John of Bohemia (10 August1296 –26 August1346), also calledJohn of Luxembourg andJohn the Blind, was the Count ofLuxembourg from 1309, King ofBohemia from 1310, and titular King ofPoland. He was the eldest son of theHoly Roman EmperorHenry VII and his wifeMargaret of Brabant. He is famous for having died while fighting in theBattle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade.

• 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 from it that the King of Bohemia flee, but to get there lead me where there is greatest uproar of the fight in vigor; the Lord is with us, we must fear nothing, only keep my son diligently.
    • Statement at theBattle of Crécy (26 August 1346), as quoted inChronicles of Prague (c. 1370) by Benessius of Weitmil
  • Variants and paraphrases:
  • Let it never be the case that a Bohemian king runs from a fight.
    • As quoted inThe Mammoth Book of Losers (2014) by Karl Shaw
  • Let it never be the case that a Bohemian king runs.
  • God willing, it will never happen that a Bohemian king runs from a fight!
  • With God's help it will never be that a Bohemian king would run from a fight!

• The valiant king of Bohemia called Charles of Luxembourg, son to the noble emperor Henry of Luxembourg, 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 mysword." 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.
  • Jean Froissart, in his account of theBattle of Crécy of 26 August 1346, inChronicles, Book I (1369) as translated by Lord Berners (1904)

• The manner of his death gave rise to the obsolescent idiom, “tofight like King John of Bohemia”, meaning “to fight blindly”
  • Frank Joseph Goes, inThe Eye in History (2013), p. 287

• Before he set off, he was reported to have said, “Let it never be the case that a Bohemian king runs from a fight.” His gesture was not entirely in vain. According to tradition, the King of England's son, the "Black Prince", was so impressed by this display of lunacy that he decided to adopt King John's personal crest of three white ostrich feathers and his motto "Ich Dien" (I serve) as his own. It is thePrince of Wales's motto to this day.
  • Karl Shaw, inThe Mammoth Book of Losers (2014)

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John of Bohemia

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John I, Count of Luxemburg

• "King John of Bohemia and the Battle of Crécy" at Historical Honey
• Encyclopædia Britannica entry

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