Catherine of Navarre
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Catherine (in Spanish, Catalina de Foix) (1468-1518), was queen of Navarre (1483-1513), duchess of Gandía, Montblanc, and Peñafiel, countess of Foix, Bigorre, and Ribagorza, and viscountess of Béarn.
The younger daughter of Gaston de Foix, Prince of Viana, and Magdalena of Valois, the sister of Louis XI. She was thus granddaughter of Eleanor of Navarre. She married John III d'Albret in 1484, duke of Gause, when she was only sixteen. From this marriage sprang eleven children.
The premature death of her brother, Francis Phoebus, made her queen under the regency of her mother. Her uncle, John of Foix appealing to the Salic Law, which had never been applied in Navarre, claimed the throne and ignited a civil war that reignited the old Beaumontese-Agromontese conflict.
The death of her mother in 1504, a hostage of Ferdinand the Catholic in Medina del Campo, provoked new wars between the Navarrese and the count of Lerín (1506-1508).
The political alliance between the houses of Valois and Foix led to marriage negotiations between Catherine and Louis XII. It was suggested that Henry, prince of Viana, first son and heir presumptive of Catherine, marry a daughter of the French king. These were the negotiations which led Ferdinand the Catholic to send the Duke of Alba to conquer Pamplona in 1512. On 25 July of that year, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, occupied Pamplona. The royal family fled to refuge in France.
On 23 March 1513, the Cortes of Navarre, reunited in Pamplona, proclaimed Ferdinand "King of Navarre". Since then, Alta Navarra has been an integral part of Spain.
All subsequent attempts by Catherine and John III to reassemble their kingdom were futile. From 1513 to her death in 1518, Catherine was queen in Baja Navarra, or Lower Navarre, north of the Pyrenees, alone.
[edit] Children
She and John III of Navarre were parents to thirteen children:
- Ana d'Albret of Navarre (19 May 1492 - 15 August 1532).
- Madealena d'Albret of Navarre (29 March 1494 - May, 1504).
- Catalina d'Albret of Navarre (1495 - November, 1532). Abbess of the Trinity at Caen.
- Juana d'Albret of Navarre (15 June 1496 - last mentioned in November, 1496).
- Quiteria d'Albret of Navarre (1499 - September/October, 1536). Abbess at Montivilliers.
- A stillborn son in 1500.
- Andres Febo d'Albret of Navarre (14 October 1501 - 17 April 1503).
- Henry II of Navarre (18 April 1503 - 25 May 1555).
- Buenaventura d'Albret of Navarre (14 July 1505 - 1510/1511).
- Martin d'Albret of Navarre (c. 1506 - last mentioned in 1512).
- Francisco d'Albret of Navarre (1508 - last mentioned in 1512).
- Carlos d'Albret of Navarre (12 December 1510 - September, 1528). Took part in the Siege of Naples during the War of the League of Cognac but was captured. Died while still held as a prisoner of war.
- Isabel d'Albret of Navarre (1513/1514 - last mentioned in 1555). Married Rene I, Viscount of Rohan.
[edit] External links
| House of Foix Born: 1468 Died: 1518 |
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| Preceded by Francis I |
Queen of Navarre 1483–1518 with John III |
Succeeded by Henry II |
| Countess of Foix 1483–1518 with John III |
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