John III the Pitiless (1374–1425), of the
House of Wittelsbach, was first
bishop of Liège
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
1389–1418 and then
duke of Bavaria-Straubing and
count of Holland and
Hainaut 1418–1425.
Family
![Holland Jan van Beieren goudgulden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Holland_Jan_van_Beieren_goudgulden.jpg)
John was born in
Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy (; pcd, L' Kénoé) is a commune and small town in the east of the Nord department of northern France. It was part of the historical province of French Hainaut. It had a keynote industry in shoemaking before the late 1940s, followed ...
. He was the youngest son of Duke
Albert I of Bavaria and
Margaret of Brieg
Margaret of Brieg (1342–1386) was a daughter of Ludwik I the Fair and his wife, Agnes of Sagan. She was Duchess consort of Bavaria by her marriage to Albert I, Duke of Bavaria.
Family
Margaret was the eldest of six siblings, her brother was ...
. His elder brother was
William II, who succeeded their father as
count of Holland, Zeeland and Hainault in 1404. His sister,
Margaret, married in 1385 Duke
John the Fearless
John I (french: Jean sans Peur; nl, Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 137110 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his death in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs durin ...
of Burgundy.
Bishop
As the youngest son of three, John was destined for a career in the church. At the age of 15, he became Prince-Bishop of Liège, with the support of
Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Rich ...
. John's rule was a disaster. His authoritarian style clashed with the nobles and burghers of the Prince-Bishopric. He was expelled several times and saw even a counter-bishop being elected. John turned for help to his brother and brother-in-law.
On 23 September 1408, a Burgundian army led by his brother-in-law John the Fearless went to the aid of John III against the citizens of Liège, who were in open revolt. During the battle just outside the village of Othee, a
battle was fought which saw the men from Liège being decisively defeated. This led to the bishopric of Liège becoming a protectorate of
Burgundy. John ordered the beheading of suspicious burghers and noblemen in Liège, while others were drowned in the
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
, from then on he was called "the Pitiless".
Duke and count
When his brother died in 1417 and was succeeded by his daughter
Jacqueline as countess of Holland and Hainaut, John the Pitiless rejected
holy orders and surrendered his bishopric. In 1418, John III married
Elisabeth, Duchess of Luxembourg, who was then the widow of
Antoine, Duke of Brabant
Anthony, Duke of Brabant, also known as Antoine de Brabant, Antoine de Bourgogne and Anthony of Burgundy (August 1384 – 25 October 1415), was Count of Rethel (1402–1406), Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg (1406–1415), and Co- Duke ...
. No children came from this marriage.
With the aid of
Emperor Sigismund
Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia ('' jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in ...
, who was his wife's uncle, John III immediately started a war against his niece Jacqueline and her husband Duke
John IV of Brabant
John IV, Duke of Brabant (11 June 1403 – 17 April 1427) was the son of Antoine of Burgundy, Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg and his first wife Jeanne of Saint-Pol. He was the second Brabantian ruler from the House of Valois. He is b ...
. John the Pitiless supported the city of
Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
and Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. A siege of Dordrecht in 1419 was unsuccessful, so John IV of Brabant agreed to start a joint administration with John III. Jacqueline, as a woman, did not get a share in the political responsibility. John IV of Brabant finally gave up Holland and Hainaut and left the rule to John the Pitiless. Jacqueline went to England in 1421 and married the king's brother,
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (3 October 139023 February 1447) was an English prince, soldier, and literary patron. He was (as he styled himself) "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of Henry IV of E ...
.
[Alfred H.Burne, "The Hundred Years War" (1st ed., 1955; Folio Society 2005), 371-2] She was unable to retain control over Holland and Hainaut much longer after John's death.
Death and legacy
John the Pitiless was known for the rich culture of his court;
Jan van Eyck was among the artists he engaged, from at least 1422 until 1424. John the Pitiless died of poison in 1425 in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
. His Court Marshal Jan van Vliet had allegedly poisoned the pages of the ducal prayer-book, and had already been executed in 1424. Bavaria-Straubing was divided between the dukes of Bavaria, the major portion of which went to
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- ...
.
See also
*
Counts of Hainaut family tree
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:John 03 the Pitiless, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing
1374 births
1425 deaths
15th-century dukes of Bavaria
Counts of Hainaut
Counts of Holland
Dukes of Luxembourg
House of Wittelsbach
John 06
14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire