John the Fearless

John I (French: Jean sans Peur ; Dutch: Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 1371 – 10 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State as the Duke of Burgundy from 1404 until his assassination in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs during the early 15th century, particularly in his struggle to remove the mentally ill King Charles VI and during the Hundred Years' War against the Kingdom of England. A rash, ruthless and unscrupulous politician, John murdered Charles's brother, the Duke of Orléans, in an attempt to gain control of the government, which led to the eruption of the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War in the Kingdom of France and in turn culminated in his own assassination in 1419.

The involvement of Dauphin Charles, the heir to the French throne, in his assassination prompted John's son and successor Philip III the Good to seek an alliance with the English, thereby bringing the Hundred Years' War to its final phase.