John II, Duke of Brittany

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Coat of Arms of Peter I, Duke of Brittany and his successors.
Coat of Arms of Peter I, Duke of Brittany and his successors.

John II (in Breton Yann II, in French Jean II de Dreux) (1239 – November 18, 1305) was Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, from 1286 to his death. He was son of Duke Jean I and Blanche, princess of Navarre.

On January 22, 1260, John married Princess Beatrice of England, a daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. They had six children:

  1. Arthur II, Duke of Brittany
  2. John de Bretagne, 1st Earl of Richmond
  3. Marie de Dreux, wife of Guy III of Châtillon (1268-1339)
  4. Pierre, Viscount de Leon (1269-1312)
  5. Blanche de Dreux, wife of Philip of Artois (1271-1327)
  6. Eleonore, Abbess of Fontevrault (1274-1329)

He was killed during the celebrations surrounding the coronation of Pope Clement V in 1305. John was leading the pope's horse through the crowd. So many spectators had piled atop the walls that one of them crumbled and collapsed right on top of the unfortunate duke.

[edit] See also

Preceded by
John I		 Duke of Brittany
1286–1305		 Succeeded by
Arthur II
Earl of Richmond
1286–1305
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