Charles, Prince of Viana ( eu, Karlos IV.a) (29 May 1421 – 23 September 1461), sometimes called Charles IV of Navarre, was the son of King
John II of Aragon
John II ( Spanish: ''Juan II'', Catalan: ''Joan II'', Aragonese: ''Chuan II'' and eu, Joanes II; 29 June 1398 – 20 January 1479), called the Great (''el Gran'') or the Faithless (''el Sense Fe''), was King of Aragon from 1458 until his death ...
and Queen
Blanche I of Navarre.
[
]
Background
His mother was the daughter and heiress of Charles III, King of Navarre
Charles III (1361 – 8 September 1425), called the Noble, was King of Navarre from 1387 to his death and Count of Évreux from 1387 to 1404, when he exchanged it for the title Duke of Nemours. He spent his reign improving the infrastructure of ...
. Both his grandfather Charles and his mother, who ruled over Navarre from 1425 to 1441, had bequeathed this kingdom to Charles, whose right had also been recognized by the Cortes; but when Blanche died in 1441 her husband John seized the kingdom to the exclusion of his son.[
]
Marriage
The Prince of Viana was married in Olite (Navarre) on 30 September 1439, taking as his wife Agnes of Cleves
Agnes of Cleves (1422–1448) was a daughter of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and his second wife Mary of Valois, daughter of John the Fearless duke of Burgundy.Lacarra, José María (1973). Historia política del Reino de Navarra. Desde sus orígen ...
(1422–1446), the daughter of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and Mary of Burgundy; sister of Philip III "the Good", Duke of Burgundy. Agnes died, childless, on 6 April 1448, eight years after her marriage to Charles, aged only about twenty-six. After her death, the prince took a mistress, Brianda de Vaca, and by her had an illegitimate son, born about 1449. He wished to remarry, and a possibility which was canvassed was a match with Isabella of Scotland
Isabella Stewart (autumn of 1426 – 13 October 1494/5 March 1499), was a Scottish princess who became Duchess of Brittany by marriage to Francis I of Brittany. Also known as Isabel, she was the second daughter of James I of Scotland and ...
(1426–1494), the widow of Francis I, Duke of Brittany
Francis I (in Breton Fransez I, in French François I) (11 May 1414 – 17 July 1450), was Duke of Brittany, Count of Montfort and titular Earl of Richmond, from 29 August 1442 to his death. He was born in Vannes, the son of John V, Duke of ...
, after he died on 18 July 1450, but this was opposed by Charles VII of France. A match was then agreed between Charles and the Infanta Catherine of Portugal
The Infanta Catarina (1436–1463); (; ) was a Portuguese ''infanta'' (princess), daughter of King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon.
Life
Catherine was born in Lisbon on 26 November 1436. Like her sisters Joan and Eleanor s ...
(1436–1463), daughter of King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Edward I, but the marriage was delayed and had not taken place when Charles died in 1461. Charles left three illegitimate children by three different mistresses:
#Anna, Countess of Medinaceli
# Philip, Archbishop of Palermo
# John, Bishop of Huesca
Clashes with his father
The ill feeling between father and son was increased when in 1447 John took for his second wife Juana Enriquez
Juana is a Spanish female first name. It is the feminine form of Juan (English John), and thus corresponds to the English names Jane, Janet, Jean, Joan, and Joanna. Juanita is a common variant. The name Juana may refer to:
People
* Juana I ( ...
, a Castilian noblewoman (of a bastard cadet line from Castilian kings), who soon bore him a son, afterwards Ferdinand II of Aragon, and who regarded her stepson as an interloper. When Joanna began to interfere in the internal affairs of Navarre, a civil war broke out, and in 1452 Charles, although aided by King John II of Castile
John II of Castile ( es, link=no, Juan; 6 March 1405 – 20 July 1454) was King of Castile and León from 1406 to 1454. He succeeded his older sister, Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, as Prince of Asturias in 1405.
Regency
John was the ...
, was defeated and taken prisoner. Released upon promising not to take the kingly title until after his father's death, the prince, again unsuccessful in an appeal to arms, took refuge in Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
with King Alfonso V of Aragon. In 1458 Alfonso died and John became king of Aragon, while Charles was offered the crowns of Naples and Sicily. He declined these proposals, and having been reconciled with his father returned to Navarre in 1459. Aspiring to marry Isabella of Castile
Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 b ...
, he was then thrown into prison by his father, and the Catalans rose in his favor. This insurrection soon became general and John was obliged to yield. He released his son, and recognized him as perpetual governor of Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
, and heir to the kingdom.[
]
Death and legacy
Soon afterwards, however, on 23 September 1461, the prince died at Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, not without a suspicion that he had been poisoned by his stepmother,[ Joanna Enriquez.
Charles was a cultured and amiable prince, fond of music and literature. He translated Aristotle's ''Ethics'' into Aragonese, a work first published at ]Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
in 1509, and wrote a chronicle of the kings of Navarre, ''Cronica de los reyes de Navarra.''
Ancestry
References
External links
"El príncipe don Carlos de Viana"
by José Moreno Carbonero at ArteHistoria
The Prince Carlos of Viana in Medieval History of Navarre
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Viana, Charles, Prince of
1421 births
1461 deaths
15th-century Navarrese monarchs
Charles
Navarrese monarchs
Princes of Viana
Dukes of Montblanc
Dukes of Gandía
Navarrese infantes
Aragonese infantes
Heirs apparent who never acceded
Burials at the Poblet Monastery
Sons of kings