Duke John II of Bavaria-Munich (1341 – 1397), (German: ''Johann II, Herzog von Bayern-München''), since 1375 Duke of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. He was the third son of Stephen II and Elizabeth of Sicily.

Family

His maternal grandparents were

Frederick III of Sicily Frederick II (or III) (13 December 1272 – 25 June 1337) was the regent of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1291 until 1295 and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the W ...

and

Eleanor of Anjou Eleanor of Anjou (August 1289 – 9 August 1341) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of King Frederick II of Sicily. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou by birth. She was the third daughter of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungar ...

. Her parents were

Charles II of Naples Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...

and

Maria Arpad of Hungary Mary of Hungary (c. 1257 – 25 March 1323), of the Árpád dynasty, was Queen of Naples by marriage to King Charles II. She was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and his wife Elizabeth the Cuman. Mary served as regent in Provence in 1290–12 ...

. Maria was a daughter of

Stephen V of Hungary Stephen V ( hu, V. István, hr, Stjepan V., sk, Štefan V; before 18 October 1239 – 6 August 1272, Csepel Island) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1270 and 1272, and Duke of Styria from 1258 to 1260. He was the oldest son of Kin ...

and his wife, queen Elisabeth, who was daughter of Zayhan of Kuni, a chief of the

Cuman tribe The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many soug ...

and had been a

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

before her marriage. Stephen V was a son of

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father ...

and Maria Laskarina. Maria Laskarina was a daughter of

Theodore I Lascaris Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris ( gr, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Λάσκαρις, Theodōros Komnēnos Laskaris; 1175November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his de ...

and

Anna Angelina Anna Komnene Angelina or Comnena Angelina (c. 1176 – 1212) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos and of Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. Life Her first marriage was to the ''sebastokratōr'' Isa ...

. Anna was a daughter of

Eastern Roman Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Alexius III and

Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera ( el, Εὐφροσύνη Δούκαινα Καματερίνα ἢ Καματηρά, – 1211) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos. Euphrosyne was ...

Duke of Bavaria

From 1375 to 1392 John ruled in

Bavaria-Landshut Bavaria-Landshut (german: Bayern-Landshut) was a duchy in the Holy Roman Empire from 1353 to 1503. History The creation of the duchy was the result of the death of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian. In the Treaty of Landsberg 1349, which divided u ...

with his brothers Stephen III and

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

. In 1385 John II and his wife inherited a third of

County of Gorizia The County of Gorizia ( it, Contea di Gorizia, german: Grafschaft Görz, sl, Goriška grofija, fur, Contee di Gurize), from 1365 Princely County of Gorizia, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. Originally mediate ''Vogts'' of the Patriarchs of ...

with

Lienz Lienz (; Southern Bavarian: ''Lianz'') is a Town privileges, medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz (district), Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality a ...

, but already in 1392 he sold his part to the Habsburgs. In 1392 John initiated a new partition of Bavaria since he refused to finance the Italian adventures of his brothers who were both married with daughters of

Bernabò Visconti Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he an ...

but also Stephen's expensive holding of court. The duchy of Bavaria-Landshut then was reduced since

Bavaria-Ingolstadt Bavaria-Ingolstadt ( or ') was a duchy which was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1447. History After the death of Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Frederick, and John II jointly ruled Bavaria-Landshut. After seventeen year ...

and

Bavaria-Munich Bavaria-Munich (german: Bayern-München) was a duchy that was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1505. History After the death of Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Frederick, and John II jointly ruled Bavaria-La ...

were created. Frederick kept

while Stephen received Bavaria-Ingolstadt which he soon treated as a disadvantage. Therefore, John ruled Bavaria-Munich for three years only until 1395, then he shared his power again with Stephen after an armed conflict between both brothers. John II was succeeded by his sons

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman ...

and

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

who finally managed to enforce their sole rule over Bavaria-Munich against Stephen III. John is buried in the Frauenkirche in

Marriage and children

He married in 1372

Catherine of Gorizia Catherine of Gorizia (died 1391) was a daughter of Count Meinhard VI of Gorizia and his first wife Catherine of Pfannberg. In 1372, she married Duke John II of Bavaria-Munich. They had three children: * Ernest, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (born: 1373 ...

, a daughter of Count

Meinhard VI of Gorizia Meinhard VI of Gorizia (died after 6 May 1385) a member of the Meinhardiner dynasty, an imperial prince and a count of Gorizia. Life His parents were Count Albert II of Gorizia and Euphemia of Mätsch. From 1338 to 1365, he ruled Gorizia joint ...

and Catharina of Pfannberg. Their children were: # Ernest I of Bavaria-Munich (1373–2 July 1438,

). # William III of Bavaria-Munich (1375, Munich–1435, Munich). #

Sofia of Bavaria Sophia of Bavaria (; ; 1376 – 4 November 1428In a Munich archive, letters of Sophia from the years 1422–1427 have been found. B. Kopičková, Mnichovský fascikl č. 543. Korespondence královny Žofie z období březen 1422 – prosinec 14 ...

(1376–26 September 1425,

Pressburg Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

), married in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

2 May 1389 King

Wenceslaus Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are german: Wenzel, pl, Wacław, Więcesław, Wieńczysław, es, Wenceslao, russian: ...

. He also had an illegitimate son, Johann Grünwalder (1393–1452), who was Cardinal and Bishop of

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...

Ancestors

{{DEFAULTSORT:John 02, Duke of Bavaria 1341 births 1397 deaths 14th-century dukes of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach Burials at Munich Frauenkirche