John III "the Pitiless" Duke of Bavaria-Straubing, Count of Holland, Bishop of Liege

https://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00028553&tree=LEO

Stamboom nr. : 837.138. Generatie : 20.

BIOGRAPHY Jan was born in Le Quesnoy in 1374, the youngest son of Albrecht, Graaf van Holland, Zeeland en Henegouwen, and Margaretha von Schlesien-Brieg. He was the first bishop of Luik (Liège) from 1389 to 1418, and then duke of Bavaria-Straubing and count of Holland and Hainaut from 1418 to 1425.

In 1408 a Burgundian army led by Jan's brother-in-law Jean 'the Fearless', duke of Burgundy, supported Jan against the citizens of Luik, who were in open revolt. On the field of Othée, on 23 September 1408, the men of Luik were decisively defeated, and Burgundian influence was extended over the city and over the bishopric of Liège. The executions of leading insurgents that followed led to Jan's nickname 'the Pitiless'.

Jan, who had already rejected his holy orders, gave up his bishopric when his niece Jacoba von Bayern became countess of Holland, Zeeland and Hainault in 1417.

In June 1418 Jan married Elisabeth of Görlitz, duchess of Luxembourg, widow of Antoine de Bourgogne, duke of Brabant and Limburg who was killed at Agincourt, and daughter of Johann von Luxemburg, prince of Bohemia, duke of Görlitz, and Herzogin Richardis von Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The marriage did not result in progeny. By mistresses he fathered illegitimate children.

With the aid of Emperor Sigismund, Jan started a civil war against his niece Jacoba and her husband Jean IV de Bourgogne, duke of Brabant and Limburg immediately after her succession. Jan was also supported by the city of Dordrecht and by Philippe 'the Good', duke of Burgundy. A siege of Dordrecht in 1419 did not succeed, so Jean IV of Brabant agreed to start a joint administration with Jan. As a woman, Jacoba did not directly share in the political responsibility. Jean IV of Brabant finally gave up Holland and Hainault and left the rule to Jan. However Jan died in 's-Gravenhage on 6 January 1425. Poison had been placed on the page edges of a bible he was accustomed to reading, as it was his habit to lick his fingers before turning a page.

Jan's niece Jacoba, who went to England and married Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, after her marriage to Jean IV was annulled in 1421, could not keep Holland and Hainault after Jan's death and Bavaria-Straubing was divided between the dukes of Bavaria, the major portion going to Bavaria-Munich.