page_title: John II of France
section_title: Negotiations with Navarre
hierarchical_section_title: John II of France / King of France / Negotiations with Navarre
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Jean II adoubant des chevaliers, Enluminure en Latin des XIVe / XVe siècle&#160;; Cote&#160;: Français 73, folio 386. XIVe / XVe siècles.
context_page_description: John II, called John the Good, was King of France from 1350 until his death.
  When John II came to power, France was facing several disasters: the Black Death, which killed nearly half of its population; popular revolts known as Jacqueries; free companies of routiers who plundered the country; and English aggression that resulted in catastrophic military losses, including the Battle of Poitiers of 1356, in which John was captured.
  While John was a prisoner in London, his son Charles became regent and faced several rebellions, which he overcame. To liberate his father, he concluded the Treaty of Brétigny, by which France lost many territories and paid an enormous ransom. In an exchange of hostages, which included his second son Louis, Duke of Anjou, John was released from captivity to raise funds for his ransom. Upon his return to France, he created the franc to stabilize the currency and tried to get rid of the free companies by sending them to a crusade, but Pope Innocent VI died shortly before their meeting in Avignon. When John was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England, where he died in 1364. He was succeeded by his son Charles V.
context_section_description: In 1354, John's son-in-law and cousin, Charles II of Navarre, who, in addition to his Kingdom of Navarre in the Pyrenees mountains, border between France and Spain, also held extensive lands in Normandy, was implicated in the assassination of the Constable of France, Charles de la Cerda. Nevertheless, in order to have a strategic ally against the English in Gascony, John signed the Treaty of Mantes with Charles on 22 February 1354. The peace did not last between the two, and Charles eventually struck up an alliance with Henry of Grosmont, the first Duke of Lancaster. The following year, on 10 September 1355, John and Charles signed the Treaty of Valognes, but this second peace lasted hardly any longer than the first.
caption: John II ennobling his knights, BNF
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