John II, Count of Holland

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox noble John II (1247 – 22 August 1304) was Count of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland.

Life

John II, born 1247, was the eldest son of John I of Hainaut and Adelaide of Holland.<ref name="ESII22">Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 22</ref> He became Count of Hainaut on the death of his grandmother, Countess Margaret I of Hainaut.<ref name="ESII22"/> John continued the war between the House of Dampierre and the Avesnes family against Count Guy of Flanders for Imperial Flanders.

John II became Count of Holland in 1299 upon the death of his cousin John I.<ref name="HLC58">Johan C H Blom, History of the Low Countries (New York: Berghahn Books, 2006), p. 58</ref> The personal union he established between Hainaut and Holland–Zeeland lasted for another half-century.<ref name="HLC58"/> John I's father, Floris V, had been fighting against Flanders for Zeeland.<ref name="HLC57-8">Johan C H Blom, History of the Low Countries (New York: Berghahn Books, 2006), pp. 57–8</ref> He sought help of France against Flanders.<ref name="HLC57-8"/> The French defeated the Flemish in 1300 and 1301. The rebels in Zeeland were defeated as well. John's brother, Guy of Avesnes, became bishop of Utrecht.<ref>Elizabeth Moore Hunt, Illuminating the Borders of Northern French and Flemish Manuscripts, 1270 – 1310 (New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 125</ref> Thus, all his main enemies were gone.

The tide changed dramatically after a Flemish uprising and the defeat of the French army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, where John's eldest son was killed fighting for the French. The Flemish attacked Hainaut and Zeeland supported by the dissatisfied population there. Guy of Namur defeated John's son, William, in a battle on the island of Duiveland. Bishop Guy of Utrecht was taken prisoner. Guy of Namur and Duke John II of Brabant conquered most of Utrecht, Holland, and Zeeland. Guy of Namur was finally defeated in 1304 by the fleet of Holland and France at the naval Battle of Zierikzee. John II regained most of his authority when he died in the same year.

Family

In 1270, John married Philippa,<ref>M. A. Pollock, Scotland, England and France After the Loss of Normandy, 1204-1296, (The Boydell Press, 2015), xv.</ref> daughter of Count Henry V of Luxembourg and Margaret of Bar. Their children were:

1. John, Lord of Beaumont, Count of Ostervant. Killed in battle (11 July 1302).<ref name="ESII22"/>
2. Henry, a canon in Cambrai, (died 1303).<ref name="ESII22"/>
3. William I, Count of Hainaut (Template:Circa – 7 June 1337) He succeeded his father in 1304. Married Joan of Valois, daughter of Charles, Count of Valois.<ref name="ESII22"/>
4. John of Beaumont (1288 – 11 March 1356). He was married to Margaret, Countess de Soissons.<ref name="ESII22"/>
5. Margaret (died 18 October 1342), married Robert II of Artois, who was killed at the Battle of the Golden Spurs, 11 July 1302.<ref name="ESII22"/>
6. Alice or Alix (d. 26 October 1317), who married 1290 Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, by whom she had no issue.<ref name="ESII22"/>
7. Isabelle (died 1305), married Raoul de Clermont Lord of Nesle, who was killed in battle at the Battle of the Golden Spurs, 11 July 1302.<ref name="ESII22"/>
8. Joan, a nun at Fontenelles.<ref name="ESII22"/>
9. Mary of Avesnes (1280–1354), married Louis I, Duke of Bourbon.<ref name="ESII22"/>
10. Matilda, Abbess of Nivelles.<ref name="ESII22"/>

John's illegitimate children were:

1. Willem de Cuser<ref>Gary Boyd Roberts, The royal descents of 600 immigrants to the American colonies or the United States : who were themselves notable or left descendants notable in American history: with a 2008 addendum, coda, and final addition (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2008)Template:Page needed</ref>
2. Aleid van Zandenburg, who was married firstly to Wolfert II of Borselen, lord of Veere, and secondly to Otto III of Buren.<ref>Orlanda Lie and Joris Reynaert eds., Artes in context. Opstellen over het handschriftelijk milieu van Middelnederlandse artesteksten (Hilversum 2004), 67.</ref>

See also

• Counts of Hainaut family tree
• Counts of Holland family tree