John II, Duke of Brittany

John II (Yann; Jean; 1239 – 18 November 1305) reigned as Duke of Brittany from 1286 until his death, and was also Earl of Richmond in the Peerage of England. He took part in two crusades prior to his accession to the ducal throne. As a duke, John was involved in the conflicts between the kings of France and England. He was crushed to death in an accident during the celebrations of a papal coronation.

Life
John was the eldest son of Duke John I of Brittany and Blanche of Navarre. On 22 January 1260, he married Beatrice, a daughter of King Henry III of England. John was very close to his brother-in-law, Edward I. In 1271, he accompanied Edward to the Ninth Crusade, meeting there with his father and King Louis IX of France. Louis succumbed to an illness in Tunis, and John's father returned to Brittany. John, however, followed Edward to Palestine. The crusade ended the following year, having achieved little. In 1285, John took part in the Aragonese Crusade at the side of King Philip III of France.

Upon the death of his father on 8 October 1286, John succeeded him as duke of Brittany, inheriting also the Earldom of Richmond in the Peerage of England. His namesake son was governing Aquitaine in the name of his uncle EdwardI, when King PhilipIV declared Edward's rule forfeit in May 1294 after Edward's refusal to stand before the Parlement of Paris over fishing disputes the previous year that had escalated into naval warfare between the two countries. John assisted his brother-in-law in the ensuing Gascon War but suffered only defeats. When the English army sought to recover by plundering the Breton Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre in 1296, however, John abandoned Edward's cause. In response, Edward deprived him of the earldom. John proceeded to ally himself with the French, arranging a marriage between his grandson John and King Philip's cousin Isabella of Valois. Philip then raised him into the Peerage of France in September 1297. During the negotiations over the final Treaty of Paris ending the war, John was among Philip's chief negotiators with the English.

From 1294 until 1304, John assisted the King of France in his campaign against Count Guy of Flanders, taking part in the decisive Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle. Following King Philip's victory, in 1305, John travelled to Lyon to attend the coronation of Pope Clement V. John was leading the Pope's horse through the crowd during the celebrations. So many spectators had piled atop the walls that one of them crumbled and collapsed on top of the Duke. He died four days later, on 18 November. His body was placed in a lead coffin and sent down the Loire. He was buried on 16 December in the Carmelite convent he had founded in Ploërmel.

Issue
John and Beatrice had six children, several of whom were raised at the English court of their uncle EdwardI.
 * Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (1262–1312)
 * John, Earl of Richmond (c. 1266–1334)
 * Marie, wife of Guy III of Châtillon (1268–1339)
 * Peter, Viscount of Leon (1269–1312)
 * Blanche, wife of Philip of Artois (1271–1327)
 * Eleanor of Brittany, Abbess of Fontevrault (1275–1342)