John II ( Spanish: ''Juan II'',

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

: ''Joan II'', Aragonese: ''Chuan II'' and eu, Joanes II; 29 June 1398 – 20 January 1479), called the Great (''el Gran'') or the Faithless (''el Sense Fe''), was

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre ...

from 1458 until his death in 1479. As the husband of Queen

Blanche I of Navarre Blanche I (6 July 1387Anthony (1931) states that she was the fourth-born daughter of King Charles III of Navarre by Queen Eleanor, and she was preceded by Joan, Maria and Margaret and the two latter died early. Anthony defines Blanche's exact birt ...

, he was King of Navarre from 1425 to 1479. John was also

King of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which occ ...

from 1458 to 1468.

Biography

John was born at Medina del Campo (in the Crown of Castile), the son of King Ferdinand I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque. In his youth he was one of the ''infantes'' (princes) of Aragon who took part in the dissensions of Castile during the minority and reign of John II of Castile. Till middle life he was also lieutenant-general in Aragon for his brother and predecessor Alfonso V, whose reign was mainly spent in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In his old age he was engaged in incessant conflicts with his Aragonese and Catalan subjects, with Louis XI of France, and in preparing the way for the marriage of his son Ferdinand with

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 b ...

which brought about the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile and which was to create the

Kingdom of Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. His troubles with his subjects were closely connected with tragic dissensions within his own family. John was first married to

of the house of Évreux. By right of Blanche he became king of Navarre, and on her death in 1441 he was left in possession of the kingdom for his lifetime. But one son, Charles, given the title "Prince of Viana" as heir of Navarre, had been born of the marriage. John quickly came to regard this son with jealousy. After his second marriage, to Juana Enríquez, it grew into absolute hatred, being encouraged by Juana. John tried to deprive his son of his constitutional right to act as lieutenant-general of Aragon during his father's absence. Charles's cause was taken up by the Aragonese, however, and the king's attempt to make his second wife lieutenant-general was set aside. There followed the long Navarrese Civil War, with alternations of success and defeat, ending only with the death of the prince of Viana, possibly by poison administered by his father in 1461. The Catalans, who had adopted the cause of Charles and who had grievances of their own, called in a succession of foreign pretenders in the Catalan Civil War. His last years John spent contending with these. He was forced to pawn Roussillon, his possession on the north-east of the Pyrenees, to King Louis XI of France, who refused to part with it. In his old age John was blinded by cataracts, but recovered his eyesight by the operation of

couching In embroidery, couching and laid work are techniques in which yarn or other materials are laid across the surface of the ground fabric and fastened in place with small stitches of the same or a different yarn. The couching threads may be eith ...

conducted by his physician

Abiathar Crescas Abiathar Crescas (, ) was a 15th-century physician and astrologer from the Crown of Aragon (now part of Spain). He was head astrologer to King John II of Aragon, father of King Ferdinand of Aragon. He could remove cataracts A cataract i ...

, a Jew. The Catalan revolt was pacified in 1472, but John carried on a war, in which he was generally unfortunate, with his neighbor the French king till his death in 1479. He was succeeded by Ferdinand, his son by his second marriage, who was already married to

. With his death and son's accession to the throne of Aragon, the unification of Spain under one royal house began in earnest.

Marriages and issue

From his first marriage to Blanche of Navarre, John had the following children: * Charles, Prince of Viana (1421–1461) *Juana (142322 August 1425) * Blanche II of Navarre (1424–1464) * Eleanor of Navarre (1426-1479) Ducado aragonés Juan II de Aragón (1453)

Ducado aragonés Juan II de Aragón (1453)

From his second marriage to Juana Enríquez, John had the following children: *

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia fro ...

(1452-1516). Married

. * Joanna of Aragon (1455–1517). Married Ferdinand I of Naples. Illegitimate children: *

Alfonso de Aragón y de Escobar Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsul ...

(1417-1495),

Duke of Villahermosa Duke of Villahermosa ( es, Duque de Villahermosa) is a hereditary title in the peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1476 by John II to Alfonso de Aragón, a half-brother of Ferdinand II.Hidalgos de España ( ...

* Juan de Aragón (1440–1475), Archbishop of Zaragoza * Felipe de Carrayos del Radona (Phillipe del Radona)

Ancestors

References

Sources

* *120 * * * * *Rivadeneyra. "Cronicas de los reyes de Castilla," ''Biblioteca de autores espanoles'', vols. Ixvi, Ixviii. Madrid, 1845. * Zurita, G. ''Anales de Aragon''. Saragossa, 1610. *Prescott W. H. ''History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella''. 1854. *

External links

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