John of Eltham
English prince and earl
John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall (15 August 1316 – 13 September 1336) was the second son of Edward II of England and Isabella of France. He was heir presumptive to the English throne until the birth of his nephew Edward the Black Prince.
Life
John was born in 1316 at Eltham Palace, Kent, the second son of Edward II of England and Isabella of France. On 6 October 1328, at the age of twelve, he was created Earl of Cornwall. Caught in the throes of the war between his father, Edward II, and his mother, Isabella, his growing years were turbulent. He was passed between his parents and was even held in the Tower of London for a time before his brother, Edward III, led a coup against their mother and assumed his majority.
Information on John is scant, but by most historical accounts he was highly competent, and highly trusted by Edward. He was named "Guardian of the Realm" when Edward III was out of the country, was asked to open Parliament in Edward's absence, and was named Warden of the northern Marches, which gave him virtual autonomy in that portion of England.
As the younger brother of the English monarch, since early childhood marital negotiations were made for John: in March 1328 Edward III entered into negotiations for a marriage between his brother and María Díaz de Haro, heiress of the Lordship of Biscay. By contract signed on 28 September 1334, John was then betrothed with Maria de La Cerda, Lady of Lunel and daughter of Ferdinand de la Cerda (grandson of King Alfonso X of Castile) by his wife Juana Núñez de Lara, Lady of Lara.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q561807. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1316, 1336, 1328 and 1334.
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This entry incorporates text from “John of Eltham” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.