Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/330

LEFT JOHN 266 JOHN duce him to the necessity of imploring the succor of the Latins. He consented to a union of the two churches, which was performed at the council of Ferrara, in 1439, at which John assisted in per- son. He died in 1448. PORTUGAL. John I., King of Portugal, was the natural son of Peter, and, in 1383, ascended the throne, to the prejudice of Beatrice, daughter of Ferdinand I., his brother. John I., King of Castile, the husband of that princess, disputed the crown, but was defeated at the battle of Aljubarota, in 1385. He then turned his arms against the Moors of Africa, and took Ceuta and other places. He died in 1433. John II., surnamed the Great, and born in 1455, succeeded his father, Al- phonsus v., in 1481. He was successful in his suppression of some insurrections, and afterward he carried his arms into Africa, and was at the taking of Arzile and Tangiers. He afterward defeated the Castilians at the battle of Toro, 1486, and with wise policy encouraged the maritime excursions of his subjects, and favored their settlements on the coasts of Africa and in the Indies. He died in 1495. John III. succeeded his father, Emanuel, 1521. The beginning of his reign was marked by dreadful earth- quakes; but John, with benevolence and wisdom, relieved the miseries of his sub- jects, and encouraged commerce and navigation. His fleets penetrated far into the East, and discovered Japan; and to insure the tranquillity of his In- dian settlements he sent among them the celebrated Francis Xavier. He died in 1557, deservedly respected as a humane and enlightened monarch. John IV., surnamed the Fortunate; born in 1604, was the son of Theodore, Duke of Braganza. He employed all the powers of his mind, and of his situation, to the emancipation of his country, which the Spaniards, after the death of Se- bastian, had conquered, and since held as a tribu-tary province, and by the assistance of his brave countrymen he shook off the odious yoke, and was pro- claimed king, 1640. He died in 1656. John V. succeeded Peter II., 1707. He espoused the cause of the allies in the wars of the Spanish Succession, and when the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, restored tranquillity to Europe, he de- voted himself to the encouragement of commerce, of literature, and of industry among his subjects. He died in 1750. John VI., second son of Peter III., was appointed regent when his mother, Maria I., lost her reason, ip 1799. In 1807 he was driven by the French from Portugal, whereupon he took up his resi- dence in Brazil, with the title of emperor. On the death of his mother, in 1816, he was proclaimed king, but did not return to Portugal till 1821. In 1823, French intervention again destroyed the hopes of the constitutional party in Portugal. The independence of Brazil was recog- nized in 1825, and the king died in 1826. CASTILE AND LEON. John I., King of Castile and Leon, suc- ceeded his father, Henry II., in 1379, at the age of 21 years. He made war on Portugal, for the purpose of placing his son on the throne of that country, but was unsuccessful. He, was surnamed "Father of His Country," for his gener- ous and just rule of his kingdom. He died in 1390. John II.; born in 1405; was son of Henry III., and was proclaimed king when less than two years of age, his uncle Ferdinand being appointed regent. He made war successfully against the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre, and the Moors of Granada. He greatly as- sisted in the restoration of Spanish liter- ature, and was father of the celebrited Isabella and Henry IV. He died in 1454. ARAGON. John I., King of Aragon, succeeded his father, Peter IV., in 1387. Through- out his reign he was continually at hos- tilities with his subjects, whom he gov- erned with great injustice and severity. John II., son of Ferdinand the Just, ascended the throne of Navarre on marrying Blanche, daughter of Charles the Noble, in 1425, and that of Aragon in 1458, after the death of Alphonsus, his brother. He was for a long time at war with his son Don Carlos, to whom Blanche, his mother, had left the crown of Navarre at her death, in 1441. He died in 1479, leaving the kingdom to his son Ferdinand the Catholic. BOHEMIA. John, King of Bohemia, the son of the Emperor Henry VII., was elected to the throne in 1310, at the age of 15. He was a warlike prince, and, after defeating the Lithuanians, assumed the title of King of Poland. He lost an eye in that expedi- tion, and a Jewish doctor, who pretended to restore him to sight, deprived him of the other. His military spirit, how- ever, continued unabated, and he accom- panied Philip of France in 1346 to the battle of Cressy, where he was guided between two brave knights, each holding his bridle. He fell in that action, and was buried at Luxembourg.