|
Charles II, 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 was a major player at a critical juncture in the Hundred Years' War between France and England, repeatedly switching sides in order to further his own agenda. His horrific death by burning was widely considered God's justice upon him.
Charles was born in Évreux. Since his father was first cousin to King Philip VI of France, and his mother, Joan II of Navarre, was the only child of King Louis X, Charles of Navarre was 'born of the fleur de lys on both sides', as he liked to point out, but he succeeded to a shrunken inheritance as far as his French lands were concerned. Charles was raised in France during childhood and up to the moment he was declared king at 17, so he probably had no command of the Romance language of Navarre at the moment of his coronation.
In October 1349, he assumed the crown of Navarre. In order to take his coronation oath and be anointed, Charles II visited his kingdom in summer 1350. For the first time, the oath was taken in a language other than Latin or Occitan as it was customary, i.e. Navarro-Aragonese. Apart from short visits paid the first 12 years of his reign, he spent his time almost entirely in France; he regarded Navarre principally as a source of manpower with which to advance his designs to become a major power in France. |
