Charles IV of France

Charles IV the Fair
King of France and Navarre Count of Champagne (more...)
Reign	3 January 1322 – 1 February 1328
Coronation	21 February 1322
Predecessor	Philip V and II
Successor	Philip VI of France Joan II of Navarre
Consort	Blanche of Burgundy Marie de Luxembourg Jeanne d'Évreux
Issue
Blanche, Duchess of Orléans
Royal house	House of Capet
Father	Philip IV
Mother	Joan I of Navarre
Born	18/19 June 1294 Clermont, France
Died	1 February 1328 Vincennes, France
Burial	Saint Denis Basilica

French Monarchy
Direct Capetians
Philip IV
Louis X
Philip V
Isabella, Queen of England
Charles IV
Grandchildren
Joan II of Navarre
John I
Joan III, Countess and Duchess of Burgundy
Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy
Edward III of England
Mary of France
Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans
Charles IV

Charles IV (18/19 June 1294 – 1 February 1328), was the King of France and of Navarre (as Charles I) and Count of Champagne from 1322 to his death: the last French king of the senior Capetian lineage.

Biography

He was the third son of Philip IV. By virtue of his mother, Jeanne I of Navarre's, birthright, Charles claimed the title Charles I, King of Navarre.

From 1314 to his accession to the throne, he held the title of Count of La Marche. He was crowned King of France in 1322 at the cathedral in Reims. In 1325, Charles seized the English possessions in France. At the time, Charles's sister Isabella was married to King Edward II of England. Edward sent Isabella to France to negotiate with her brother. Instead, Charles and Isabella organized the overthrow of Edward II, and the installation of Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer as regents of England on behalf of Isabella's young son Edward III of England.

During his six-year reign Charles IV increased taxes, imposed onerous duties, and arbitrarily confiscated estates from enemies or those he disliked. In 1323 he expelled the Jews from France, using as an excuse the widely circulated rumor that they had conspired with lepers and Islamic rulers (including the king of Babylon) to poison the wells and murder every Christian in the kingdom.

As with his brother before him, Charles died without a male heir, thus ending the direct line of the Capetian dynasty. Twelve years earlier, a rule against succession by females, arguably derived from the Salic Law, had been recognized as controlling succession to the French throne. Application of this rule barred Charles's 1-year-old daughter Mary by his third wife, Jeanne d'Évreux, from succeeding as the monarch. Jeanne was also pregnant at the time of his death. Since it could have been possible that she would give birth to a son, a regency was set up with the heir presumptive Philip of Valois, a member of the House of Valois (the next-most-senior branch of the Capetian dynasty), being the regent. After two months, Jeanne gave birth to another daughter. The regent thus became the King and in May was consecrated and crowned Philip VI. At this time, a further rule of succession, again arguably based on the Salic Law, was recognized as forbidding not only inheritance by a woman, but also inheritance through a female line. Application of this rule barred Edward III of England from the French throne.

Charles IV died at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, and is interred with his third wife, Jeanne d'Évreux in Saint Denis Basilica.

Ancestors

Charles' ancestors in three generations

Family

Marriage of Charles IV and Marie of Luxembourg, by Jean Fouquet.

• 1307 — Blanche de Bourgogne, daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy (1). The marriage was dissolved in 1322.
• 1322 — Marie de Luxembourg, daughter of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor (2)
• July 5, 1325 — Jeanne d'Évreux (1310–71) (3)

Issue

• (1) Philip (1314–22)
• (1) Jeanne (1315–21)
• (2) Louis (born and died 1324)
• (3) Jeanne (1326–27)
• (3) Marie (1327–41)
• (3) Blanche (April 1 1328 – 1382, who married Philip of Valois, Duke of Orléans

References

Sources

Weir, Alison, Isabella