John II of Baden

Who is John II of Baden?

John II of Baden was a titilar Margrave of Baden and was Archbishop and Elector of Trier as John II of Baden from 1456 until his death in 1503.

John II of Baden was the third son of Margrave Jacob I of Baden-Baden and his wife Catherine de Lorraine. John was given a strict religious upbringing, as he was destined from an early age for an ecclesiastical career. At the urging of his father, most of his siblings also followed a religious career, the exceptions being his two oldest brothers Charles I and Bernard II and his sister Margaret. He studied in Erfurt, Pavia and Cologne from 1452 to 1456, together with his younger brothers George and Mark.

On 21 June 1456, at the age of 22, he was elected Archbishop of Trier as John II of Baden. His mother was from Lorraine and had connections with Trier. Pope Calixtus III confirmed him as administrator of Trier, because he had not yet reached the minimum age of 35 for consecration as bishop. When he reached that age in 1465, he was consecrated by his suffragan bishop Hubertis Agrippina and the bishops of Metz and Worms.

In 1459, Diether von Isenburg was elected Archbishop of Mainz, ahead of Adolph II of Nassau by a narrow margin.