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

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

. He was the only son of

Stephen of Anjou Stephen ( hu, István; 20 August 1332 – 9 August 1354) was a Hungarian royal prince of the Capetian House of Anjou. He was the youngest son of Charles I of Hungary and Elizabeth of Poland, Queen of Hungary, Elizabeth of Poland to survive childh ...

, Duke of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, and

Margaret of Bavaria Margaret of Bavaria (1363 – 23 January 1424, Dijon) was 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 and the regent in French Burgundy d ...

. 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 ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...

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

Casimir III of Poland Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 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, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He wa ...

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

Birth

John was the only son of

and

. Stephen was the youngest son of

Charles I of Hungary Charles I, also known as Charles Robert ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 128816 July 1342) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of ...

. 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 ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

, 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, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

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) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, 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 and nobility who died as children