Charles II of Navarre

Charles II (, , , 10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), known as the Bad, was King of Navarre beginning in 1349, as well as Count of Évreux beginning in 1343, holding both titles until his death in 1387.

Besides the Kingdom of Navarre nestled in the Pyrenees, Charles 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, he possessed Évreux, Mortain, parts of Vexin, and a portion of Cotentin. Charles 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. He was accidentally burned alive in 1387.

Life Early life Charles was born in Évreux, the son of Philip III and Joan II of Navarre. His father was first cousin to King Philip VI of France, while his mother, Joan, was the only daughter of Louis X of France. Charles 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. He 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, Charles' mother died. In order to take his coronation oath and be anointed, he visited his kingdom in summer 1350. For the first time, the oath was taken in a language other than the customary Latin or Occitan, i.e. Navarro-Aragonese. Apart from short visits paid the first 12 years of his reign, Charles spent his time almost entirely in France; he regarded Navarre principally as a source of manpower with which to advance his designs on the throne of France. He hoped for a long time for recognition of his claim to the crown of France (as the heir-general of Philip IV through his mother, and a Capetian through his father). However, he was unable to wrest the throne from his Valois cousins, who were senior to him by agnatic primogeniture. There are several versions of the story, varying in the details. This is Francis Blagdon's account from 1803:

John Cassell's moralistic version states:

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