Charles III of Navarre

The early years of Charles III's reign were marred by the breakdown of his relationship with his wife, Eleanor. She and their daughters joined him in Navarre upon his accession, but the new queen soon fell gravely ill. She returned to Castile as soon as her health began to improve and took the princesses with her. Her refusal to return for the next seven years, despite embassies sent by Charles, damaged the relations between her husband and her brother King John I of Castile. When the latter became exasperated by her abandonment of her "great obligations", she claimed that Charles failed to receive her and treat her as befit her.[7] According to a chronicle of John's reign, she even accused Charles of pressuring her to take herbs from a Jewish physician in an attempt to poison her. It appears, however, that the problem that caused the rift between Charles and Eleanor were his illegitimate children. When she arrived in Navarre, she found Charles's four mistresses and six illegitimate children living with their retainers at the court. The queen was likely worried that her daughters' rights to succeed their father would be threatened by his illegitimate infant son, Lancelot, despite illegitimate children being barred from succession by the Fueros.[11]

Still estranged from Eleanor, Charles underwent coronation alone in 1390.[12] From that year on, Charles made a series of moves to repair his marriage, the first of which was to assure Eleanor that he intended to be succeeded by the issue of their marriage. He summoned their eldest daughter, Joan, to Navarre to be sworn in as heir presumptive to the throne. The ceremony, attended by the nobility of Navarre and Castilian envoys, was held on 25 July. Eleanor did not find this sufficient, but the death of her brother John and the accession of her nephew King Henry III of Castile, who was less sympathetic to her cause, forced her to compromise. She demanded further assurances of her safety, and Charles accordingly swore on the Christian cross before Castilian representatives that he "would not kill nor maim nor seize nor allow her to be killed or maimed or seized" and that he "would protect the life and health of the said queen with all of his power" and "otherwise treat [her] in all things as a good husband should treat his wife". Eleanor then returned to Navarre, reuniting with Charles in November 1394 in Tudela.[13]

Soon after their reconciliation, Charles and Eleanor had another daughter, Isabel, born in July 1396.[11] The following September, Charles affirmed the succession rights of all five of their daughters. The birth of long-awaited sons, Charles in June 1397 and Louis in 1402, was a triumph for the king and queen. The young Charles was confirmed as heir apparent to the throne, but both he and Louis died in 1402.[12] The royal couple had another daughter, Margaret, the next year, and Charles held on to the hope that he would have a son with Eleanor until at least 1412.[14] The king and queen appear to have had no disputes after Eleanor's coronation in 1403,[12] and Charles entrusted her with regency of the kingdom while he visited his French fiefs.[15]

Charles III's personal coat of arms in the Cathedral of Pamplona emphasizes both his Navarrese kingship and his male-line descent from the kings of France.

In 1393, Charles procured a link to the Aragonese royal house by arranging for his sister Marie to marry Duke Alfonso II of Gandia. The same year, he secured the return of Cherbourg from the English and started negotiations with the French court about the settlement of his claims on land in France, which resulted in the exchange of the counties inherited by his father for various rents and the Duchy of Nemours. Charles III took an active part in European affairs as a prince of the blood of the royal house of France until 1406, after which he reoriented himself towards the Iberian Peninsula.[10]

Charles excelled in diplomacy: much of the peace and prosperity Navarre enjoyed during his reign can be attributed to the matrimonial alliances he forged with his nobles and rulers in Iberia and southern France through his numerous female relatives. Between 1396 and 1406, he carefully arranged the marriages of two of his sisters and three of his legitimate daughters, who were his strongest assets in dynastic diplomacy. His illegitimate children, meanwhile, were married off into the Navarrese nobility to ensure their loyalty. Charles greatly profited even from the unions he did not orchestrate, such as his sister Joan's successive marriages to Duke John IV of Brittany and King Henry IV of England.[15] When Joan became queen of England in 1402, Charles gifted her with a copy of the manuscript Ceremonial of the Coronation, Anointment and Obsequies of the Kings of England.[16]

Iberian states in the 15th century: Navarre (blue) is bordered by France to the north, Castile to the west, and Aragon to the east

Charles III's seal

From 1401 to 1402, Charles conducted marriage negotiations with King Martin of Aragon,[17] whose only son,[18] King Martin I of Sicily, had been recently widowed.[17] Charles was flattered by the king of Aragon's interest, for Martin had earlier rejected Queen Joan II of Naples as well as the daughters of Kings Rupert of Germany, Charles VI of France, and Henry IV of England. The selection of the third daughter, Blanche, ahead of her older sisters suggests that either Martin or Charles, or both, were not keen on creating a personal union between their kingdoms. Charles concurrently negotiated the marriage of Joan, his eldest daughter, with John, heir apparent to the County of Foix; the king may have preferred that Navarre be the primary partner in any potential union.[18] Joan's marriage to John was celebrated in October 1402, some months after the deaths of her brothers made her once again first in the line of succession.[17] These two marriages, as well as that of Beatrice, the fourth daughter, to Count James II of La Marche in 1406, put a strain on Charles's coffers, and his struggle to pay their dowries led to disputes with their respective in-laws, particularly the king of Aragon.[19] 1406 also saw the death of Charles and Eleanor's second daughter, Marie.[18]

Charles entrusted the kingdom to Eleanor and their daughter Joan from 1408 to 1411, when he was seeking compensation from the French royal court for lost territories.[17] When Blanche was widowed in 1409, Charles used his new connections at the French court to negotiate for her to marry the French king's brother-in-law Louis of Bavaria or Edward of Bar.[20] The death of his childless eldest daughter, Joan, in July 1413[17] prompted Charles to seek a closer match for Blanche, who became the new heir presumptive.[20]

Blanche's situation in Sicily was precarious after the deaths of her husband and father-in-law left her in charge of the unstable island kingdom in the name of the new king, Ferdinand I of Aragon, but without proper support from Aragon. Deeply concerned, Charles sent envoys to both Ferdinand and the Holy See asking that she either be returned to Navarre or provided with assistance. Blanche returned and was confirmed as heir presumptive before the Cortes. Charles refused Joan's widower's proposal to marry Blanche and instead in mid-1414 offered her in marriage to Alfonso, the eldest son of the new king of Aragon. Since Alfonso was already betrothed, Ferdinand suggested his third son, Henry. Charles indignantly refused the offer in August when Ferdinand's second son, John, broke off his engagement to Charles's younger daughter Isabel. Isabel was married off instead to Count John IV of Armagnac, signaling Charles's shift in allegiance from the Burgundians to the Armagnac party during the on-going civil war in France.[21] The change may have been prompted by Burgundy's alliance with England, where Charles's sister Joan was imprisoned on a charge of witchcraft after the death of her second husband, King Henry IV.[22]

In 1416, following the examples of the kings of France, Castile, Aragon, and Portugal in dealing with the Western Schism, Charles III stopped recognizing the Avignon-based Benedict XIII as the true pope and switched his allegiance to Gregory XII, who ruled in Rome.[10] Eleanor died the same year.[23]

The Aragonese remained determined to secure Blanche's marriage for themselves. Their queen, Eleanor of Alburquerque, pushed for her second son, John, to marry Blanche. Their marriage was celebrated in October 1419, after months of intensive negotiations during which the princess's position was reaffirmed.[22] Charles promised not to remarry to sire sons who could displace Blanche.[24] When Blanche gave birth to a son, Charles, the king celebrated by creating for him the Principality of Viana. Blanche soon had a daughter too, named Joan. King Charles held formal ceremonies marking the introduction of both grandchildren into the line of succession after Blanche.[25]

Tomb of King Charles and Queen Eleanor in the Cathedral of Pamplona

Charles made great effort to exalt the monarchy through art patronage, extraordinary donations, and thaumaturgy. The construction of the Gothic Cathedral of Pamplona and of the royal palaces in Olite and Tafalla was finished at his instruction. In 1423, he ended the centuries of conflict between the city's three boroughs by uniting them into one.[16]

On 8 September 1425, having woken up healthy and cheerful,[25] Charles III suddenly collapsed.[26] He was able to call for Blanche, but lost the ability to speak by the time she arrived. He died in his daughter's arms the same day. Blanche succeeded him without trouble.[26] Charles was buried in the Cathedral of Pamplona by the side of his wife, Eleanor.[16]