441) was a French [[Nobility|nobleman]] and [[soldier]], a younger son of [[John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir]], and [[Marguerite of Enghien]].{{sfn|de Wavrin|2012|p=137}} His older brother [[Peter I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol|Peter]] received his mother's fiefs, including the [[County of Brienne]], while John received [[Beaurevoir]]. He married [[Jeanne de Béthune, Viscountess of Meaux]],{{sfn|de Wavrin|2012|p=137}} widow of [[Robert of Bar, Count of Marle and Soissons|Robert of Bar]], on 23 November 1418, and became step-father to [[Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons]]. He and Jeanne de Béthune had no children.{{sfn|de Wavrin|2012|p=137}}
==Career== His name originates from the fact that he was a 6th generation descendant of [[Henry V, Count of Luxembourg]], and thus belonged to the French branch of the [[House of Luxembourg]].
His career began in the service of [[John the Fearless]], the [[Duke of Burgundy]], during the [[Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War]] in France. John II of Luxembourg was appointed governor of [[Arras]] in 1414, and conducted several raids into nearby [[Armagnac (party)|Armagnac]] outposts. In April 1418, at the command of a [[Burgundian (party)|Burgundian]] force, he relieved the besieged city of [[Senlis]] from the Armagnacs. After [[Paris]] was seized by the Burgundians in May of the same year, John II became [[Military governor of Paris|governor of Paris]], serving from 1418 to 1420.
He took the side of the English during the [[Hundred Years' War]], and carried out a number of [[chevauchée]]s on behalf of the [[John, Duke of Bedford|Regent Bedford]]. John II and his family were steadfast supporters of the English cause among the French nobility, and his brother [[Lewis of Luxembourg|Louis]] (1391–1443), the [[Ancient Diocese of Thérouanne|bishop of Thérouanne]], became chancellor of France for the Duke of Bedford.{{sfn|Barker|2012|p=189}}
In 1425, he seized the [[Counts and dukes of Guise|''seigneurie'' of Guise]], which he had disputed with [[René of Anjou]]. Guise, at that time the last Armagnac outpost in northern France,{{sfn|Barker|2012|p=81}} was of strategic importance grew due to its position between [[Burgundy]] and the [[Burgundian Netherlands]]. John II was a descendant of the [[House of Châtillon|Châtillon]] [[counts of Saint-Pol]], who formerly held [[Guise]], and his claim to it was recognized by the Duke of Bedford. Joined by an English force under [[Thomas Rempston (died 1458)|sir Thomas Rempston]], John II put the city under siege, and Guise, along with the fortress of [[Hirson]], formally surrendered to him on 1 March 1425.
[[Image:Armoiries Jean de Luxembourg-Ligny.png|125px|left|thumb|Coat of Arms of John II of Luxembourg]] He joined [[Philip III, Duke of Burgundy]], in the [[Siege of Compiègne]] in 1430. While the siege was ultimately unsuccessful, a soldier in his company (the Bastard of [[Vendôme]]) captured [[Joan of Arc]], whom he sent to [[Beaurevoir|Beauvoir]] as a prisoner. Shortly thereafter, his aunt [[Jeanne of Luxembourg]], who was then living with him, died and left him the County of Ligny. Under pressure from [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]], John ultimately sold Joan to the English for 10,000 [[French livre|livre]]s, thus causing her death.
The Count of Ligny continued campaigning in France for the next few years. He made a few incursions in the region around [[Laon]], and from 1433, he campaigned in [[Picardy]],{{sfn|Barker|2012|p=200}} capturing [[Haplincourt]] in that year{{sfn|Smith|DeVries|2005|p=107}} and [[Saint-Valery-sur-Somme|Saint-Valery]] in 1434.{{sfn|Barker|2012|p=209}}
During the [[congress of Arras]] in 1435, Ligny was one those who urged Philip of Burgundy not to sign a peace treaty with the [[Armagnac (party)|Armagnacs]].{{sfn|Vaughan|2004|p=101}} Philip did so anyway and concluded the [[Treaty of Arras (1435)|Treaty of Arras]] with [[Charles VII of France]], which Ligny peremptorily refused to sign.{{sfn|Dickinson|1972|p=46–47}} This irritated Charles, who authorised his men to attack his lands. Ligny from then on was forced to deal with ''[[écorcheurs]]'' ravaging his lands. In 1436, [[La Hire]] pillaged [[Soissons]], which belonged to Ligny's daughter-in-law, [[Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons|Jeanne of Bar]].
In early 1436, Ligny was asked by Duke Philip III to help reach a peace agreement with the English, through John's older brother [[Lewis of Luxembourg|Louis of Luxembourg]]. The English however were furious at Philip's betrayal and war broke out between the former allies. In late 1437, the Duke of Burgundy asked the Count of Ligny for help in raising levies for the Burgundian siege of English-held [[Le Crotoy]]. John refused, asserting that he never broke faith with his English allies and would not do so at that moment.
Ligny died on 5 January 1441 at [[Guise]], having never taken the oath to the treaty of Arras.{{sfn|Barker|2012|p=380}} At his death, he left his lands to his nephew [[Louis I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol|Louis]]. His fiefs were instead confiscated by Charles VII, though they were later restored.
==References== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== * {{cite book |last= Barker |date=2012 |first=J. |author-link=Juliet Barker |title=Conquest: The English Kingdom of France 1417–1450 |url=http://1.droppdf.com/files/Pv5an/juliet-barker-conquest-the-english-kingdom-of-france-1.pdf |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-06560-4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140335/http://1.droppdf.com/files/Pv5an/juliet-barker-conquest-the-english-kingdom-of-france-1.pdf |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live }} * {{cite book |last= Dickinson |date=1972 |first=Joycelyne Gledhill |title=The Congress of Arras, 1435: A Study in Medieval Diplomacy |edition=reprint |url={{google books|YEiOso5yIIoC|plainurl=yes}} |publisher=Biblo and Tannen |isbn=978-0-8196-0281-7 }} * {{cite book |last1=Smith |date=2005 |first1=Robert Douglas |last2=DeVries |first2=K. |title=The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy, 1363–1477 |url={{google books|UAL0SfuyUGQC|plainurl=yes}} |series=Armour and Weapons |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-1-84383-162-4 |authorlink2=Kelly DeVries }} * {{cite book |last= Vaughan |date=2004 |first=Richard |title=Philip the Good |edition=reprinted new |url={{google books|H7VFJAK8LSUC|plainurl=yes}} |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-0-85115-917-1 }} *{{cite book |title=Recueil Des Chroniques Et Anchiennes Istories de la Grant Bretaigne |first=Jean |last=de Wavrin |language=French |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |volume=3: From A.D. 1422 to A.D. 1431 |editor-first=William |editor-last=Hardy }}
==External links== * [http://en.rodovid.org/wk/Person:445258 Genealogy page for John II of Luxembourg]
{{S-start}} {{succession box | before=[[John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir|John I]] | title=Lord of [[Beaurevoir|Beauvoir]] and [[Richebourg-l'Avoué|Richebourg]] | years=1397–1441 | after=[[Louis I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol|Louis I]]}} {{succession box | before=[[René of Anjou|René]] | title=[[Counts and dukes of Guise|Count of Guise]] | years=1425–1441 | after=[[Louis I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol|Louis I]]}} {{succession box | before=[[Jeanne of Luxembourg|Jeanne]] | title=[[Count of Ligny]] | years=1430–1441 | after=[[Louis I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol|Louis I]]}} {{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:John 02 of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny}} [[Category:1392 births]] [[Category:1441 deaths]] [[Category:Burgundian knights]] [[Category:Counts of Guise]] [[Category:Counts of Ligny|Luxembourg, John II of]] [[Category:Military governors of Paris]] [[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]] [[Category:French people of the Hundred Years' War]]