Editing John of Bohemia (section)

== Death ==
[[File:Le Boucq - Jean de Luxembourg (1296-1346), roi de Bohême.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait from the [[Recueil d'Arras]]]]John lost his eyesight at age 39 or 40 from [[ophthalmia]] in 1336, while crusading in Lithuania. A treatment by the famous physician [[Guy de Chauliac]] had no positive effects. At the outbreak of the [[Hundred Years' War]] in 1337, he allied with King [[Philip VI of France]] and was even appointed governor of [[Languedoc]] from 30 November 1338 to November 1340. At the [[Battle of Crécy]] in 1346 John controlled Phillip's advanced guard along with managing the large contingents of [[Charles II of Alençon]] and [[Louis I, Count of Flanders]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Robin |last=Neillands |date=1990 |title=The Hundred Years' War |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=100 |isbn=978-0-415071499}}</ref> John was killed at age 50 while fighting against the [[Kingdom of England|English]] during the battle. The medieval chronicler [[Jean Froissart]] left the following account of John's last actions:

{{blockquote|...for all that he was nigh blind, when he understood the order of the battle, he said to them about him: 'Where is the lord Charles my son?' His men said: 'Sir, we cannot tell; we think he be fighting.' Then he said: 'Sirs, ye are my men, my companions and friends in this journey: I require you bring me so far forward, that I may strike one stroke with my sword.' They said they would do his commandment, and to the intent that they should not lose him in the press, they tied all their reins of their bridles each to other and set the king before to accomplish his desire, and so they went on their enemies. The lord Charles of Bohemia his son, who wrote himself king of Almaine and bare the arms, he came in good order to the battle; but when he saw that the matter went awry on their party, he departed, I cannot tell you which way. The king his father was so far forward that he strake a stroke with his sword, yea and more than four, and fought valiantly and so did his company; and they adventured themselves so forward, that they were there all slain, and the next day they were found in the place about the king, and all their horses tied each to other.}}

According to the ''Cronica ecclesiae Pragensis Benesii Krabice de Weitmile'',<ref>Benessius de Weitmil (ca. 1300–1375) was a [[Cistercian]] monk who wrote the ''[https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10011325?page=9 Chronicon Ecclesiae Pragensis]''.[https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/4ZPZBY42FYK2MCKPSLTN4EVTQAMK63H4?query=affiliate_fct_role_normdata%3A%28%22http%3A%2F%2Fd-nb.info%2Fgnd%2F102424365_1_affiliate_fct_involved%22%29&rows=20&offset=0&viewType=list&firstHit=4ZPZBY42FYK2MCKPSLTN4EVTQAMK63H4&lastHit=lasthit&hitNumber=1 Scriptores rerum Bohemicarum.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135412/https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/4ZPZBY42FYK2MCKPSLTN4EVTQAMK63H4?query=affiliate_fct_role_normdata%3A%28%22http%3A%2F%2Fd-nb.info%2Fgnd%2F102424365_1_affiliate_fct_involved%22%29&rows=20&offset=0&viewType=list&firstHit=4ZPZBY42FYK2MCKPSLTN4EVTQAMK63H4&lastHit=lasthit&hitNumber=1 |date=4 March 2016 }}</ref> when told by his aides that the battle against the English at Crécy was lost and he better should flee to save his own life, John the Blind replied: "''Absit, ut rex Boemie fugeret, sed illuc me ducite, ubi maior strepitus certaminis vigeret, Dominus sit nobiscum, nil timeamus, tantum filium meum diligenter custodite.'' ("Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.")<ref>"''Cumque fuisset regi Iohanni, quia Francigene fugissent, relatum et ipse, [ut] presidio fuge suam et suorum vitam conservaret, exhortatus, respondit: '''Absit, ut rex Boemie fugeret, sed illuc me ducite, ubi maior strepitus certaminis vigeret, Dominus sit nobiscum, nil timeamus, tantum filium meum diligenter custodite.''' Cumque fuisset ductus in locum pugne, ecce rex Iohannes pluribus telis sagittatus mortem subiit, et multi nobiles regni Boemie cum eodem, in vigilia beati Rufi martiris, XXVI die Augusti.''" Source: [http://www.clavmon.cz/clavis/FRRB/chronica/CRONICA%20ECCLESIAE%20PRAGENSIS.htm CRONICA ECCLESIAE PRAGENSIS BENESSII KRABICE DE WEITMILE], clavmon.cz</ref><ref>The same quote on page 341 of the Prague edition from 1784: [https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10011325?page=385 Benessii De Weitmil Chronicon Ecclesiae Pragensis].</ref>

John was succeeded as King of [[Bohemia]] by his eldest son, [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]]. In [[Luxembourg]], he was succeeded by [[Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg|Wenceslaus]], his son by his second wife.