11th of August 1433, in the forty-eighth year of a reign which had been characterized by great prudence, ability and success; he was succeeded by his son Edward or Duarte, so named out of compliment to Edward III. of England.
See J. P. Oliveira Martins, Os filhos de D. João I. and A vida de Nun’ Alvares (Lisbon, 2nd ed. 1894).
JOHN II. (1455–1495), the Perfect, king of Portugal, succeeded
his father, Alphonso V., in August 1481. His first business
was to curtail the overgrown power of his aristocracy; noteworthy
incidents in the contest were the execution (1483) of
the duke of Braganza for correspondence with Castile, and the
murder, by the king’s own hand, of the youthful duke of Viseu
for conspiracy. This reign was signalized by Bartholomeu
Diaz’s discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. Maritime
rivalry led to disputes between Portugal and Castile until
their claims were adjusted by the famous treaty of Tordesillas
(June 7, 1494). John II. died, without leaving male issue, in
October 1495, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law
Emmanuel (Manoel) I.
See J. P. Oliveira Martins, O principe perfeito (Lisbon, 1895).
JOHN III. (1502–1557), king of Portugal, was born at Lisbon,
on the 6th of June 1502, and ascended the throne as successor of
his father Emmanuel I. in December 1521. In 1524 he married
Catherine, sister to the Emperor Charles V., who shortly afterwards
married the infanta Isabella, John’s sister. Succeeding
to the crown at a time when Portugal was at the height of its
political power, and Lisbon in a position of commercial importance
previously unknown, John III., unfortunately for his
dominions, became subservient to the clerical party among
his subjects, with disastrous consequences to the commercial
and social prosperity of his kingdom. He died of apoplexy on
the 6th of June 1557, and was succeeded by his grandson
Sebastian, then a child of only three years.
JOHN IV. (1603–1656), the Fortunate, king of Portugal, was
born at Villaviciosa in March 1603, succeeded to the dukedom
of Braganza in 1630, and married Luisa de Guzman, eldest
daughter of the duke of Medina Sidonia, in 1633. By the
unanimous voice of the people he was raised to the throne of
Portugal (of which he was held to be the legitimate heir) at the
revolution effected in December 1640 against the Spanish king,
Philip IV. His accession led to a protracted war with Spain,
which only ended with the recognition of Portuguese independence
in a subsequent reign (1668). He died on the 6th of
November 1656, and was succeeded by his son Alphonso VI.
JOHN V. (1689–1750), king of Portugal, was born at Lisbon
on the 22nd of October 1689, and succeeded his father Pedro II.
in December 1706, being proclaimed on the 1st of January 1707.
One of his first acts was to intimate his adherence to the Grand
Alliance, which his father had joined in 1703. Accordingly his
general Das Minas, along with Lord Galway, advanced into
Castile, but sustained the defeat of Almanza (April 14). In
October 1708 he married Maria Anna, daughter of Leopold I.,
thus strengthening the alliance with Austria; the series of unsuccessful
campaigns which ensued ultimately terminated in a
favourable peace with France in 1713 and with Spain in 1715.
The rest of his long reign was characterized by royal subservience
to the clergy, the kingdom being administered by ecclesiastical
persons and for ecclesiastical objects to an extent that gave
him the best of rights to the title “Most Faithful King,”
bestowed upon him and his successors by a bull of Pope Benedict
XIV. in 1748. John V. died on the 31st of July 1750, and
was succeeded by his son Joseph.
JOHN VI. (1769–1826), king of Portugal, was born at Lisbon
on the 13th of May 1769, and received the title of prince of
Brazil in 1788. In 1792 he assumed the reins of government
in name of his mother Queen Mary I., who had become insane.
He had been brought up in an ecclesiastical atmosphere, and,
being naturally of a somewhat weak and helpless character,
was but ill adapted for the responsibilities he was thus called
on to undertake. In 1799 he assumed the title of regent, which
he retained until his mother’s death in 1816. (For the
political history of his regency, see Portugal.) In 1816 he was
recognized as king of Portugal but he continued to reside in
Brazil; the consequent spread of dissatisfaction resulted in
the peaceful revolution of 1820, and the proclamation of a
constitutional government, to which he swore fidelity on his
return to Portugal in 1822. In the same year, and again in
1823, he had to suppress a rebellion led by his son Dom Miguel,
whom he ultimately was compelled to banish in 1824. He died
at Lisbon on the 26th of March 1826, and was succeeded by
Pedro IV.
JOHN (1801–1873), king of Saxony, son of Prince Maximilian
of Saxony and his wife Caroline of Parma (d. 1804), was
born at Dresden on the 12th of December 1801. As a boy he
took a keen interest in literature and art (also in history, law,
and political science), and studied with the greatest ardour
classical and German literature (Herder, Schiller, Goethe).
He soon began to compose poetry himself, and drew great
inspiration from a journey in Italy (1821–1822), the pleasure
of which was however darkened by the death of his brother
Clemens. In Pavia the prince met with Biagioli’s edition of
Dante, and this gave rise to his lifelong and fruitful studies of
Dante. The first part of his German translation of Dante was
published in 1828, and in 1833 appeared the complete work,
with a valuable commentary, which met with a great success.
Several new editions appeared under his constant supervision,
and he collected a complete library of works on Dante.
On his return from Italy he was betrothed to Princess Amalia of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian Joseph. He thus became the brother-in-law of Frederick William IV., king of Prussia, with whom he had a deep and lasting friendship. His wife Amalia died on the 8th of November 1877, having borne him nine children, two of whom, Albert and George, later became kings of Saxony.
On his return to Dresden, John was called in 1822 to the privy board of finance (Geheimes Finanzkollegium) and in 1825 became its vice-president. Under the leadership of the president, Freiherr von Manteuffel, he acquired a thorough knowledge of administration and of political economy, and laid the foundations of that conservatism which he retained throughout life. These new activities did not, however, interrupt his literary and artistic studies. He came into still closer relations with politics and government after his entry into the privy council in 1830. During the revolution in Saxony he helped in the pacification of the country, became commandant of the new national guard, the political tendencies of which he tried to check, and took an exceptionally active part in the organization of the constitution of the 4th of September 1831 and especially in the deliberations of the upper chamber, where he worked with unflagging energy and great ability. Following the example of his father, he taught his children in person, and had a great influence on their education. On the 12th of August 1845, during a stay at Leipzig, the prince was the object of hostile public demonstrations, the people holding him to be the head of an alleged ultramontane party at court, and the revolution of 1848 compelled him to interrupt his activities in the upper chamber. Immediately after the suppression of the revolution he resumed his place and took part chiefly in the discussion of legal questions. He was also interested in the amalgamation of the German historical and archaeological societies. On the death of his brother Frederick Augustus II., John became, on the 9th of August 1854, king of Saxony. As king he soon won great popularity owing to his simplicity, graciousness and increasingly evident knowledge of affairs. In his policy as regards the German confederation he was entirely on the side of Austria. Though not opposed to a reform of the federal constitution, he held that its maintenance under the presidency of Austria was essential. This view he supported at the assembly of princes at Frankfort in August and September 1863. He was unable to uphold his views against Prussia, and in the war of 1866 fought on the side of Austria. It was with difficulty that, on the conclusion of peace, Austrian diplomacy succeeded in enabling the king to retain his crown. After 1866 King John gradually became reconciled to the new state of affairs. He entered the North German
