[MR] Wikipedia: Death of King John the Blind

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1346, the Battle of Crécy was fought during the Hundred
Years War. An archery-heavy English army led by Edward III and the Black
Prince defeated a mostly-French force nearly twice as large. Most of the
major commanders in the French army were killed, including the allied King
John of Bohemia/Count of Luxembourg.

John had gone blind from ophthalmia in 1336, and is thus known to history
as John the Blind. Despite being unable to see, he commanded a large
contingent of troops during his final battle.

According to the chronicaller Jean Froissart, when King John learned that
the French were losing the battle, he demanded to be taken to where the
fighting was still the hottest so he could strike at least one blow with
his sword. So his horse was tied between those of two knights, and they
rode into the press followed by his guard. John and nearly all of his men
were killed in the fighting.

John's body was returned to Luxembourg for burial. After being reburied
twice, and hidden for years in an attic during and after the French
Revolution, in 1945 the King was finally interred in a crypt beneath the
Cathedral of Notre Dame in Luxembourg City where his remains . . . uh . . .
remain.

John's rather confusing political life, and poetic death, and peripatetic
afterlife, are discussed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Bohemia .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a quest to keep Merry Rose relevant and in business.