[MR] Wikipedia: Death of John the Blind

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this day in 1346 was fought the Battle of Crécy between the English and
the French. Among the many nobles fighting on the French side was John the
Blind, King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg.

John was the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII. Henry arranged John's
marriage to Elizabeth of Bohemia, sister to the deceased Bohemian king
Wenceslaus III. Backed by Imperial troops, John was able to take the throne
and brought some measure of stability to Bohemia, though he remained
unpopular with many of the nobles. John was rarely in Bohemia, instead
preferring to meddle in the Empire's various wars. Among these were a
crusade in Lithuania in 1336. It was during this crusade that John went
blind due to opthalmia.

Fast forward to Crécy. When the battle appeared lost to the French and
their allies, John is said to have ordered his knights to take him into the
press where the fighting was thickest so he could strike at least one blow.
Two of his knights tied his horse between theirs, and he and his entourage
plunged into the press. Predictably, John and many of his followers were
slaughtered. It was an honorable and memorable end, but had no effect on
the battle. It does make a great tale though.

John's current tomb is in the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City. I
say current, because his remains have bounced around quite a bit in the
last 700 or so years, including being hidden in an attic for a while in the
19th century. Wikipedia is a bit vague about this, but mentions a "cloak
and dagger" operation to move him from Rheinland to Luxembourg in 1945.
That's a tale of which I wish I knew more, but it is out of our period of
interest.

More about John the Blind is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Bohemia .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆