1.
Catherine of Navarre
–
Catherine, Queen of Navarre, reigned from 1483 until 1517. She was also Duchess of Gandia, Montblanc, and Peñafiel, Countess of Foix, Bigorre, and Ribagorza, Catherine was the younger daughter of Gaston of Foix, Prince of Viana, and Magdalena of Valois, the sister of Louis XI of France. She was born and raised during the reign of her paternal great-grandfather, King John II and their father having already died, the crown of Navarre devolved upon Catherines brother Francis Phoebus upon their grandmothers death the same year. In 1483 the death of Francis made Catherine queen under the regency of their mother and her uncle John of Foix, appealing to the Salic Law alien to the Kingdom of Navarre, claimed the throne and ignited a civil war that reignited the old conflict of the Beaumont-Agramont parties. In 1484, hard pressed by ambitions over the throne of Navarre, Magdalena of Valois decided to marry 15-year-old Catherine to John of Albret and this marriage was favored by many of Catherines Iberian subjects and would have given Catherine much needed support in her fight against her uncles claim. Catherines mother Magdalena died in 1495, in 1504, she made her will, confirming her son Henrys right to succeed her and expressing her wish to be buried at the Cathedral of Pamplona—ultimately both she and John were interred in Lescar. The political alliance between the houses of Valois and Foix ahead of an impending Spanish invasion led to negotiations between Catherine and Louis XII in 1512. It was suggested that Henry should marry a daughter of the French king, Ferdinand, who had allied with the Pope against France, presented a set of claims to the legitimate royal family of Navarre. Catherine did not accept the demands, and Ferdinand sent Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, over to Pamplona, the Castilians went on to conquer St-Jean-Pied-de-Port after setting fire to Roncevaux, and wrought havoc across the merindad of Ultrapuertos. The Spanish troops would retain the southern half of that region intermittently for the next years, Catherine and John III, overwhelmed by the Castilian push, fled to Bearn, constituent part of their kingdom. They set their base in Pau, Orthez and Tarbes, where they resided most of the time until their deaths. On 23 March 1513, the Cortes of Navarre reunited in Pamplona, greatly reduced to the pro-Spanish Beaumont party, and pledged allegiance to Ferdinand in exchange for his loyalty to the Navarrese laws. In 1516, two led by King John III and Pedro, Marshal of Navarre, crossed the Pyrenees south and attempted to reconquer Navarre. Devastated by the defeats undergone, John retreated to Monein, Queen Catherine did not outlive her husband much longer, and died in her domain of Mont-de-Marsan on 12 February 1517, just a few months later. By then, she had given birth to 13 children and she and John III of Navarre were parents to thirteen children, Anne of Navarre. Abbess of the Trinity at Caen, 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, married Rene I, Viscount of Rohan. Cawley, Charles, List and genealogy of the Kings of Navarre, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
2.
Jeanne d'Albret
–
Jeanne dAlbret, also known as Jeanne III, was the queen regnant of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. She married Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, and was the mother of Henry of Bourbon, who became King Henry III of Navarre and IV of France and she became the Duchess of Vendôme by marriage. Jeanne was the spiritual and political leader of the French Huguenot movement. After her public conversion to Calvinism in 1560, she joined the Huguenot forces, during the first and second war she remained relatively neutral, but in the third war she fled to La Rochelle, becoming the de facto leader. After negotiating a treaty with Catherine de Medici and arranging the marriage of her son, Henry, to Catherines daughter, Marguerite. Jeanne was the last active ruler of Navarre, in 1620, Jeannes grandson Louis XIII annexed Navarre to the French crown. Her mother, the daughter of Louise of Savoy and Charles and she received an excellent education under the tutelage of humanist Nicolas Bourbon. Described as a frivolous and high-spirited princess, she also, at an early age, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, offered to have her married to his son and heir, Philip, to settle the status of the Kingdom of Navarre. Despite having been whipped into obedience, she, nevertheless, continued to protest and had to be carried bodily to the altar by the Constable of France, before her wedding, Jeanne signed two documents which she had officers of her household sign. She remained at the royal court, after the death of Francis in 1547 and the accession of Henry II to the French throne, Jeanne married Antoine de Bourbon, first prince of the blood, at Moulins in the Bourbonnais on 20 October 1548. The marriage was intended to consolidate territorial possessions in the north and south of France, Jeannes marriage to Antoine was described by author Mark Strage as having been a romantic match. A contemporary of Jeanne said of her that she had no pleasure or occupation except in talking about or writing to and she does it in company and in private. The waters cannot quench the flame of her love, in 1554, he fathered an illegitimate son, Charles, by Louise de La Béraudière de lIsle Rouhet, a court beauty known as La belle Rouet. Antoines frequent absences left Jeanne in Béarn to rule alone, and in charge of a household which she managed with a firm. The couple had five children, of only two, Henry, king of France and king of Navarre, and Catherine, duchess of Lorraine. On 25 May 1555, Henry II of Navarre died, at which time Jeanne, on 18 August 1555 at Pau, Jeanne and Antoine were crowned in a joint ceremony according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church. The previous month, a coin commemorating the new reign had been minted. It was inscribed in Latin with the words, Antonius et Johanna Dei gratia reges Navarrae Domini Bearni
3.
Marguerite de Navarre
–
Marguerite de Navarre, also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was the princess of France, Queen of Navarre, and Duchess of Alençon and Berry. She was married to Henry II of Navarre and her brother became King of France, as Francis I, and the two siblings were responsible for the celebrated intellectual and cultural court and salons of their day in France. Marguerite is the ancestress of the Bourbon kings of France, being the mother of Jeanne dAlbret, whose son, Henry of Navarre, succeeded as Henry IV of France, the first Bourbon king. As an author and a patron of humanists and reformers, she was a figure of the French Renaissance. Samuel Putnam called her The First Modern Woman, Marguerite was born in Angoulême on 11 April 1492, the eldest child of Louise of Savoy and Charles, Count of Angoulême. On 16 February 1488, her father, Charles, married eleven-year-old Louise, the daughter of Philip II of Savoy and Margaret of Bourbon, Louise was considered one of the most brilliant feminine minds in France and she named their first-born, Marguerite, after her own mother. Two years after Marguerites birth, the family moved from Angoulême to Cognac, where the Italian influence reigned supreme, Marguerites brother, Francis, later to be King Francis I of France, was born there on 12 September 1494. She had several half-siblings, from illegitimate relationships of her father, another half-sister, Souveraine, was born to Jeanne le Conte, also one of her fathers mistresses. Her father died when she was four, her one-year-old brother became heir presumptive to the throne of France. Thanks to her mother, who was nineteen when widowed, Marguerite was carefully tutored from her earliest childhood. The young princess was to be called Maecenas to the ones of her brothers kingdom. Never, she wrote, shall a man attain to the love of God who has not loved to perfection some creature in this world. When Marguerite was ten, Louise tried to marry her to the Prince of Wales, who would later become Henry VIII of England, perhaps the one real love in her life was Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours, nephew of King Louis XII. Gaston went to Italy, however, and died a hero at Ravenna, at the age of seventeen Marguerite was married to Charles IV of Alençon, aged twenty, by the decree of King Louis XII. With this decree, Marguerite was forced to marry a generally kind, had become the bride of a laggard and a dolt. She had been bartered to save the royal pride of Louis, there were no offspring from this marriage. After the death of Queen Claude, she took in her two nieces Madeleine and Marguerite, for whom she would continue to care during her second marriage, after the death of her first husband in 1525, Marguerite married Henry II of Navarre. Ferdinand II of Aragon had invaded the Kingdom of Navarre in 1512, and Henry ruled only Lower Navarre, the independent principality of Béarn, a Venetian ambassador of that time praised Marguerite as knowing all the secrets of diplomatic art, hence to be treated with deference and circumspection
4.
Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
5.
Albret
–
The lordship of Albret, situated in the Landes, gave its name to one of the most powerful feudal families of France in the Middle Ages. Arnaud Amanieu, lord of Albret, helped to take Guienne from the English and his son Charles became constable of France, and was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. At that time the house of Albret had attained considerable territorial importance, john of Albret, son of Alain, became king of Navarre by his marriage with Catherine of Foix. Their son Henry II, king of Navarre, was created duke of Albret, the dukedom of Albret, united to the crown of France by the accession of this prince, was granted to the family of La Tour dAuvergne in 1651, in exchange for Sedan and Raucourt. Amanieu I 1050–1060 Amanieu II born 1060 Bernard Ezi I. –
6.
John III of Navarre
–
John III was jure uxoris King of Navarre from 1484 until his death, as husband and co-ruler of Queen Catherine. He was a son of Alain I of Albret, Lord of Albret and he became King of Navarre and Count of Foix by virtue of his 1484 marriage to Queen Catherine, successor of her brother Francis Phoebus in 1483. He and Catherine were crowned as monarchs in Pamplona on 10 January 1494, in the run-up to the ceremony, Louis of Beaumont—count of Lerín—had taken over and ransacked the stronghold. On Christmas 1493, the count blocked the access of the king and queen to the city, but after a fleeting peace agreement was reached. In 1512, Navarre was invaded by a combined Castilian-Aragonese army sent by Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose wife was Germaine de Foix. The Castilian troops commanded by the duke of Alba crossed the Pyrénées onto Lower Navarre capturing St-Jean-Pied-de-Port on 10 September 1512, there the Castilians were doggedly opposed by lords loyal to John III and Catherine of Navarre, but the Castilians retained St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and its hinterland. The royal family took shelter in Béarn, a royal Pyrenean domain, the Parliament of Navarre and the States-General of Béarn had passed in 1510 a bill to create a confederation with a view to ensuring a better defence against external aggression. The capital city of Béarn was Pau, which John III and Catherine took as their main base along with Orthez, the advance of the two columns led by Pedro, Marshal of Navarre was stopped by the Castilians right on the Pyrénées due to spies informing Cardinal Cisneros. Depressed by the defeats and adverse diplomatic results, John III died at the castle of Esgouarrabaque in Monein, Béarn, despite his wish to be buried at the Santa Maria Cathedral of Pamplona, the permanent Spanish occupation prevented that. His corpse rests instead at the Cathedral of Lescar along with Queen Catherine, cawley, Charles, List and genealogy of the Kings of Navarre, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
7.
Roman Catholic
–
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
8.
Calvinism
–
Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. The term Calvinism can be misleading, because the tradition which it denotes has always been diverse. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, early influential Reformed theologians include Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. In the twentieth century, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B, Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til, and Gordon Clark were influential. Contemporary Reformed theologians include J. I, sproul, Timothy J. Keller, John Piper, David Wells, and Michael Horton. Reformed churches may exercise several forms of polity, most are presbyterian or congregationalist. Calvinism is largely represented by Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions, the biggest Reformed association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 80 million members in 211 member denominations around the world. There are more conservative Reformed federations such as the World Reformed Fellowship, Calvinism is named after John Calvin. It was first used by a Lutheran theologian in 1552 and it was a common practice of the Catholic Church to name what they perceived to be heresy after its founder. Nevertheless, the term first came out of Lutheran circles, Calvin denounced the designation himself, They could attach us no greater insult than this word, Calvinism. It is not hard to guess where such a deadly hatred comes from that they hold against me, despite its negative connotation, this designation became increasingly popular in order to distinguish Calvinists from Lutherans and from newer Protestant branches that emerged later. Moreover, these churches claim to be—in accordance with John Calvins own words—renewed accordingly with the order of gospel. Since the Arminian controversy, the Reformed tradition—as a branch of Protestantism distinguished from Lutheranism—divided into two groups, Arminians and Calvinists. However, it is now rare to call Arminians a part of the Reformed tradition, some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things including salvation. First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, John Oecolampadius, scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial of the presence of Christ in the Lords supper. Each of these also understood salvation to be by grace alone. Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, the doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther
9.
King of Navarre
–
This is a list of the kings and queens of Pamplona, later Navarre. Pamplona was the name of the kingdom until its union with Aragon. However, the territorial designation Navarre came into use as an name in the late tenth century. The Íñiguez dynasty founded the Navarrese kingdom in or around 824 when they rebelled against nominal Frankish authority, in 905, a coalition of neighbors forced Fortún Garcés to retire to a monastery, and enthroned in his place a scion of a new dynasty. Under their reign, the name Navarre began to supplant that of Pamplona, the death of Alfonso led to a succession crisis in Aragon, and the nobles of Navarre took advantage to reestablish an independent monarchy, crowning a grandnephew of the assassinated Sancho IV. Henrys unexpected death left his infant daughter Joan as the heir to the throne. Joans mother Blanche of Artois served as regent for the ten years. In 1284 Joan was married to the future Philip IV of France, Philip assumed the throne of France a year later as King of France and Navarre. After the deaths of Louis and his infant son John, his brothers Philip and Charles held the crowns of France and Navarre until their own deaths. At that time, the crown of France passed to Philip of Valois, a distant cousin who was not descended from Joan I, Joan reigned together with her husband Philip III until his death, and then alone until her own death. Blanche reigned together with her husband John II, after Blanches death in 1441, John retained the crown of Navarre for himself until he died 38 years later, keeping it from his son and elder daughter, Charles and Blanche. Conflict with his son led to the Navarrese Civil War, though some of the resources regard Charles and Blanche and the legitimate monarchs, the de facto king of Navarre is still John II. Eleanor didnt claim to be the queen until her fathers death, eleanor, who had allied with her father against her brother and sister, outlived her father by only three weeks. By that time she was the widow of Gaston IV, Count of Foix and she was thus succeeded by her grandson Francis. Catherine reigned together with her husband John III, after his death, she reigned alone for 8 months until her own death. During their reign, Navarre was defeated by Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1512, resulting in the loss of all its territory south of the Pyrenees, jeanne III reigned together with her husband Antoine until his death, and then alone until her own death. Their son Henry became King of France in 1589, taking possession of the kingdom in 1593 as the French Wars of Religion came to a close, thereafter the crown of Navarre passed to the kings of France. Alicia was the daughter of Elias, Duke of Parma, whose father Robert I, Duke of Parma was the son and heir of Louise Marie Thérèse dArtois, granddaughter of Charles X of France
10.
Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre
–
Ferdinand the Catholic was in 1512 both king of Aragon and regent of Castile. When Pope Julius II declared a Holy League against France in late 1511, Ferdinand used this as an excuse to attack Navarre, conquering it while its potential protector France was beset by England, Venice, and Ferdinands Italian armies. All were defeated by the Spanish, and clashes came to halt to the north of the Pyrenees in 1528, the kingdom was absorbed into France in 1620. Navarre was mired in instability over the throne since the mid 15th century, when Catherine I of Navarre married John III of Albret, many in Navarre contested this arrangement. After the fall of Granada, pressure on Navarre intensified, Ferdinand also wanted to spite his son-in-law and successor Philip, new ephemeral king of Castile. After an year long stand-off, in 1508 the crown launched an offensive to quell the rebellion, Lerín was occupied. It was 1507 during the fight for Viana when the condottiero Cesare Borgia, the Navarrese authorities struggled to achieve a diplomatic balance in two fronts, but adverse new winds were blowing from France too. —but was met with their strong refusal. Louis XII coveted the Albrets territories and resorted to the Parliament of Toulouse, Ferdinand II waited and saw, took good note of those fears, and searched again allies for his own designs in the Navarrese Beaumont party. However, in summer 1510 the international scene took a turn in the Italian Wars. Pope Julius II was one of the most ambitious Popes of the era and he had declared a Holy League against Venice in 1508, and successfully defeated it. Navarre refused to join and kept neutral in a shaky balance, just a month later, Gaston of Foix died, so the full claim over the Pyrenean territories of the Albrets would fall in the hands of Ferdinands wife Germaine of Foix. King Louis then started to show a conciliatory tone with Queen Catherine and King John III, Catherine and John III kept negotiations with Ferdinand too, who intertwined proposals, pressure and menaces with actual movement of troops right on the outer borders of Navarre. For the purpose, Castilian diplomats negotiated with Rome for months, in June 1512, tension mounted when the Holy League made a formal petition to send English and Castilian troops through Navarre over to France. The next day Ferdinand sent his troops across the border from Álava into Navarre, commanded by his general Don Fadrique de Toledo, Duke of Alba, one that was involved in the conquest of Granada. However, by that time a Gipuzkoan militia had broken into Navarre from the border and captured Goizueta. The assault troops of the expedition numbered 6,000 veterans, the population of Pamplona did not exceed 10,000 inhabitants. Catherine and John III left for Tudela in quest for troops among loyal lords, overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Spanish expedition, the loyalists veered east to Lumbier, and on to Lower Navarre. Catherine, John III and their troops retreated to Orthez, Béarn, pamplonas peripheral defense walls were flimsy, and a threat of looting pronounced by the Duke of Alba loomed over the town
11.
Kingdom of Navarre
–
The medieval Kingdom of Pamplona was formed when the native chieftain Íñigo Arista was elected or declared King in Pamplona, and led a revolt against the regional Frankish authority. The southern part of the kingdom was conquered by the Crown of Castile in 1512, the monarchs of this unified state took the title King of France and Navarre until its fall in 1792, and again during the Bourbon Restoration from 1814 until 1830. There are similar earlier toponyms but the first documentation of Latin navarros appears in Eginhards chronicle of the feats of Charles the Great, other Royal Frankish Annals give nabarros. Basque naba/Castilian nava + Basque herri, the linguist Joan Coromines consider naba as not clearly Basque in origin but as part of a wider pre-Roman substrate. The area was conquered by the Romans by 74 BC. It was first part of the Roman province of Citerior, then of the Tarraconensis province, after that it was part of the conventus Caesaraugustanus. The Roman empire influenced the area in urbanization, language, infrastructure, commerce, after the decline of the Western Roman Empire, neither the Visigoths nor the Arabs succeeded in permanently occupying the western Pyrenees. The western Pyrenees passages were the only ones allowing good transit through the mountains and that made the region strategically important from early in its history. The Franks under Charlemagne extended their influence and control towards the south, occupying several regions of the north and it is not clear how solid the Frankish control over Pamplona was. In response, the Cordoban Emirate launched a campaign to place the region under their firm control and it placed a muwallad governor, Mutarrif ibn Musa, in Pamplona. The same year the Basque leader, Jimeno the Strong, submitted to the Emir, in 799, Mutarrif ibn Musa was killed by a pro-Frankish faction whose leader Velasco gained control of the region. In 806 and 812 Pamplona fell into the Franks hands, due to difficulties at home, the Frankish rulers could not give full attention to the outlying borderlands, and the country gradually withdrew entirely from their allegiance. In 816, Louis the Pious removed Seguin as Duke of Vasconia, the rebel Garcia Jiménez arose in his place, and was killed in turn in 818. Louis son Pepin, then King of Aquitaine, stamped out the Vasconic revolt in Gascony and he next hunted the chieftains who had taken refuge in southern Vasconia, i. e. Pamplona and Navarre, no longer controlled by the Franks. He sent an army led by the counts Aeblus and Aznar-Sanchez, on the way back, however, they were ambushed and defeated in Roncesvaux by a probable joint Vasconic-Banu Qasi force. Out of this pattern of resistance against both Frankish and Cordoban interests, the Basque chieftain Íñigo Arista took power, tradition tells he was elected as king of Pamplona in 824, giving rise to a dynasty of kings in Pamplona that would last for eighty years. Pamplona and Navarre are cited as separate entities in a Frankish Carolingian chronicle, Pamplona is cited in 778 by another Frankish account as a Navarrese stronghold, while this may be put down to their vague knowledge of the Basque territory. They distinguished Navarre and its main town in 806 though, while the Chronicle of Fontenelle quotes Induonis et Mitionis, however, Arab chroniclers make no such distinctions, and just talk of the Baskunisi, a transliteration of Vascones, since a big majority of the population was Basque
12.
Lescar
–
Lescar is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Lescar is the site of the Roman city known variously as Benearnum, Beneharnum or Civitas Benarnensium, in 841, Benearnum was razed by the Vikings and Morlaàs became the Béarnaise capital. However, from the century a new city grew up at Lescar. Lescar Cathedral was built during this period, and was the seat of the Diocese of Lescar until 1801, the remains of the last monarchs of all Navarre Queen Catherine I and King John III lie at the cathedral. Today, Lescar is primarily a suburb of the town of Pau. LAlfàs del Pi, Spain Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department INSEE commune file
13.
Ferdinand II of Aragon
–
Ferdinand II, called the Catholic, was King of Sicily from 1468 and King of Aragon from 1479 until his death. As a consequence of his marriage to Isabella I, he was King of Castile as Ferdinand V from 1474 until her death in 1504 and he was recognised as regent of Castile for his daughter and heir, Joanna, from 1508 until his own death. In 1504, after a war with France, he became King of Naples as Ferdinand III, reuniting Naples with Sicily permanently, in 1512, he became King of Navarre by conquest. Ferdinand is today best known for his role in inaugurating the discovery of the New World, since he and that year he also fought the final war with Granada which expunged the last Islamic state on Iberian soil, thus bringing to a close the centuries-long Reconquista. At his death he was succeeded by Joanna, who co-ruled with her son, Charles V, Ferdinand was born in Sada Palace, Sos del Rey Católico, Kingdom of Aragon, as the son of John II of Aragon by his second wife, Juana Enríquez. He married Infanta Isabella, the half-sister and heiress of Henry IV of Castile, on 19 October 1469 in Valladolid, Kingdom of Castile, Isabella also belonged to the royal House of Trastámara, and the two were cousins by descent from John I of Castile. They were married with a prenuptial agreement on sharing power. He became jure uxoris King of Castile when Isabella succeeded her brother in 1474 to be crowned as Queen Isabella I of Castile. The two young monarchs were initially obliged to fight a war against Joan of Castile, the purported daughter of Henry IV. When Ferdinand succeeded his father as King of Aragon in 1479, the Crown of Castile, for the first time since the 8th century, this union created a single political unit referred to as España, the root of which is the ancient name Hispania. The various states were not formally administered as a single unit, the completion of the Reconquista was not the only significant act performed by Ferdinand and Isabella in that year. That document was signed with the defeated Moorish Emir of Granada Muhammad XII and it allowed Mudéjar Moors and converso Marrano Jews to stay, while expelling all unconverted Jews from Castile and Aragon. 1492 was also the year in which the monarchs commissioned Christopher Columbus to find a maritime route for access to Asia. In 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world beyond Europe between Portugal and Castile for conquest and dominion purposes – by a north–south line drawn down the Atlantic Ocean. Ferdinand violated the 1492 Alhambra Decree peace treaty in 1502 by dismissing the clearly guaranteed religious freedom for Mudéjar Muslims, Ferdinand forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert, converso Moriscos, to Catholicism, or else be expelled. Some of the Muslims who remained were mudéjar artisans, who could design and this was also practised by the Spanish inquisitors on the converso Marrano Jewish population of Spain. The main architect behind the Spanish Inquisition was King Ferdinand II, Ferdinand destroyed over ten thousand Arabic manuscripts in Granada alone, burning them. The latter part of Ferdinands life was taken up with disputes with successive Kings of France over control of Italy
14.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Charles V was ruler of both the Spanish Empire from 1516 and the Holy Roman Empire from 1519, as well as of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1506. He voluntarily stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556, through inheritance, he brought together under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly four square kilometers and were the first to be described as the empire on which the sun never sets. Charles was the heir of three of Europes leading dynasties, the Houses of Valois-Burgundy, Habsburg, and Trastámara and he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands and the Franche-Comté as heir of the House of Valois-Burgundy. From his own dynasty, the Habsburgs, he inherited Austria and he was also elected to succeed his Habsburg grandfather, Maximilian I, as Holy Roman Emperor, a title held by the Habsburgs since 1440. Charles was the first king to rule Castile and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, the personal union, under Charles, of the Holy Roman Empire with the Spanish Empire resulted in the closest Europe would come to a universal monarchy since the death of Louis the Pious. France recovered and the wars continued for the remainder of Charless reign, enormously expensive, they led to the development of the first modern professional army in Europe, the Tercios. The struggle with the Ottoman Empire was fought in Hungary and the Mediterranean, after seizing most of eastern and central Hungary in 1526, the Ottomans’ advance was halted at their failed Siege of Vienna in 1529. A lengthy war of attrition, conducted on his behalf by his younger brother Ferdinand, in the Mediterranean, although there were some successes, Charles was unable to prevent the Ottomans’ increasing naval dominance and the piratical activity of the Barbary Corsairs. Charles opposed the Reformation and in Germany he was in conflict with the Protestant Princes of the Schmalkaldic League who were motivated by religious and political opposition to him. Once the rebellions were quelled the essential Castilian and Burgundian territories remained mostly loyal to Charles throughout his rule, Charles’s Spanish dominions were the chief source of his power and wealth, and they became increasingly important as his reign progressed. In the Americas, Charles sanctioned the conquest by Castillian conquistadors of the Aztec, Castillian control was extended across much of South and Central America. The resulting vast expansion of territory and the flows of South American silver to Castile had profound long term effects on Spain. Charles was only 56 when he abdicated, but after 34 years of rule he was physically exhausted and sought the peace of a monastery. Upon Charles’s abdications, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, the Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by Charles’s son Philip II. The two empires would remain allies until the 18th century, Charles was born in 1500 as the eldest son of Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Castile in the Flemish city of Ghent, which was part of the Habsburg Netherlands. The culture and courtly life of the Burgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early life and he was tutored by William de Croÿ, and also by Adrian of Utrecht. He also gained a decent command of German, though he never spoke it as well as French, a witticism sometimes attributed to Charles is, I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse
15.
Francis I of France
–
Francis I was the first King of France from the Angoulême branch of the House of Valois, reigning from 1515 until his death. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a male heir. Francis reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres. He was also known as François au Grand Nez, the Grand Colas, following the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, he sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time. Francis was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, today the town lies in the department of Charente. Francis was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his fathers cousin the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, the Salic Law prevailed in France, thus females were ineligible to inherit the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois. In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered that his daughter Claude and Francis be married immediately, Claude was heiress to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Annes death, the took place on 18 May 1514. Louis died shortly afterwards and Francis inherited the throne and he was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims on 25 January 1515, with Claude as his queen consort. As Francis was receiving his education, ideas emerging from the Italian Renaissance were influential in France, some of his tutors, such as François Desmoulins de Rochefort and Christophe de Longueil, were attracted by these new ways of thinking and attempted to influence Francis. His academic education had been in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, reading, spelling, Francis came to learn chivalry, dancing, and music and he loved archery, falconry, horseback riding, hunting, jousting, real tennis and wrestling. He ended up reading philosophy and theology and he was fascinated with art, literature, poetry and his mother, who had a high admiration for Italian Renaissance art, passed this interest on to her son
16.
Noyon
–
Noyon is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It lies on the Oise Canal about 100 kilometers north of Paris, the Gallo-Romans founded the town as Noviomagus. As several other cities shared the name, it was distinguished by specifying the people living in, by the Middle Ages, the towns Latin name had mutated to Noviomum. The town was fortified, some sections of the Roman walls still remained in late antiquity. This may explain why, around the year 531, bishop Medardus moved his seat from Vermand in the Vermandois to Noyon, the bishop of Noyon was also bishop of Tournai from the seventh century until Tournai was raised to a separate diocese 1146. The cathedral at Noyon was where Charlemagne was crowned as co-King of the Franks in 768, as was the first Capetian king, in 859 the town was attacked by Vikings and the bishop, Immo, captured and killed. The town received a charter in 1108, which was later confirmed by Philip Augustus in 1223. In the twelfth century, the diocese of Noyon was raised to a duchy in the peerage of France. The bishops library is an example of half-timbered construction. The treaty brought the War of the League of Cambrai— one stage of the Italian Wars— to a close, near the end of the sixteenth century the town fell under Habsburg control, but Henry IV of France recaptured it. The Concordat of 1801 suppressed its bishopric, the town was occupied by the Germans during World War I and World War II and on both occasions suffered heavy damage. John Calvin was born in Noyon,1509, dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Official Web site Quid, Noyon About the cathedral, Picardy architecture Gargoyles
17.
Montpellier
–
Montpellier is a city in southern France. It is the capital of the Hérault department, Montpellier is the 8th largest city of France, and is also the fastest growing city in the country over the past 25 years. Nearly one third of the population are students from three universities and from three higher education institutions that are outside the university framework in the city. Located on the south coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, it is the third-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille and Nice. Montpellier is one of the few cities in France without any Roman heritage. In the Early Middle Ages, the episcopal town of Maguelone was the major settlement in the area. Montpellier, first mentioned in a document of 985, was founded under a feudal dynasty, the Guilhem. The two surviving towers of the city walls, the Tour des Pins and the Tour de la Babotte, were built later, william VIII of Montpellier gave freedom for all to teach medicine in Montpellier in 1180. This era marked the point of Montpelliers prominence. The city became a possession of the Kings of Aragon in 1204 by the marriage of Peter II of Aragon with Marie of Montpellier, who was given the city and its dependencies as part of her dowry. Montpellier gained a charter in 1204 when Peter and Marie confirmed the traditional freedoms. Under the Kings of Aragon, Montpellier became an important city, a major economic centre. It was the second or third most important city of France at that time, with its importance steadily increasing, the city finally gained a bishop, who moved from Maguelone in 1536, and the huge monastery chapel became a cathedral. In 1432, Jacques Cœur established himself in the city and it became an important economic centre, at the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, many of the inhabitants of Montpellier became Protestants and the city became a stronghold of Protestant resistance to the Catholic French crown. In 1622, King Louis XIII besieged the city surrendered after a two months siege, afterwards building the Citadel of Montpellier to secure it. Louis XIV made Montpellier capital of Bas Languedoc, and the town started to embellish itself, by building the Promenade du Peyrou, the Esplanade, after the French Revolution, the city became the capital of the much smaller Hérault. During the 19th century the city developed into an industrial centre, in the 1960s, its population grew dramatically after French settlers in Algeria were resettled in the city following Algerias independence from France. In the 1980s and 1990s, the city drew attention with a number of redevelopment projects, such as the Corum
18.
Battle of Pavia
–
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26. In the four-hour battle, the French army was split and defeated in detail, the French suffered massive casualties, including many of the chief nobles of France. Francis himself was captured by Habsburg troops and imprisoned by Charles V and forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Madrid, the outcome of the battle cemented Habsburg ascendancy in Italy. The French, in possession of Lombardy at the start of the Italian War of 1521–26, had forced to abandon it after their defeat at the Battle of Bicocca in 1522. Charles de Lannoy now launched an invasion of Provence under the command of Fernando dAvalos, Marquess of Pescara, in mid-October 1524, Francis himself crossed the Alps and advanced on Milan at the head of an army numbering more than 40,000. Bourbon and dAvalos, their troops not yet recovered from the campaign in Provence, were in no position to offer serious resistance. The French army moved in columns, brushing aside Imperial attempts to hold its advance. Having entered Milan and installed Louis II de la Trémoille as the governor, Francis advanced on Pavia, the main mass of French troops arrived at Pavia in the last days of October. By 2 November, Anne de Montmorency had crossed the Ticino River and invested the city from the south, inside were about 9,000 men, mainly mercenaries whom Antonio de Leyva was able to pay only by melting the church plate. A period of skirmishing and artillery bombardments followed, and several breaches had been made in the walls by mid-November, in early December, a Spanish force commanded by Ugo de Moncada landed near Genoa, intending to interfere in a conflict between pro-Valois and pro-Habsburg factions in the city. Francis dispatched a force under the Marquis of Saluzzo to intercept them. Confronted by the more numerous French and left without support by the arrival of a pro-Valois fleet commanded by Andrea Doria. Francis then signed a agreement with Pope Clement VII, who pledged not to assist Charles in exchange for Franciss assistance with the conquest of Naples. Against the advice of his commanders, Francis detached a portion of his forces under the Duke of Albany. In January 1525, Lannoy was reinforced by the arrival of Georg Frundsberg with 15,000 fresh landsknechts from Germany, by 2 February, Lannoy was only a few miles from Pavia. Francis had encamped the majority of his forces in the walled park of Mirabello outside the city walls. Skirmishing and sallies by the garrison continued through the month of February, the times given here are taken from Konstams reconstruction of the battle. On the evening of 23 February, Lannoys imperial troops, which had been encamped outside the east wall of the park, at the same time, the Imperial artillery began a bombardment of the French siege lines—which had become routine during the extended siege—in order to conceal Lannoys movement
19.
War of the League of Cognac
–
Shocked by the defeat of the French in the Italian War of 1521, Pope Clement VII, together with the Republic of Venice, began to organize an alliance to drive Charles V from Italy. Francis, having signed the Treaty of Madrid, was released from his captivity in Madrid and returned to France, where he quickly announced his intention to assist Clement. Thus, in 1526, the League of Cognac was signed by Francis, Clement, Venice, Florence, and the Sforza of Milan, Henry VIII of England, thwarted in his desire to have the treaty signed in England, refused to join. The League quickly seized Lodi, but Imperial troops marched into Lombardy, the Colonna, meanwhile, organized an attack on Rome, defeating the Papal forces and briefly seizing control of the city in September 1526, they were soon paid off and departed, however. Charles V now gathered a force of landsknechts under Georg Frundsberg and a Spanish army under Charles of Bourbon, the two forces combined at Piacenza and advanced on Rome. Francesco Guicciardini, now in command of the Papal armies, proved unable to resist them, and his escape allowed by the Swiss Guards last stand. The looting of Rome, and the consequent removal of Clement from any role in the war. On 30 April 1527, Henry VIII and Francis signed the Treaty of Westminster, doria, however, soon deserted the French for Charles. The siege collapsed as plague broke out in the French camp, killing most of the army along with Foix, following the defeat of his armies, Francis sought peace with Charles. The final Treaty of Cambrai, signed on 5 August, removed France from the war, leaving Venice, Florence, Charles, having arrived in Genoa, proceeded to Bologna to meet with the Pope. Clement absolved the participants of the sack of Rome and promised to crown Charles, the Republic of Florence alone continued to resist the Imperial forces, which were led by the Prince of Orange. Alessandro de Medici was then installed as Duke of Florence, the Black Bands of Giovanni, Infantry and Diplomacy During the Italian Wars. Pisa, Pisa University Press, Edizioni Plus,2005, New York, St. Martins Press,1994. MHQ, The Quarterly Journal of Military History 18, no, translated by Isola van den Hoven-Vardon. New York, Oxford University Press,2002, garden City, New York, Doubleday, Doran & Co.1937. Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe, Gunpowder, Technology, baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press,1997. Florence, The Biography of a City, New York, W. W. Norton & Company,1993. Pavia 1525, The Climax of the Italian Wars, a History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century
20.
Lower Navarre
–
Lower Navarre is a traditional region of the present day Pyrénées Atlantiques département of France. It corresponds to the northernmost merindad of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle Ages, after the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre, this merindad was restored to the rule of the native king, Henry II. Its capitals were Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Saint-Palais, in the extreme north there was the little sovereign Principality of Bidache. Its extent is of 1,284 km2, and has a population of 44,450,25,356. Although this denomination is not completely correct from the point of view, it is also known as Merindad de Ultrapuertos by the southerners. Despite its lost administrative cohesion, the memory of its past heyday has left an imprint on its inhabitants, the Nafarroaren Eguna or Day of Navarre is a festival held in Baigorri every year to strengthen their bonds and celebrate their Basque identity. The territory is claimed by Basque nationalists to be one of the seven constituent regions making up the Basque Country. Lower Navarre is a collection of valleys in the foothills of the Pyrenees, the Irouléguy wines are produced in the area around the town of Irouléguy. The river Nive rises in Lower Navarre and flows through the province and on to Bayonne, beyond Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port itself, the Nive enters the Ossès valley, with many beautiful old houses with carved lintels in the villages of Ossès, Irissarry and Bidarray. A reserve for the pottok, the wild Basque Pyrenean pony, the Baigura massif towers over the western valleys and sets a natural boundary with the rolling valleys of Labourd. North of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is the Mixe region around the town of Saint-Palais, although close to Béarn, Basque influence and traditions are strong. Lower Navarrese is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the region, just south of Saint-Palais, the three principal routes to Santiago de Compostela on the Way of St James met at the hamlet of Ostabat, bringing much wealth and trade to the area in medieval times. The Way of St James headed south from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port towards the pass above Roncesvalles. Pilgrims travelled across the Cize region of Lower Navarre on their way to Navarre across the mountains, in these rolling hills, ewes milk cheese, pur brebis, is commonly made, including Ossau-Iraty cheese. Villages like Estérençuby and Lecumberry are popular for agro-tourism and the Iraty beech forest on the Spanish border is known for its views and history. Dolmens and other neolithic monuments dot the landscape, including the Tour dUrkulu high in the mountains at 1, 149m—a 2, Lower Navarre is well delimited by mountain ranges on the west, south and the east. The lands of the Lower Navarre were part of the Duchy of Vasconia turned into Gascony by the end of the first millennium. Moreover, the valleys of Baigorri, Ossès, Arberoa, Cize and Arberoa were attached to the latter, so establishing the first nucleus of the Navarrese grip on the lands north of the Pyrenees
21.
Huguenots
–
Huguenots are the ethnoreligious group of French Protestants who follow the Reformed tradition. It was used frequently to members of the French Reformed Church until the beginning of the 19th century. The term has its origin in 16th-century France, Huguenot numbers peaked near an estimated two million by 1562, concentrated mainly in the southern and western parts of France. As Huguenots gained influence and more openly displayed their faith, Catholic hostility grew, in spite of political concessions, a series of religious conflicts followed, known as the French Wars of Religion, fought intermittently from 1562 to 1598. The Huguenots were led by Jeanne dAlbret, her son, the future Henry IV, the wars ended with the Edict of Nantes, which granted the Huguenots substantial religious, political, and military autonomy. Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s prompted the abolishment of their political and they retained religious provisions of the Edict of Nantes until the rule of Louis XIV. Nevertheless, a minority of Huguenots remained and faced continued persecution under Louis XV. By the death of Louis XV in 1774, French Calvinism was almost completely wiped out, persecution of Protestants officially ended with the Edict of Versailles, signed by Louis XVI in 1787. Two years later, with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 and they also spread to the Dutch Cape Colony in South Africa, the Dutch East Indies, the Caribbean, New Netherland, and several of the English colonies in North America. Small contingents of families went to Orthodox Russia and Catholic Quebec, a term used originally in derision, Huguenot has unclear origins. Geneva was John Calvins adopted home and the centre of the Calvinist movement, the label Huguenot was purportedly first applied in France to those conspirators involved in the Amboise plot of 1560, a foiled attempt to wrest power in France from the influential House of Guise. The move would have had the effect of fostering relations with the Swiss. Thus, Hugues plus Eidgenosse by way of Huisgenoten supposedly became Huguenot, a version of this complex hypothesis is promoted by O. I. A. Roche, who writes in his book, The Days of the Upright, A History of the Huguenots, that Huguenot is, a combination of a Dutch and a German word. Gallicised into Huguenot, often used deprecatingly, the word became, Some disagree with such double or triple non-French linguistic origins, arguing that for the word to have spread into common use in France, it must have originated in the French language. The Hugues hypothesis argues that the name was derived by association with Hugues Capet, king of France and he was regarded by the Gallicans and Protestants as a noble man who respected peoples dignity and lives. Janet Gray and other supporters of the hypothesis suggest that the name huguenote would be equivalent to little Hugos. It was in place in Tours that the prétendus réformés habitually gathered at night
22.
Henry IV of France
–
Henry IV, also known by the epithet Good King Henry, was King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon, baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne dAlbret, Queen of Navarre, he inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomews Day massacre, and later led Protestant forces against the royal army. Henry, as Head of the House of Bourbon, was a direct descendant of Louis IX of France. Upon the death of his brother-in-law and distant cousin Henry III of France in 1589 and he initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League, which denied that he could wear Frances crown as a Protestant. To obtain mastery over his kingdom, after four years of stalemate, as a pragmatic politician, he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era. Notably, he promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants and he was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. Considered a usurper by some Catholics and a traitor by some Protestants, an unpopular king immediately after his accession, Henrys popularity greatly improved after his death, in light of repeated victories over his enemies and his conversion to Catholicism. The Good King Henry was remembered for his geniality and his concern about the welfare of his subjects. He was celebrated in the popular song Vive le roi Henri, Henry was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion, on 9 June 1572, upon his mothers death, he became King of Navarre. At Queen Joans death, it was arranged for Henry to marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II, the wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral. On 24 August, the Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre began in Paris, several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henrys wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout the country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and he was made to live at the court of France, but he escaped in early 1576. On 5 February of that year, he formally abjured Catholicism at Tours and he named his 16-year-old sister, Catherine de Bourbon, regent of Béarn. Catherine held the regency for nearly thirty years, Henry became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Anjou, brother and heir to the Catholic Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was the senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice
23.
Charles II of Albret
–
Charles II dAlbret was a French magnate, administrator, and soldier. He was the son of Charles I of Albret and Marie de Sully, as a member of the Armagnac faction, Charles was a supporter of the Dauphin Charles, future Charles VII of France. His links to the Armagnacs were strengthened by his marriage in 1417 to Anne of Armagnac, daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, from whom the faction took its name, and Bonne de Berry. Charles served on the council of Dauphin Charles and in 1427 joined with Richemont. De Giac was soon executed by drowning. He took part in the campaigns of Joan of Arc, and was named lieutenant of the province of Berry and he was confirmed in possession of the county of Dreux in 1441 by King Charles VII. On his death Albret passed to his grandson Alain, Jeans son, Alain, however, seized control of the county. His fourth son, Charles, was executed for treason in 1473
24.
Anne of Armagnac
–
Anne was the wife of Charles II dAlbret. One of her illustrious descendants was Queen Jeanne III of Navarre, mother of King Henry IV and her illegitimate son was Jean de Lescun, known as the bastard of Armagnac. Anne was born in 1402 in Gages, near Rodez, France, the daughter of Bernard VII of Armagnac, Count of Charolais, Count of Armagnac, and Bonne de Berry, who was the widow of Amadeus VII of Savoy. Anne had six siblings, these included John IV of Armagnac, Bernard of Armagnac and she had three half-siblings from her mothers marriage to Count Amadeus, including Amadeus VIII of Savoy. Her paternal gandparents were John II of Armagnac and Jeanne de Périgord, on 30 December 1415, her father was appointed Constable of France. He controlled the government of the Dauphin Charles, on 12 June 1418, he was assassinated in Paris by the Burgundians. Anne died on a date sometime before March 1473. Her husband Charles died in 1471, the lordship of Albret passed to Alain, the grandson of Charles and Anne, the county of Dreux went to Arnaud Amanieu, but was later seized by Alain. Through Alain, who married Françoise of Châtillon-Limoges, Anne was an ancestress of Queen Jeanne III of Navarre, mother of Henry IV. On 28 October 1417, a contract was drawn up and signed. He was the eldest son of Charles dAlbret, Constable of France who had killed at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415. At the time of his marriage, Charles was only the titular Count of Dreux as the lands were in English hands and he would be confirmed as count in 1441 by King Charles VII of France. He served on the council of the Dauphin Charles. He participated in the campaigns of Joan of Arc, including the Siege of Orléans. Charles dAlbret, Seigneur de Sainte-Bazielle, married Marie dAstarac Louis dAlbret, Cardinal, Bishop of Cahors Gilles dAlbret, Seigneur Castelmoron, married Anne dAguillon, Marie dAlbret, on 11 June 1456 married Charles de Nevers, Count of Nevers and Count of Rethel. Jeanne dAlbret, Countess of Dreux, in 1442 married, as his wife, Arthur III. On an unknown date she gave birth to an illegitimate son, the babys father was Arnaud-Gillaume de Lescun, Bishop of Aire. The boy grew up to become a soldier and Marshal of France
25.
Alain I of Albret
–
Alain I of Albret, called The Great, was a powerful French aristocrat. He was 16th Lord of Albret, Viscount of Tartas, the 2nd Count of Graves and he was the son of Catherine de Rohan and Jean I of Albret. He was the grandson and heir of Charles II of Albret, during his half century of rule, he took a political course which was more agitated than effective, following his fathers example, making him one of the most visible actors on the stage of Europe. Alain I initially benefited from his fidelity to King Louis XI of France and he married Françoise de Châtillon, and this marriage brought him the inheritance of the county of Périgord as well as the viscounty of Limoges and the Châtillon-Blois claims to the Duchy of Brittany. He then seized Armagnac, and married his son John to Catherine of Navarre, recently proclaimed queen of the Kingdom of Navarre, and heiress of the counties of Foix and Bigorre. At this time, Alain I hoped to consolidate his power by taking control of the Duchy of Brittany by marriage to Anne of Brittany and he entered into rebellion against the royal authority in support of the Duchy, during the so-called Mad War. His intrigues were unsuccessful, and he was defeated, having been unable to support to the Duke in 1487. The following year, he brought reinforcements by sea, but was defeated by Louis II de la Trémoille at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier and he continued, however, to claim the legacy of Francis II, occupying Nantes with his Gascon troops. He still hoped to marry Anne and inherit the Duchy but found it expedient to deliver Nantes to the army in exchange for an agreement that the French would support his claim to Annes hand. Anne had no intention of marrying Alain, instead she married the French king, putting an end of Alains dynastic ambition in Brittany, despite his failure in Brittany, Alain established other dynastic links through his daughter, Charlotte of Albret, who married Cesare Borgia in May 1499. His children were, Jean dAlbret - married Catherine, Queen of Navarre and his granddaughter, Jeanne dAlbret, married Antoine de Bourbon and was the mother of King Henry IV of France. This article was translated from the Wikipedia article Alain dAlbret, mostly from this version
26.
Gaston IV, Count of Foix
–
Gaston IV was the sovereign Viscount of Béarn and the Count of Foix and Bigorre in France from 1436 to 1472. He also held the viscounties of Marsan, Castelbon, Nébouzan, Villemeur and Lautrec and was, by virtue of the county of Foix, from 1447 he was also Viscount of Narbonne. Through his marriage to Eleonor, heiress of the Kingdom of Navarre and he was a son of John I, Count of Foix and Jeanne dAlbret. His maternal grandparents were Charles dAlbret, Constable of France and co-commander of the French army, killed at the Battle of Agincourt, Gaston married the Navarrese Infanta, Eleonor, in 1436. Her parents were John II and Blanche I of Navarre and they had ten children, Gaston de Foix, Viscount of Castelbon, Prince of Viana, lieutenant general of Navarre. Jean de Foix, Viscount of Narbonne, Count dÉtampes and he claimed the throne of Navarre upon the death of his nephew François Phébus. He married in 1476 Marie of Orleans Marguerite de Foix, married at Clisson on 27 June 1471 Francis II and they were parents of Anne of Brittany, twice queen of France as consort to both Charles VIII and Louis XII. Catherine de Foix, married in 1469 Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale, Jacques de Foix, Infante de Navarra, Count de Montfort. Married in 1485 and divorced in 1494 Ana de Peralta, daughter of Pedro de Peralta, 1st Count de Santisteban y Lerín, married secondly in 1495 Catherine de Beaumont, daughter of Louis de Beaumont, 2nd Count de Lerín and his wife Leonor de Aragón. Jacques and his wife had one child, Jean de Foix. Jacques also had two children by unknown mistresses, Frederic de Foix, Seigneur dAlmenèches, and Jacques de Foix, Bishop of Oloron. Gaston IV, Comte de Foix, Vicomte souverain de Béarn, Prince de Navarre, Étude historique sur le Midi de la France et le Nord de lEspagne au XVe siècle
27.
John II of Aragon and Navarre
–
John II, called the Great or the Faithless, was the King of Navarre through his wife from 1425 and the King of Aragon in his own right from 1458 until his death. He was the son of Ferdinand I and his wife Eleanor of Alburquerque, John was born at Medina del Campo. In his youth he was one of the infantes of Aragon who took part in the dissensions of Castile during the minority, till middle life he was also lieutenant-general in Aragon for his brother and predecessor Alfonso V, whose reign was mainly spent in Italy. His troubles with his subjects were closely connected with tragic dissensions within his own family, John was first married to Blanche I of Navarre of the house of Évreux. By right of Blanche he became king of Navarre, and on her death in 1441 he was left in possession of the kingdom for his lifetime, but one son, Charles, given the title Prince of Viana as heir of Navarre, had been born of the marriage. John quickly came to regard this son with jealousy, after his second marriage, to Juana Enríquez, it grew into absolute hatred, being encouraged by Juana. John tried to deprive his son of his right to act as lieutenant-general of Aragon during his fathers absence. Charless cause was taken up by the Aragonese, however, there followed the long Navarrese Civil War, with alternations of success and defeat, ending only with the death of the prince of Viana, perhaps by poison administered by his stepmother in 1461. The Catalans, who had adopted the cause of Charles and who had grievances of their own and his last years John spent contending with these. He was forced to pawn Roussillon, his possession on the north-east of the Pyrenees, to King Louis XI of France, in his old age John was blinded by cataracts, but recovered his eyesight by the operation of couching conducted by his physician Abiathar Crescas, a Jew. The Catalan revolt was pacified in 1472, but John carried on a war, in which he was generally unfortunate and he was succeeded by Ferdinand, his son by his second marriage, who was already married to Isabella I of Castile. With his death and sons accession to the throne of Aragon, illegitimate children, Alfonso de Aragón y de Escobar, Duke of Villahermosa Juan de Aragón, Archbishop of Zaragoza Phillipe del Radona Rivadeneyra. Cronicas de los reyes de Castilla, Biblioteca de autores espanoles, history of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
28.
Eleanor of Navarre
–
Eleanor of Aragon, was the regent of Navarre from 1455 to 1479, then briefly the queen regnant of Navarre in 1479. She was crowned on 28 January 1479 in Tudela and she was born in Olite, Navarre, the third and youngest child of King John II of Aragon and Queen Blanche I of Navarre and the younger sister of Blanche II of Navarre. She was born 2 February 1426, and was acclaimed by the Cortes in Pamplona,9 August 1427, as the heir of Charles IV. After their mothers death, however, their father occupied Navarre and she married Gaston IV, Count of Foix, in 1441. In 1442, Eleanor moved with her spouse to Bearn, in 1455, her father deposed her brother and her sister as heirs of Navarre and proclaimed Eleanor as the heir and the regent and general governor of Navarre, and she moved to Sangüesa. She continued as regent after the death of her brother in 1461, in 1462, she signed the treaty of Olite, where she recognized her father as the monarch of Navarre and accepted to have her sister Blanche imprisoned under her care. In 1464, Blanche died in her care, suspected to have been poisoned, by the treaty, she was recognized by her father as the heir of Navarre and his regent in Navarre. In 1468, her father killed her advisor Nicolas de Etchabarri, in 1471, however, her father recognized her as the governor of Navarre until his death. At her fathers death in 1479, she gave her oath as the monarch of Navarre, peter, cardinal and bishop of Arles, John, viscount of Narbonne, whose daughter Germaine of Foix was second wife to Ferdinand II of Aragon. Marie, married William VIII, marquess of Montferrat, joan, married John V, count of Armagnac. Margaret, married Francis II, duke of Brittany, Catherine, married Gaston II de Foix, Count of Candale and Benauges. Isabella, married Guy de Pons, viscount of Turenne, Eleanor, engaged firstly with Charles, duke de Guyenne and secondly with the duke of Medinacelli, but she died before the wedding. James, count of Cortes, married Catherine of Beaumont, anthony, Raoul, Identification et Etude des Ossements des Rois de Navarre inhumés dans la Cathédrale de Lescar, Paris, Masson,1931 Navarre Kings Genealogy
29.
Blanche I of Navarre
–
Blanche I was Queen of Navarre from 1425 to 1441. She became queen regnant upon the death of her father King Charles III of Navarre and she served as Regent of Sicily in 1404–05 and in 1408–15. Blanche was the second eldest daughter of King Charles III of Navarre and she became heir to the throne of Navarre on the death of her elder sister, Joan, in 1413. Blanche married firstly Martin the Younger, King of Sicily and Prince of Aragon and they were married by proxy on 21 May 1402 in Catania. Blanche traveled to meet Martin, and they were married in person on 26 December 1402, the bride was about fifteen years old and the groom twenty-eight. Martin had been in need of legitimate heirs, as he had survived his previous wife and former co-ruler, Queen Maria of Sicily, from October 1404 to August 1405, she served as regent of Sicily during the absence of her spouse in Aragon. From August 1408 to July 1409, she served as regent of Sicily during the absence of her spouse in Sardinia, when Martin died on 25 July 1409, he was succeeded by his own father, Martin I of Aragon. Her former father-in-law allowed her to continue as regent of Sicily, with the victory of Ferdinand I in Aragon, Blanche lost her regency power in Siciliy, which was annexed to Aragon in November 1415, and left for Navarre. Blanche returned to Navarre where she was sworn in as heir to the throne in Olito the 28 October 1415, and was given allegiance by the lords. On 6 November 1419, Blanche married her husband, John, duke of Peñafiel. Ferdinand had succeeded his maternal uncle Martin I in 1412, on 10 June 1420, they were married in person in Pamplona. The couple first lived in Peñafiel, but were called to live in Navarre by her father in 1422, Charles III died on 8 September 1425 and Blanche succeeded him as Queen regnant of Navarre. John became King of Navarre in her right as John II, Blanche died in Santa María la Real de Nieva in 1441. After her death, John kept the government of Navarre in his own hands, from the hands of their own son Charles of Viana and he would become King of Aragon and King of Sicily upon the death of his elder brother Alfonso V of Aragon in 1458. Blanche and Martin had one son, Infante Martin of Aragon, Blanche and John II of Aragon had four children, Charles of Navarre Joan of Navarre Blanche of Navarre, married Henry IV of Castile. After 13 years of marriage, Henry sought and obtained a divorce, Blanca was sent home, where her family imprisoned her, and she was later killed by poison. Due donne per un regno, Maria dAragona e Bianca di Navarra, Napoli, Liguori,2003 Blanca I de Navarra in Auñamendi Entziklopedia Marek, a listing of descedants of Philip III of Navarre
30.
Charles VI of France
–
Charles VI, called the Beloved and the Mad, was King of France from 1380 to his death. He was a member of the House of Valois, Charles VI was only 11 when he inherited the throne in the midst of the Hundred Years War. The government was entrusted to his four uncles, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, John, Duke of Berry, Louis I, Duke of Anjou, and Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. Although the royal age of majority was fixed at 14, the dukes maintained their grip on Charles until he took power at the age of 21, as royal funds drained, new taxes had to be raised, which caused several revolts. In 1388 Charles VI dismissed his uncles and brought back to power his fathers former advisers, political and economic conditions in the kingdom improved significantly, and Charles earned the epithet the Beloved. But in August 1392 en route to Brittany with his army in the forest of Le Mans, Charles suddenly went mad and slew four knights and almost killed his brother, from then on, Charles bouts of insanity became more frequent and of longer duration. During these attacks, he had delusions, believing he was made of glass or denying he had a wife and he could also attack servants or run until exhaustion, wailing that he was threatened by his enemies. Between crises, there were intervals of months during which Charles was relatively sane, however, unable to concentrate or make decisions, political power was taken away from him by the princes of the blood, which would cause much chaos and conflict in France. A fierce struggle for power developed between Louis of Orléans, the brother, and John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. When John instigated the murder of Louis in November 1407, the conflict degenerated into a war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. John offered large parts of France to King Henry V of England, when Charles VI died, he was succeeded by his son Charles VII, who found the Valois cause in a desperate situation. Charles was born in Paris, in the residence of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, on 3 December 1368, the son of the king of France Charles V, of the House of Valois. As heir to the French throne, his brothers having died before he was born. At his fathers death on 16 September 1380, he inherited the throne of France and his coronation took place on 4 November 1380, at Reims Cathedral. Although the royal age of majority was 14, Charles did not terminate the regency and he married Isabeau of Bavaria on 17 July 1385, when he was 17 and she was 14. Isabeau had 12 children, most of whom died young, isabeaus first child, named Charles, was born in 1386, and was Dauphin of Viennois, but survived only 3 months. Her second child, Joan, was born on 14 June 1388 and her third child, Isabella, was born in 1389. She was married to Richard II, King of England in 1396, at the age of 6, Richard died in 1400 and they had no children
31.
Charles VII of France
–
Charles VII, called the Victorious or the Well-Served, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1422 to his death. In the midst of the Hundred Years War, Charles VII inherited the throne of France under desperate circumstances, in addition, his father Charles VI had disinherited him in 1420 and recognized Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors to the French crown instead. At the same time, a war raged in France between the Armagnacs and the Burgundian party. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a leader in France. Joan of Arc and other charismatic figures led French troops to lift the siege of Orléans, as well as other cities on the Loire river. With the local English troops dispersed, the people of Reims switched allegiance and opened their gates and this long-awaited event boosted French morale as hostilities with England resumed. Following the battle of Castillon in 1453, the French had expelled the English from all their continental possessions except for the Pale of Calais, the last years of Charles VII were marked by conflicts with his turbulent son, the future Louis XI of France. Born at the Hôtel Saint-Pol, the residence in Paris. He was the child and fifth son of Charles VI of France. His four elder brothers, Charles, Charles, Louis and John had each held the title of Dauphin of France in turn, all died childless, leaving Charles with a rich inheritance of titles. By 1419, Charles had established his own court in Bourges and they also decided that a further meeting should take place the following 10 September. On that date, they met on the bridge at Montereau, the Duke assumed that the meeting would be entirely peaceful and diplomatic, thus he brought only a small escort with him. The Dauphins men reacted to the Dukes arrival by attacking and killing him, Charles level of involvement has remained uncertain to this day. Although he claimed to have been unaware of his mens intentions, the assassination marked the end of any attempt of a reconciliation between the two factions Armagnacs and Burgundians, thus playing into the hands of Henry V of England. Charles was later required by a treaty with Philip the Good, the son of John the Fearless, to pay penance for the murder, at the death of his father, Charles VI, the succession was cast into doubt. For those who did not recognize the treaty and believed the Dauphin Charles to be of legitimate birth, for those who did not recognize his legitimacy, the rightful heir was recognized as Charles, Duke of Orléans, cousin of the Dauphin, who was in English captivity. Only the supporters of Henry VI and the Dauphin Charles were able to enlist sufficient military force to press effectively for their candidates, the English, already in control of northern France, were able to enforce the claim of their king in the regions of France that they occupied. Northern France, including Paris, was ruled by an English regent, Henry Vs brother, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
32.
Isabeau of Bavaria
–
Isabeau of Bavaria was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the eldest daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti of Milan. She became Queen of France when she married King Charles VI in 1385, at age 15 or 16, Isabeau was sent to France on approval to the young French king, the couple wed three days after their first meeting. Isabeau was honored in 1389 with a coronation ceremony and entry into Paris. In 1392 Charles suffered the first attack of what was to become a lifelong and progressive mental illness, the episodes occurred with increasing frequency, leaving a court both divided by political factions and steeped in social extravagances. A1393 masque for one of Isabeaus ladies-in-waiting—an event later known as Bal des Ardents—ended in disaster with the King almost burning to death, although the King demanded Isabeaus removal from his presence during his illness, he consistently allowed her to act on his behalf. In this way she became regent to the Dauphin of France, Charles illness created a power vacuum that eventually led to the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War between supporters of his brother, Louis of Orléans and the royal dukes of Burgundy. Isabeau shifted allegiances as she chose the most favorable paths for the heir to the throne, when she followed the Armagnacs, the Burgundians accused her of adultery with Louis of Orléans, when she sided with the Burgundians the Armagnacs removed her from Paris and she was imprisoned. In 1407 John the Fearless assassinated Orléans, sparking hostilities between the factions, the war ended soon after Isabeaus eldest son, Charles, had John the Fearless assassinated in 1419—an act that saw him disinherited. Isabeau attended the 1420 signing of the Treaty of Troyes, which decided that the English king should inherit the French crown after the death of her husband and she lived in English-occupied Paris until her death in 1435. Isabeau was popularly seen as a spendthrift and irresponsible philanderess, Isabeaus parents were Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti, whom he married for a 100,000 ducat dowry. She was most likely born in Munich where she was baptized as Elisabeth at the Church of Our Lady and she was great-granddaughter to the Wittelsbach Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV. At that period Bavaria counted amongst the most powerful German states, Isabeaus uncle, Duke Frederick of Bavaria-Landshut, suggested in 1383 that she be considered as a bride to King Charles VI of France. Charles, then 17, rode in the tourneys at the wedding and he was an attractive, physically fit young man, who enjoyed jousting and hunting and was excited to be married. Charles VIs uncle, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, thought the proposed marriage ideal to build an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire and against the English. Isabeaus father agreed reluctantly and sent her to France with his brother, her uncle, on the pretext of taking a pilgrimage to Amiens. According to the contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart, Isabeau was 13 or 14 when the match was proposed and about 16 at the time of the marriage in 1385, suggesting a birth date of around 1370. Before her presentation to Charles, Isabeau visited Hainaut for about a month, staying with her granduncle Duke Albert I, ruler of some of Bavaria-Straubing and Count of Holland. Alberts wife, Margaret of Brieg, replaced Isabeaus Bavarian style of dress, deemed unsuitable as French courtly attire and she learned quickly, suggestive of an intelligent and quick-witted character
33.
Magdalena of France
–
She was a daughter of Charles VII of France and Marie of Anjou. Magdalena was betrothed to Ladislaus the Posthumous however he died suddenly in Prague on 23 November 1457 while preparing for his marriage. It was rumored at the time that his opponents in Bohemia had poisoned him. She married Gaston, Prince of Viana, son and heir of Gaston IV, Count of Foix and Eleanor of Navarre and they had two children, Francis Phoebus, King of Navarre Catherine, queen regnant of Navarre, married in 1484 John of Albret. Her husband died in 1470, predeceasing his father, accordingly, Francis became the heir of Navarre in 1479 upon the death of his great-grandfather, John II of Aragon and Navarre, who left Navarre to the rightful heir, Magdalenas mother-in-law, Eleanor. During this regency, she was forced to battle her brother-in-law, John of Foix, magdalena was taken hostage by Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1494. She died in the year, her death provoked fresh conflict. With the death of Charles VIII of France, the descendants of Charles VI of France ceased to occupy the French throne. By the death of Anne of France, Magdalenas descent, along with that of her elder sister Yolande, Duchess of Savoy, became the last surviving legitimate descents from Charles VII of France. Her descendant and heir, Henry III of Navarre, would become King of France in 1589, returning the descent and heirs of Charles VI and Charles VII to the French throne
34.
Louis II of Naples
–
Louis II was King of Naples from 1389 until 1399 and Duke of Anjou from 1384 until 1417. He was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou, born in Toulouse, Louis II was the son of Louis I of Anjou, King of Naples, and Marie of Blois. He came into his Angevin inheritance, which included Provence, in 1384, with his rival Charles of Durazzo, of the senior Angevin line, most towns in Provence revolted after the death of his father. His mother then raised an army and they traveled from town to town, Louis was recognized as Count of Provence in 1387. He founded a university in Aix-en-Provence in 1409, in 1386, Charles of Durazzos son, the underage Ladislaus, was expelled from Naples soon after his father died. Louis II was crowned King of Naples by the Avignonese antipope Clement VII on 1 November 1389 and he was ousted in turn by his rival in 1399. In 1409, Louis liberated Rome from Ladislaus occupation, in 1410, as an ally of the antipope John XXIII he attacked Ladislaus, eventually Louis lost his Neapolitan support and had to retire. His claim to Naples passed to his son, Louis III and he married his first cousin once removed Yolande of Aragon in Arles in 1400, giving him a possibility of inheriting the throne of Aragon through her right. Her father, King John I of Aragon had died in 1396 and his son Louis was bethrothed to Catherine of Burgundy, a daughter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. However, after John instigated a mob attack on the Dauphin of France, he, the betrothal to Catherine was repudiated, which caused the enmity of the Duke of Burgundy. He was not present at the Battle of Agincourt, because he had a bladder infection, after the battle, he fled from Paris to join his wife and children at Angers. Louis II died at his chateau of Angers, the county town of Anjou, Louis and Yolande had five surviving children, Louis III of Anjou, titular King of Naples, Duke of Anjou. René of Anjou, King of Naples, Duke of Anjou, Charles of Le Maine, Count of Maine. Marie of Anjou, married 1422 at Bourges Charles VII of France, Yolande, married firstly Philip I, Duke of Brabant and secondly in 1431, Francis I, Duke of Brittany. The Good King, René of Anjou and Fifteenth Century Europe
35.
Marie of Anjou
–
Marie of Anjou was Queen of France as the spouse of King Charles VII from 1422 to 1461. She served as regent and presided over the council of several times during the absence of the king. Marie was the eldest daughter of Louis II of Anjou, titular King of Naples, titular King of Sicily, Marie was betrothed to her second cousin Charles, fifth son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, in 1413. The wedding took place in April 1422 at Bourges, the wedding made her Queen of France, but as far as it is known, she was never crowned. Her spouses victory in the Hundred Years War owed a great deal to the support he received from Maries family, notably from her mother Yolande of Aragon. Queen Marie presided over the Council of state several times in the absence of the king, during which she had power of attorney as regent and she made several pilgrimages, such as Puy with the king in 1424, and Mount St Michel by herself in 1447. Robert Blondel composed the allegorical Treatise of the Twelve Perils of Hell for queen Marie in 1455, in 1461, Charles VII died and was succeeded by their son Louis XI, making Marie queen dowager. She was granted the Chateau of Amboise and the income from Brabant by her son, during the winter of 1462-63, Marie of Anjou made a pilgrimage to St Jacques de Compostela. She died at the age of 59 on 29 November 1463 at the Cistercian Abbaye de Chateliers-en-Poitou on her return and she is buried in the basilica of Saint-Denis alongside her spouse. Marie was the mother of fourteen children
36.
Yolande of Aragon
–
She was a daughter of John I of Aragon and his wife Yolande of Bar. Yolande played a role in the struggles between France and England, influencing events such as the financing of Joan of Arcs army in 1429 that helped tip the balance in favour of the French. She was also known as Yolanda de Aragón and Violant dAragó, tradition holds that she commissioned the famous Rohan Hours. Yolande was born in Zaragoza, Aragon, on 11 August 1384, the eldest daughter of King John I of Aragon by his wife, Yolande of Bar. She had three brothers and two sisters, as well as five older half-siblings from her fathers first marriage to Martha of Armagnac, Yolande later played an important role in the politics of England, France, and Aragon during the first half of the 15th century. In 1389, Louis II was crowned King of Naples and his mother Marie of Blois opened negotiations for a marriage between her son and Yolande to prevent Aragon from obstructing his rule there. When Yolande was eleven, she signed a document to disavow any promises made by ambassadors about her marrying Louis II, in 1395, Richard II of England also opened negotiations for Yolandes hand. To prevent this marriage, Charles VI of France offered his own daughter Isabella to King Richard, after the death of Yolandes father, Marie of Blois convinced Yolandes uncle Martin I of Aragon to have Yolande wed Louis II. Yolande signed a protest, but was forced to retract it later, the couple married in Arles on December 2,1400. Despite Yolandes earlier objections and the illnesses of her husband. As the surviving daughter of King John I of Aragon, she claimed the throne of Aragon after the deaths of her elder sister Joanna, Countess of Foix, and her uncle, King Martin I. However, unclear though they were, the laws of succession for Aragon, the Anjou candidate for the throne of Aragon was Yolandes eldest son Louis III of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, whose claim was forfeited in the Pact of Caspe. Yolande and her sons regarded themselves as the heirs with the stronger claim, as a result of this additional inheritance, Yolande was called the Queen of Four Kingdoms - the four apparently Sicily, Jerusalem, Cyprus and Aragon. Another interpretation specifies Naples separate from Sicily, plus Jerusalem and Aragon, the number could be raised to seven if the two component kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon and Sardinia were included. However, the reality was that Yolande and her family controlled territories in the kingdoms only at short intervals. Their true realm was the Anjou fiefdoms across France, they held uncontestably the provinces of Provence and Anjou, Yolandes son René I of Anjou became ruler of Lorraine through his marriage to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. In the emerging second phase of the Hundred Years War, Yolande chose to support the French against the English, in the same year, Yolande met with Queen Isabeau of France to finalize a marriage contract between her daughter Marie and Isabeaus third surviving son Charles. After his two brothers died, she supported the claim of the Dauphin Charles who, relying upon Yolandes resources and help
37.
Integrated Authority File
–
The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
38.
Virtual International Authority File
–
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
