John of Salisbury. Memoirs of the Papal Court, ed. and trans. Marjorie Chibnall. London: Nelson,
1956.
——. The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury: A Twelfth-Century Defense of the Verbal and Logical
Arts of the Trivium, trans. D.D.McGarry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1955.
——. The Letters of John of Salisbury, 1: The Early Letters (1153–1161), ed. W.J.Millor and
H.E.Butler, rev. Christopher N.L.Brooke. London: Nelson, 1955.
——. The Letters of John of Salisbury, 2: The Later Letters (1163–1180),ed. W.J.Millor and
Christopher N.L.Brooke. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
Smalley, Beryl. The Beckett Conflict and the Schools: A Study of Intellectuals in Politics. Oxford:
Blackwell, 1973, pp. 87–108.
Webb, C.C.J.John of Salisbury. London: Methuen, 1932.
Wilkes, Michael, ed. The World of John of Salisbury. Oxford: Blackwell, 1984.
JOHN THE FEARLESS
(1371–1419). Duke of Burgundy. The son of Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, and
Marguerite of Flanders, John the Fearless was born at Dijon on May 28, 1371, and named
count of Nevers in 1384. In 1396, to aid the king of Hungary against the Turks, he led the
Franco-Burgundian contingent of the expedition now called the Crusade of Nicopolis.
When John inherited Burgundy in 1404, he gave the county of Nevers to his brother
Philip. On August 31, 1404, John’s daughter Marguerite married the duke of Guyenne,
heir to the French throne.
In 1405, John became involved in French politics by opposing the new tax promoted
by the duke of Orléans. At the death of his mother on March 21, 1405, John inherited the
county of Flanders and found himself at war with the English after they attacked his port
of Sluys. His desire to besiege the English stronghold of Calais was thwarted when Louis
of Orléans influenced the royal council to refuse him aid. From this point on, a bitter
hatred developed between John and Louis. John’s tactics were impetuous, risky, and
brutal. His demands for reform were made to gain the support of the people, and he was
clearly interested more in personal gain than in the kingdom of France or true
governmental reform. Because Louis threatened his interests on too many fronts, John
had him assassinated in 1407. In his official justification for this act, presented by Jean
Petit in Paris on March 8,1408, John claimed that he had saved the monarchy because
Louis had been planning to have the king and his heirs killed in order to take the crown
for himself. John received the king’s pardon, but the Orléans family was unwilling to
accept the decision. The ensuing conflict, called the quarrel of the Burgundians and the
Armagnacs, dominated French politics even after John’s own assassination at Montereau
on September 10, 1419.
Richard C.Famiglietti
[See also: ARMAGNACS; BURGUNDY; CABOCHIENS; CHARLES VI;
CHARLES VII; LOUIS, DUKE OF GUYENNE; LOUIS, DUKE OF ORLÉANS]
Famiglietti, R.C. Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI 1392–1420. New York: AMS,
1986.
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