The Navarrese Civil War of 1451–1455 pitted

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

of the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state took ...

against his son and heir-apparent, Charles IV. When the war started, John II had been

King of Navarre This is a list of the kings and queens of kingdom of Pamplona, Pamplona, later kingdom of Navarre, Navarre. Pamplona was the primary name of the kingdom until its union with Kingdom of Aragon, Aragon (1076–1134). However, the territorial desig ...

since 1425 through his first wife,

Blanche I of Navarre Blanche I (6 July 1387Anthony (1931) states that she was the fourth-born daughter of King Charles III of Navarre by Queen Eleanor, and she was preceded by Joan, Maria and Margaret and the two latter died early. Anthony defines Blanche's exact birt ...

, who had married him in 1420. By the marriage pact of 1419, John and Blanche's eldest son was to succeed to Navarre on Blanche's death. When Blanche died in 1441, John retained the government of her lands and dispossessed his own eldest son, Charles (born 1421), who had already been made

Prince of Viana The Prince or Princess of Viana ( es, Príncipe de Viana, eu, Vianako Printzea) is one of the titles of the heir of the Crown of Spain. Other associated titles originate from the rest of the kingdoms that formed Spain: Prince of Asturias, Prin ...

by his grandfather

Charles III 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 h ...

in 1423. John tried to assuage his son with the lieutenancy of Navarre, but his son's French upbringing and French allies, the Beaumonteses, brought the two into conflict. John was supported by the Agramonteses. From 1451 to 1455, they were engaged in open warfare in Navarre.Bisson, 148. Charles was defeated at the Battle of Aybar in 1452, captured, and released; and John tried to disinherit him by illegally naming his daughter

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, who was married to

Gaston IV of Foix Gaston IV (27 November 1422 – 25 or 28 July 1472) 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, ...

, his successor. In 1451, John's new wife,

Juana Enríquez Juana Enriquez, 5th Lady of Casarrubios del Monte (1425 – 13 February 1468) was Queen of Aragon and de facto Queen of Navarre as the wife of King John II. Juana Enríquez was the Regent of Navarre during the absence of her husband in the Na ...

, gave birth to a son,

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

. In 1452, Charles fled his father first to France, where he vainly sought allies, and later to the court of his uncle, John's elder brother,

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the t ...

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 ...

.In 1459–60, the Sicilian parliament, citing precedent, asked for Charles as their

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

, but John refused them permission (Bisson, 148). Charles was popular in Spain and John was increasingly unpopular as he refused to recognise Charles as his "first born", probably planning to make Ferdinand his heir. The Navarrese Civil War presaged the

Catalan Civil War The Catalan Civil War, also called the Catalonian Civil War or the War against John II, was a civil war in the Principality of Catalonia, then part of the Crown of Aragon, between 1462 and 1472. The two factions, the royalists who supported John ...

of 1462–72, in which John's ill-treatment of Charles was a precipitating event.

Notes

Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Europe Civil wars of the Middle Ages Kingdom of Navarre 15th century in Spain 1450s in Europe 1450s conflicts Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe {{War-stub