John (; 1354–1360) was a Hungarian royal prince of the

Capetian House of Anjou The Capetian House of Anjou, or House of Anjou-Sicily, or House of Anjou-Naples was a royal house and cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. It is one of three separate royal houses referred to as ''Angevin'', meaning "from Anjou" in France. Foun ...

. He was the only son of Stephen of Anjou, Duke of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, and

Margaret of Bavaria Margaret of Bavaria (1363 – 23 January 1424, Dijon) was List of Burgundian royal consorts, Duchess of Burgundy by marriage to John the Fearless. She was the regent of the Burgundian Low Countries during the absence of her spouse in 1404–1419 ...

. He inherited his father's duchies shortly after his birth. He was regarded the heir to his sonless uncle,

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...

, who also secured John's right to inherit Poland from

Casimir III of Poland Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

. Both Louis I and Casimir III survived John who died prematurely.

Birth

John was the only son of Stephen of Anjou and

. Stephen was the youngest son of

Charles I of Hungary Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (; ; ; 128816 July 1342), was King of Hungary and Croatia in the union with Hungary, Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel of A ...

. In Hungary, Stephen was regarded the heir to his sonless eldest brother,

, but the Polish noblemen forbade Stephen to interfere in Polish affairs when they confirmed, in 1351, Louis's right to inherit Poland from his maternal uncle,

. John's mother was the daughter of the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

, Louis IV. She came to Hungary in the autumn of 1350. The date and place of John's birth are unknown. His father was staying in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

when John was born, according to his mother's charter of grant to the Zagreb Chapter. Stephen of Anjou did not visit Zagreb in 1351 and 1352. John's sister,

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

, was born most probably in 1353. Consequently, John must have been born in late 1353 or in 1354, according to historian Éva B. Halász. Stephen had already received Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia from Louis I.

Duke

Stephen died on 9 August 1354. John inherited his father's provinces under the guardianship of his mother. He was regarded the heir to Louis I who also persuaded Casimir III of Poland to adopt John in 1355. Not independently of the war with Venice, Louis I appointed a lieutenant to rule Slavonia in the spring of 1356, and a ban to administer Croatia and Dalmatia in 1357. John, nevertheless, was styled duke of Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia in 1358. He died in 1360.

References

Sources

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:John of Slavonia 1354 births 1360 deaths House of Anjou-Hungary Hungarian princes Dukes of Slavonia 14th-century Hungarian people Royalty who died as children