Philip III of Navarre

Philip III
Bust in the Louvre
King of Navarre
Reign	1 February 1328 - 16 September 1343
Coronation	5 March 1329
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Joan II
Spouse	Joan II of Navarre
House	House of Évreux
Father	Louis of Évreux
Mother	Margaret of Artois
Born	(1306-03-27)27 March 1306
Died	16 September 1343(1343-09-16) (aged 37)
Burial	Pamplona Cathedral
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Philip III (27 March 1306 – 16 September 1343), called the Noble (el Noble) or the Wise, Count of Évreux^[1] (1319–1343) and King of Navarre (1328–1343), was the second son of Louis of Évreux and Margaret of Artois and therefore a grandson of King Philip III of France.^[2] Because of this descent, he was a possible heir to the throne of France.

Inheritance

In due course, he inherited the County of Évreux, in Normandy, from his father, and ten years later became Philip III, jure uxoris King of Navarre, on the death of his cousin, Charles IV of France. On 18 June 1318, he had married the heiress Joan II. She held extensive fiefdoms in northern France, as well as Navarre. Because of their lands and their many royal relatives, Philip and his wife were influential in both France and Navarre and spent much of their lives going back and forth between them.

Military achievements

By the Treaty of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon of 14 March 1336 he received the counties of Angoulème and Mortain in the peerage of France, and the castles of Benon in Aunis and Fontenay-l'Abattu in Poitou. In 1339, he was at the side of the kings of France, Bohemia (John), and Scotland (David II), relieving the cities of Cambrai and Tournai, besieged by the English. This was the opening stages of the Hundred Years' War.

Aside from that war on French soil, Philip actively participated in the Reconquista in Iberia. He joined the crusade intitiated by Alfonso XI of Castile against the Kingdom of Granada was mortally wounded by an arrow at the Siege of Algeciras (1342-1344).^[3] He fell ill and died at Jerez de la Frontera.^[4] His body was brought back to Pamplona for burial,^[5] though his heart was buried at the now-demolished church of the Couvent des Jacobins in Paris.

Armorial

The arms of Philippe III of Navarre changed throughout his lifetime:

• 

  Coat of Arms of Philippe III d'Evreux as King of Navarre (1328-1343)

Marriage and children

• Maria (c. 1329 – 1347), first wife of Peter IV of Aragon
• Blanche (1331–1398), second wife of Philip VI of France
• Charles II the Bad (1332–1387), successor, Count of Évreux and King of Navarre^[6]
• Agnes (1334–1396), married Gaston III, Count of Foix
• Philip, Count of Longueville (1336–1363), married Yolande de Dampierre
• Joanna (1338–1387), nun at Longchamps
• Joanna (1339–1403), married John I, Viscount of Rohan
• Louis (1341–1372), Count of Beaumont-le-Roger, married firstly Maria de Lizarazu and secondly Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo

Ancestry

Notes

References

• The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol.10, Ed. Charles George Herbermann, The Encyclopedia Press, 1913.
• The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.10, Ed. Hugh Chisholm, 1911.