John II, Duke of Bourbon

John de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon (1426 – 1 April 1488, Château de Moulins), sometimes referred to as John the Good and The Scourge of the English, was a son of Charles I of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy. He was Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne from 1456 to his death.

Life
John earned his nicknames "John the Good" and "The Scourge of the English" for his efforts in helping drive out the English from France.

He was made constable of France in 1483 by his brother Peter and sister-in-law Anne, to neutralize him as a threat to their regency.

In an effort to win discontented nobles back to his side, Louis XI of France made great efforts to give out magnificent gifts to certain individuals; John was a recipient of these overtures. According to contemporary chronicles, the King received John in Paris with "honours, caresses, pardon, and gifts; everything was lavished upon him". In further attempts to gain the nobles' favor, the King proposed a match between his eldest legitimized daughter Marguerite to John's eldest illegitimate son Louis de Bourbon. The marriage was celebrated in Paris with royal magnificence and the wedded couple were heaped with honors and wealth by the King. It has been said despite all of his brilliant marriages, nothing flattered John more than this particular marriage between his natural son and a legitimized daughter of the King.

John is notable for making three brilliant alliances but leaving no legitimate issue.

First Marriage
In 1447, his father, the Duke of Bourbon, had his heir married to a daughter of Charles VII, King of France, Joan of Valois. They were duly married at the Château de Moulins. They had no surviving issue.

Second marriage
In 1484 at St. Cloud to Catherine of Armagnac, daughter of Jacques of Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, who died in 1487 while giving birth to:
 * John of Bourbon (Moulins, 1487), styled Count of Clermont

Third marriage
In 1487 he married Jeanne of Bourbon-Vendôme, daughter of John of Bourbon, Count of Vendôme, by whom he had one son:
 * Louis of Bourbon (1488), styled Count of Clermont



Death and aftermath
John died in 1488 and was succeeded by his younger brother Charles. However, this succession was strongly contested due to the political strength of Peter and Anne. Within a span of days, Charles was forced to renounce his claims to the Bourbon lands to Peter in exchange for a financial settlement. John's widow Jeanne would later remarry to John III, Count of Auvergne and by him she became the mother of Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, the mother of Catherine de Medici.