Bonne of Bohemia - Biography

Biography

Jutta was originally betrothed to Casimir III of Poland, however this arrangement was broken and Casimir married Aldona of Lithuania instead. After Aldona's death, Casimir was betrothed to Jutta's elder sister Margaret, however this betrothal was also broken and Casimir remarried to Adelaide of Hesse.

Jutta was married to the future John II of France on 28 July 1332 at the church of Notre-Dame in Melun. She was 17 years old, and the future king was 13. The name for Jutta (or Guta) translatable into English as Good (in the feminine case), was changed by the time of marriage to Bonne (French) or Bona (Latin). Upon marriage, Bonne was the wife of the heir to the French throne, becoming Duchess of Normandy, and Countess of Anjou and of Maine. The wedding was celebrated in the presence of six thousand guests. The festivities were prolonged by a further two months when the young groom was finally knighted at the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Duke John of Normandy (as King John II was known as a prince) was solemnly granted the arms of a knight in front of a prestigious assistance bringing together the kings of Luxembourg and Navarre, and the dukes of Burgundy, Lorraine and the Brabant.

Bonne was a patron of the arts, being a favorite of composer Guillaume de Machaut.

She died on 11 September 1349 of the bubonic plague in Maubisson, France at the age of thirty-four. This was one year and fifteen days prior to the coronation of her husband as King John II of France. She was buried in the Abbey of Maubisson.

Less than six months after Bonne's death, John married secondly Jeanne I, Countess of Auvergne, by whom he had two daughters who both died young.