[MR] Birth of John the Fearless

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Never one to miss posting about the Dukes of Burgundy, I note that today
marks the 1371 birth of John, son of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy /
House of Valois. John was one of the most important figures in early 15th
century France, including the Hundred Years War.

John in his turn became Duke of Burgundy upon is dad's death in 1404. John
was given the cognomen "Fearless" for his bravery against the Turks at the
Battle of Nicopolis, although his rashness gave victory to the enemy when
John was captured and later ransomed. Hey! At least he did it with style,
and style something the Valois Burgundy Dukes were better at than good
judgement.

Upon being invested as Duke of Burgundy, John took over his father's
struggle for power in the regency council of France against his cousin by
several degrees, Louis, Duke of Orléans. A regency was required since King
Charles VI was completely bonkers and kept in cushy confinement. Louis, a
notorious voluptuary, was probably having an affair with his lonely
sister-in-law Queen Isabeau (and may have been the real father of the
Dauphin). He was assassinated while leaving her apartments by John's
servants in 1407. This led to a civil war pitting John and his allies
against the powerful Duke of Armagnac, the next Duke of Orléans (Charles,
captured at Agincourt and an English prisoner for 25 years upon the
insistence of the Dukes of Burgundy), and the Dauphin, who would eventually
become King Charles VII of France. The war divided and distracted the
French, allowing Henry V to resume the Hundred Years War with Agincourt and
all that "band of brothers" stuff.

John was assassinated in his turn during a parlay in 1419 by the Armagnacs,
probably with the prior approval of the Dauphin. This pushed the next Duke
of Burgundy, Philip the Good, into an open alliance with the English that
might have delivered all of France to England had it not been for Joan of
Arc. Well, that's a story for another day (and a long one).

More about John the Fearless is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Fearless . His assassination is
covered in more detail at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_the_Fearless .

Information on Louis, Duke of Orléans is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I,_Duke_of_Orléans . Details of his
assassination are found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Louis_I,_Duke_of_Orléans .

Isn't history grand?

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆