John, Duke of Durazzo
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John of Gravina (1294 – April 5, 1336), Count of Gravina 1315–1336 and Duke of Durazzo 1332–1336, was a younger son of Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary.
He was a younger brother of (among others) Charles Martel of Anjou, Saint Louis of Toulouse, Robert of Naples and Philip I of Taranto.
On September 3, 1313 he was named Captain-General of Calabria. In 1315, he succeeded his brother Peter, Count of Gravina after the latter was killed at the Battle of Montecatini.
The death of Louis of Burgundy in 1316 widowed Margaret of Hainaut, Princess of Achaea. Her suzerain, John's brother Philip I of Taranto, had her brought by force to Naples in 1318 to marry John, a design intended to bring the Principality of Achaea into the Angevin inheritance. The marriage, celebrated in March 1318, failed of its objective: Margaret refused to surrender her rights to Achaea to her husband and ultimately contracted a secret marriage with Hugh de La Palice. This violated the marriage contract of her mother Isabelle, which had pledged that Isabelle and all her female heirs should not marry without permission of their suzerain. On these grounds, Philip stripped her of Achaea and bestowed it upon John: the marriage was annulled for non-consummation, and Margaret was imprisoned in the Castel dell'Ovo.
On November 14, 1321, John took a second wife, Agnes de Périgord, daughter of Helie VII, Count of Périgord and Brunissende de Foix. They had four sons:
- Charles, Duke of Durazzo (1323–1348)
- Louis of Durazzo (1324–1362), Count of Gravina
- Robert of Durazzo (1325–1365)
- Stephen of Durazzo (b. 1328), died a Crusader in Portugal.
He made a military expedition, financed by the Acciaiuoli, in 1325 to claim Achaea, by now much diminished from its original extent. While he re-established his authority in Kefalonia and Zante, he was unable to recapture Skorta from the control of the Byzantine Empire.
In 1332, Philip of Taranto died and was succeeded by his son Robert of Taranto, who became the new suzerain of Achaea. Not wishing to swear fealty to his nephew, John arranged to surrender Achaea to him in exchange for Robert's rights to the Kingdom of Albania and a loan of 5,000 ounces of gold raised upon Niccolo Acciaiuoli, and thenceforth adopted the style of "Duke of Durazzo".
| Preceded by Peter |
Count of Gravina 1315–1336 |
Succeeded by Louis |
| Preceded by Robert as Lord of the Kingdom of Albania |
Duke of Durazzo 1332–1336 |
Succeeded by Charles |
| Preceded by Margaret |
Prince of Achaea 1322–1332 |
Succeeded by Robert |
