Carlos II el Malo, rey de Navarra

Charles II of Navarre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles II (October 10, 1332, Évreux, – January 1, 1387, Pamplona), called "Charles the Bad," was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387.

Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, he had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his father, Count Philip of Évreux, and his mother, Queen Joan II of Navarre, who had received them as compensation for resigning her claims to France, Champagne, and Brie in 1328. Thus, in Northern France, Charles possessed Évreux, Mortain, parts of Vexin, and a portion of Cotentin.

He hoped for a long time for recognition of his claim to the crown of France (as son of the daughter of King Louis X).

Life

He was implicated in the assassination (January 8, 1354) of the constable of France, Charles de la Cerda. La Cerda was to be a beneficiary of the fiefdoms of Champagne, Brie, and Angoulême, of which it is believed, Charles the Bad felt he was entitled to through the ancestry of his mother, the Queen of Navarre. In reply, King John attacked Évreux and Navarre, but after Charles allied with the Black Prince (son of King Edward III of England), the Treaty of Mantes of 22 February 1354 returned the peace, Charles enlarging his possessions. This has to be renewed as the Treaty of Valognes the next year and this, too, did not last.

John captured and imprisoned Charles in 1356, but Charles was released after the Battle of Poitiers. During certain stages of the Hundred Years' War, he was allied with the English. He was one of the nobles involved in the repression of the Jacquerie.

In 1361, after the premature death of his second cousin, Duke Philip I of Burgundy, Charles claimed the Duchy of Burgundy by primogeniture. He was the grandson of Margaret of Burgundy, eldest daughter of Duke Robert II of Burgundy (d. 1306). However, the duchy was taken by John II, son of Joan of Burgundy, second daughter of Duke Robert II, who claimed it in proximity of blood.

In 1364, he was defeated by Bertrand du Guesclin, and driven from his Norman lands.

[edit]Marriage and children

He married Joan of France (1343–1373), daughter of king John II of France. He had the following children by Joan:

Marie (1360, Puente la Reina – aft. 1400), married in Tudela on January 20, 1393 Alfonso d'Aragona, Duke of Gandia (d. 1412)

Charles III of Navarre (1361–1425)

Bonne (1364 – aft. 1389)

Peter d'Évreux, Count of Mortain (c. March 31, 1366, Évreux – c. July 29, 1412, Bourges), married in Alençon on April 21, 1411 Catherine (1380–1462), daughter of Peter II of Alençon

Philip (b. 1368), d. young

Joanna of Navarre (1370–1437), married first John V, Duke of Brittany, married second Henry IV of England

Blanca (1372–1385, Olite)

[edit]Death

Charles's horrific death by being burnt alive became famous all over Europe, and was often cited by moralists, and sometimes illustrated in illuminated manuscript chronicles.[1] There are various contemporary versions that vary in detail: this is Francis Blagdon's English account, of 1801:

Charles the Bad, having fallen into such a state of decay that he could not make use of his limbs, consulted his physician, who ordered him to be wrapped up from head to foot, in a linen cloth impregnated with brandy, so that he might be inclosed (sic) in it to the very neck as in a sack. It was night when this remedy was administered. One of the female attendants of the palace, charged to sew up the cloth that contained the patient, having come to the neck, the fixed point where she was to finish her seam, made a knot according to custom; but as there was still remaining an end of thread, instead of cutting it as usual with scissars, she had recourse to the candle, which immediately set fire to the whole cloth. Being terrified, she ran away, and abandoned the king, who was thus burnt alive in his own palace.

Charles the Bad, having fallen into such a state of decay that he could not make use of his limbs, consulted his physician, who ordered him to be wrapped up from head to foot, in a linen cloth impregnated with brandy, so that he might be inclosed (sic) in it to the very neck as in a sack. It was night when this remedy was administered. One of the female attendants of the palace, charged to sew up the cloth that contained the patient, having come to the neck, the fixed point where she was to finish her seam, made a knot according to custom; but as there was still remaining an end of thread, instead of cutting it as usual with scissars, she had recourse to the candle, which immediately set fire to the whole cloth. Being terrified, she ran away, and abandoned the king, who was thus burnt alive in his own palace.