Jutta from Luxembourg

Miniature of a Psalter of Jutta of Luxembourg 1348/49 by Jean Le Noir, Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York

Jutta vu Lëtzebuerg [Luxembourg: Jutta vu Lëtzebuerg or Guta vu Lëtzebuerg ] (* May 20, 1315 , † September 11, 1349 in Maubuisson , France ) was the second eldest daughter of the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg and his first wife Eliska Premyslovna . She was the older sister of Emperor Charles IV. In French historiography, she figures under the name Bonne de Luxembourg .

childhood

Several times Jutta was the object of marriage projects that her father Johann developed in line with his dynastic interests. At the age of six she was betrothed for the first time (as was not uncommon for princely daughters at the time) and in 1321 came to live with her future husband, the Wettin Friedrich the Serious (1310-1349), later Margrave of Meissen , at the Wartburg . In 1323 she was sent back to her father because the Wettins had joined the party of Ludwig of Bavaria and Friedrich was supposed to marry his daughter Mathilde , which happened in 1328. Afterwards, Jutta was promised to the future Count Heinrich IV. Von Bar, but this project also failed because Heinrich's father Eduard I or, since 1336, he himself and Jutta's father Johann could only balance their interests in 1343. But negotiations ended with King Philip VI, who had ruled France since 1328 . from the Valois company . A double marriage was even agreed: Johann's son Karl (the future emperor) was betrothed to Philip's granddaughter Blanche von Valois and daughter Jutta to the French heir to the throne Johann von Valois, who later became King John II the Good (French Jean le Bon , 1319-1364).

Crown Princess of France

On January 2, 1332, Johann von Luxemburg and Jutta arrived in Paris. On August 6, 1332 the wedding of the meanwhile 17-year-old Jutta and the 13-year-old Johann took place in Melun. This had been declared of legal age on February 17, 1332 and had received the titles of Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou and Maine . Jutta Frenchized her first name to Bonne.

Because of her beauty, her education and her charm, she quickly gained influence at the French court. However, opponents accused her of adultery. The jealous Johann even doubted the paternity of his eldest son Karl and had his wife's alleged lover - Raoul II de Brienne , Count of Eu - eliminated.

death

On September 11, 1349, Jutta fell victim to the plague. She had no longer become Queen of France because her husband did not come to the throne until August 22, 1350, after the death of his father Philip VI.

Shortly after Jutta's death there were rumors that Johann had let her be poisoned. If this is true, it can no longer be clarified whether he was driven by personal motives, e.g. B. jealousy, or acted for political reasons.

After the defeat of the French army against the English troops in the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the death of Blanche von Valois in 1348 and the rapprochement between the English King Edward III. and the new German King Karl IV. in 1349 there was no longer any political basis for a Franco-Luxembourg alliance. With the death of Duke Odo IV of Burgundy (1349), on the other hand, there were new, more favorable opportunities for the French crown in this direction. On February 9, 1350, King Johann Johanna von Boulogne-Auvergne, the widow of Odo's son Philip, who died early, married and became the stepfather and guardian of Philip von Rouvre (1344-1361), the last Duke of Burgundy from the Capetian family . After his early death, Burgundy fell to the French crown and was given by Johann as apanage to his youngest son Philipp, who later became Philipp the Bold .

children

Jutta and Johann had eleven children in twelve years from 1336, seven of which reached adulthood:

• Charles V the Wise (French Charles le Sage, 1338–1380), King of France from 1364;
• Ludwig von Anjou (1339–1384), Count or Duke of Anjou from 1350 or 1360, from 1382 titular king of Naples as heir appointed by Queen Joan I of Naples;
• Johann von Berry (1340–1416), Duke of Berry and Auvergne from 1360;
• Philip the Bold (1342–1404), Duke of Burgundy from 1364 and founder of the dynasty of the Burgundian dukes from the House of Valois, which died out in 1477 with the death of his great-grandson Charles the Bold ;
• Johanna von Valois (1343–1373), wife of Charles the Evil (French Charles le Mauvais), King of Navarre;
• Maria (1344–1404), wife of Robert I, Duke of Bar;
• Isabella (1348–1372), wife of Gian Galeazzo Visconti , Duke of Milan, and mother of Valentina Visconti (1366 / 1368–1408), who in turn was married to the younger son of her uncle Charles V, Duke Ludwig von Orléans .

bibliography

• Jörg K. Hoensch : The Luxembourgers - A late medieval dynasty of pan-European importance 1308–1437. Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-17-015159-2 .
• Ferdinand Seibt : Karl IV. - An Emperor in Europe 1346-1378. 5th edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-423-04641-4 .
• Heinz Thomas: Johann II. In: Joachim Ehlers, Heribert Müller, Bernd Schneidmüller: The French kings of the Middle Ages 888–1498. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-406-40446-4 .
• Joseph Calmette : The Great Dukes of Burgundy. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-424-01312-9 .