John II of Aragon

{{Short description|King of Aragon from 1458 to 1479}} {{more citations needed|date=April 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox royalty | name = John II | image = SOAOTO - Folio 067R (cropped).jpg | caption = John as a Knight of the Golden Fleece Miniature from the southern Netherlands, 1473 | alt = Depiction of King John II in his seventy-fifth year | succession = King of Aragon | moretext = (more...) | reign = 27 June 1458 – {{nowrap|20 January 1479}} | predecessor = Alfonso V | successor = Ferdinand II | succession1 = King of Sicily | reign1 = 27 June 1458 – 1468 | predecessor1 = Alfonso V | successor1 = Ferdinand II | succession2 = King of Navarre | reign2 = 8 September 1425 – {{nowrap|20 January 1479}} | predecessor2 = Charles III | successor2 = Eleanor | reg-type2 = Co-ruler | regent2 = Blanche I (until 1441) | regent3 = Charles IV (1441–1461) Blanche II (1461–1464) | reg-type3 = Contenders | spouses = {{Plainlist| * {{marriage|Blanche I of Navarre|1420|1441|end=died}} * {{marriage|Juana Enríquez|1447|1468|end=died}} }} | issue = {{plainlist}} *Charles IV, King of Navarre *Blanche II, Queen of Navarre *Eleanor, Queen of Navarre *Ferdinand II, King of Aragon *Joanna, Queen of Naples *Illegitimate: Alfonso, Duke of Villahermosa *John, Archbishop of Zaragoza {{endplainlist}} | issue-link = #Marriages and issue | house = Trastámara | father = Ferdinand I of Aragon | mother = Eleanor of Alburquerque | birth_date = 29 June 1398 | birth_place = Medina del Campo | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1479|1|20|1398|6|29}} | death_place = Barcelona | burial_place = Poblet Monastery }} '''John II''' (Spanish: ''Juan II'', Catalan: ''Joan II'', Aragonese: ''Chuan II'' and {{langx|eu|Joanes II}}; 29 June 1398 – 20 January 1479), called '''the Great''' (''el Gran'') or '''the Faithless''' (''el Sense Fe''),{{sfn|Ruiz|2007|p=?}} was King of Aragon from 1458 until his death in 1479. As the husband of Queen Blanche I of Navarre, he was King of Navarre from 1425 to 1479. John was also King of Sicily from 1458 to 1468.

== Biography == [[File:Carlino Giovanni II.jpg|thumb|right|A Sicilian–Athenian–Neopatrian ''carlino'' of John II.]] John was born at Medina del Campo (in the Crown of Castile), the son of King Ferdinand I of Aragon{{sfn|Woodacre|2013|p=91}} and Eleanor of Alburquerque.{{sfn|Earenfight|2015|p=143}} 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 II of Castile. Until middle life he was also lieutenant-general in Aragon for his brother and predecessor Alfonso V, whose reign was mainly spent in Italy.{{sfn|Scofield|1923|p=235}} In his old age he was preoccupied by incessant conflicts with his Aragonese and Catalan subjects, with Louis XI of France, and in preparing the way for the marriage of his son Ferdinand with Isabella I of Castile which brought about the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile and which was to create the Monarchy of Spain. His troubles with his subjects were closely connected with tragic dissensions within his own family.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

John was first married to Blanche I of Navarre of the House of Évreux.{{sfn|Scofield|1923|p=235}} In 1432, John II appointed Juan Vélaz de Medrano, Lord of Igúzquiza and Learza, as his royal chamberlain, a position he had previously held under Blanche's late father, Charles III of Navarre. 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 one son, Charles, given the title "Prince of Viana" as heir of Navarre, had been born of the marriage. John quickly came to regard this son with jealousy. After his second marriage, to Juana Enríquez, it grew into absolute hatred, being 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, however, and the king's attempt to make his second wife lieutenant-general was set aside.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

There followed the long Navarrese Civil War, with alternations of success and defeat, ending only with the death of the prince of Viana, possibly by poison administered by his father in 1461.{{sfn|Livermore|1966|p=120}} The institutions of the Principality of Catalonia, who had adopted the cause of Charles and who had grievances of their own, called in a succession of foreign pretenders in the ten years' Catalan Civil War. John spent his last years contending with them. He was forced to pawn Roussillon, his Catalan possession on the north-east of the Pyrenees, to King Louis XI of France, who refused to part with it.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In his old age John was blinded by cataracts, but recovered his eyesight with an operation (couching) conducted by his Jewish physician, Abiathar Crescas. The Catalan revolt was pacified in 1472, but until his death in 1479 John carried on a war, in which he was generally unfortunate, with his neighbor the French king. He was succeeded by Ferdinand, his son by his second marriage, who was already married to Isabella I of Castile.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} With his death and son's accession to the throne of Aragon, the unification of the realms of Spain under one royal house began in earnest.

== Marriages and issue== From his first marriage to Blanche of Navarre, John had the following children: *Charles, Prince of Viana (1421–1461),{{sfn|Scofield|1923|p=235}} married Agnes of Cleves (1422–1448), no legitimate issue. *Joanna of Navarre (1423{{spaced ndash}}22 August 1425) *Blanche II of Navarre (1424–1464), married Henry, Prince of Asturias, no issue. *Eleanor of Navarre{{sfn|Merriman|1918|p=61}} (1426-1479),{{sfn|Scofield|1923|p=235}} married Gaston IV, Count of Foix (1422–1472), had issue.

[[File:Ducado aragonés Juan II de Aragón (1453).jpg|thumb|A ''ducat'' with John II's effigy]] From his second marriage to Juana Enríquez, John had the following children: *Ferdinand II of Aragon{{sfn|Merriman|1918|p=61}} (1452-1516). Married Isabella I of Castile. *Joanna of Aragon (1455–1517). Married Ferdinand I of Naples.

Illegitimate children: * Alfonso de Aragón y de Escobar (1417-1495), Duke of Villahermosa * Juan de Aragón (1440–1475), Archbishop of Zaragoza * Felipe de Carrayos del Radona (Phillipe del Radona){{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

== Ancestors == {{ahnentafel |collapsed=yes |align=center |ref=<ref name="DeSousa2">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/historiagenealog02sous#page/496/mode/2up |title=Historia genealogica da casa real portugueza |trans-title=Genealogical History of the Royal House of Portugal |volume=2 |language=pt |last=de Sousa |first=Antonio Caetano |publisher=Lisboa Occidental |year=1735 |page=497}}</ref> |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. '''John II of Aragon''' |2= 2. Ferdinand I of Aragon |3= 3. Eleanor of Alburquerque |4= 4. John I of Castile |5= 5. Eleanor of Aragon |6= 6. Sancho Alfonso |7= 7. Beatrice of Portugal |8= 8. Henry II of Castile |9= 9. Juana Manuel |10= 10. Peter IV of Aragon |11= 11. Eleanor of Sicily |12= 12. Alfonso XI of Castile |13= 13. Leonor de Guzmán |14= 14. Peter I of Portugal |15= 15. Inês de Castro }}

== See also == * Castilian Civil War of 1437–1445

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Sources == {{Commons category}} *{{cite book |chapter=Trastamara Kings, Queens, and the Gender Dynamics of Monarchy |first=Theresa |last=Earenfight |pages=141–160 |title=The Emergence of León-Castile c.1065-1500: Essays Presented to J.F. O'Callaghan |editor-first=James |editor-last=Todesca |publisher=Ashgate |year=2015 }} *{{cite book |title=A New History of Portugal |first=H. V. |last=Livermore |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1966 }}120 *{{cite book |author-link=Roger Bigelow Merriman |first=Roger Bigelow |last=Merriman |title=The Rise of the Spanish Empire in the Old and in the New |volume=2 |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1918 }} *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u7TTGgts6e8C&pg=PA222 |title=Spain's centuries of crisis: 1300–1474 |first=Teófilo F. |last=Ruiz |publisher= Wiley-Blackwell |year=2007|isbn=978-1-4051-2789-9 }} *{{cite book |title=The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth, King of England and of France, and Ireland |volume=1 |first=Cora Louise |last=Scofield |author-link = Cora Scofield|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |year=1923 }} *{{cite book |first=Elena |last=Woodacre |title=The Queens Regnant of Navarre: Succession, Politics, and Partnership, 1274–1512 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2013 }} *Rivadeneyra. "Cronicas de los reyes de Castilla," ''Biblioteca de autores espanoles'', vols. Ixvi, Ixviii. Madrid, 1845. *Zurita, G. ''Anales de Aragon''. Saragossa, 1610.{{title incomplete|date=April 2017}}{{volume needed|date=April 2017}} *Prescott W. H. ''History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella''. 1854. *{{EB1911|wstitle=John II of Aragon|display=John II.|volume=15|page=440}}

==External links==

{{S-start}} {{S-hou|House of Trastámara|29 June|1397|20 January|1479}} {{S-reg}} {{s-bef | rows = 2 | before = Alfonso the Magnanimous }} {{s-ttl | title = King of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica; Count of Barcelona | years = 1458–1479 1458-1468 (Sicily) }} {{s-aft | rows = 1 | after = Ferdinand the Catholic }} |- {{s-ttl | title = Count of Roussillon and Cerdagne | years = 1458–1462 }} {{s-aft | rows = 1 | after = Louis the Prudent }} |- {{s-bef | rows = 2 | before = Charles III }} {{s-ttl | title = King of Navarre (jure uxoris) | regent1 = Blanche I | years = 1425–1441 }} {{s-aft | after = Charles IV ''de jure'' }} |- {{s-ttl | title = King of Navarre ''de facto'' withholding the crown from Charles IV and Blanche II | years = 1441–1479 }} {{s-aft | after = Eleanor }} |- {{S-reg|es}} |- {{S-vac|last=Martin of Aragon}} {{S-ttl | title = Duke of Montblanc | years = 1415–1458 }} {{S-aft | rows = 2 | after = Ferdinand II of Aragon }} |- {{s-bef | before = James II of Urgell }} {{s-ttl | title = Lord of Balaguer | years = 1418–1458 }} |- {{S-bef | before = Hugh of Cardona }} {{S-ttl | title = Duke of Gandia | years = 1433–1439 }} {{S-aft | after = Charles of Viana }} |- {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:John 02 Of Aragon}} Category:John II of Aragon Category:1398 births Category:1479 deaths Category:People from Medina del Campo Category:House of Trastámara Category:15th-century Aragonese monarchs Category:15th-century kings of Sicily Category:15th-century Navarrese monarchs Category:Monarchs of Majorca Category:Valencian monarchs Category:Remarried jure uxoris kings Category:Jure uxoris kings Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece Category:Counts of Barcelona Category:Aragonese infantes Category:Dukes of Montblanc Category:Dukes of Gandía Category:Counts of Malta Category:Burials at the Poblet Monastery Category:14th-century Castilian nobility Category:15th-century Castilian nobility Category:Children of Ferdinand I of Aragon