Quick Facts
Biography
James II of Bourbon-La Marche (1370 – 1438 in Besançon) was the first son of John I, Count of La Marche and Catherine of Vendôme.
Early life
He first bore arms in the crusade which culminated in the Battle of Nicopolis. After returning to France, he commanded a force which invaded England in support of Owain Glyndŵr. His troops burned Plymouth in 1403, but twelve ships of his fleet were lost in a storm while returning to France in 1404.
He was an adherent of John the Fearless and foe of the Armagnac party. However, his affairs in France were interrupted by a sojourn abroad. In 1415, the barons of the Kingdom of Naples arranged his marriage to Joanna II of Naples, hoping he would break the power of her court favorites, Pandolfo Alopo and Muzio Sforza, to their advantage. He had Alopo executed and imprisoned Sforza, but he also kept the queen in confinement and aspired to personal rule. The indignant barons captured and imprisoned him in 1416; he was compelled to free Sforza and resign the kingship, and was ejected from the kingdom in 1419. However their marriage does not seem to have been annulled and neither Joanna nor James would ever marry again.
Returning to France, he fought against the English for Charles VII of France in 1428 and was made Governor of Languedoc.
In 1435, he resigned his titles and became a Franciscan monk, dying in 1438.
Marriage
In 1406 in Pamplona, he married Beatrix d'Évreux, daughter of Charles III of Navarre and Eleanor of Castile. The couple had three children:
- Isabelle (1408 – after 1445), a nun at Besançon
- Marie (1410 – after 1445), a nun at Amiens
- Eleanor of Bourbon-La Marche (Burlada, Navarre, 1407 – after 21 August 1464), married Bernard d'Armagnac, Count of Pardiac (d. 1462)
In 1415, James married Joanna II of Naples. They had no children.