John V, Duke of Brittany

John V, sometimes numbered as VI, (December 24, 1389 – August 29, 1442) bynamed John the Wise (Breton: Yann ar Fur ; French: Jean le Sage), is Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1399 to his death.

His rule coincided with the height of the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

John's reversals in this conflict, as well as in other internal struggles in France, serve to strengthen his duchy and to maintain its independence.

His alternative regnal name, John VI, as he is known traditionally in old English sources, comes from English partisan accounting as to who had been the rightful duke of Brittany during the War of the Breton Succession (1341–65), which had preceded the rule of his father.

Although he faces problems which have lingered from it, his rule as duke is mostly unchallenged.

Without significant internal and foreign threats, John V reinforces ducal authority, reforms the military, constructs a coherent method of taxation, and establishes diplomatic and trade contacts with most of Western Europe.

John V is also a patron of the arts and the Church, and funds the construction of several cathedrals.

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