He was made constable of France in 1483 by his brother Peter and sister-in-law Anne, to neutralize him as a threat to their regency.

According to contemporary chronicles, the King received John in Paris with "honours, caresses, pardon, and gifts; everything was lavished upon him".

In 1447, his father, the Duke of Bourbon, had John married to a daughter of Charles VII, King of France, Joan of Valois.

Cloud to Catherine of Armagnac, daughter of Jacques of Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, who died in 1487 while giving birth to: In 1487 he married Jeanne of Bourbon-Vendôme, daughter of John of Bourbon, Count of Vendôme (from a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon), by whom he had one son: By Louise of Albret, daughter of Jean I d'Albret (- 8 September 1494)[a]: By Marguerite de Brunant: By unknown women: John died in 1488 at the Château de Moulins and was succeeded by his younger brother Charles.

Within a span of days, Charles was forced to renounce his claims to the Bourbon lands to Peter in exchange for a financial settlement.