Legends -- Pyrenees; Pyrenees -- Description and travel; Pyrenees -- History
Charles the Noble, King of Navarre, died in 1425. Having lost his
only son, he bequeathed crown and kingdom to his daughter Blanche,
married to Juan of Aragon, brother of Alphonso, King of Aragon and the
Two Sicilies, and by reversion after her death to their son Charles,
Prince of Viana. Juan of Aragon acted as viceroy to his brother whilst
Alphonso was in Italy. On the death of Charles the Noble Juan and
Blanche assumed the titles of King and Queen of Navarre. Blanche died
in 1441, and by her will bequeathed the kingdom, in accordance with her
father’s desire, to her son Charles of Viana. But Juan had no thought
of surrendering the crown to his son. He married a young, handsome,
and ambitious woman, Juana Henriquez, daughter of the Admiral of
Castille, and she became the mother of Ferdinand, afterwards known as
“the Catholic.” Thenceforth she schemed to obtain all that could be
grasped for her own son Ferdinand.
Charles was an amiable, accomplished youth, fond of literature and
of the arts. Queen Blanche, in her will, had urged him not to assume
the government without the consent of his father; but when, in 1452,
the estates of Aragon recognized him as heir to the crown, and Juan
declined to resign, Charles openly raised the standard of revolt. Juan
marched against his son, and Charles was defeated, taken prisoner,
and consigned to a fortress. There he remained for a year, and would
have remained on indefinitely had not the Navarrese armed for his
deliverance. Juan was forced to yield, and as a compromise confirmed
Charles in the principality of Viana, and promised to abandon to him
half the royal revenues.
The reconciliation thus forcibly effected was not likely to last;
in fact, the compromise suited neither party. The father burned to
chastise sharply his rebellious son, and Charles chafed at being
defrauded of the crown which was his undoubted heritage. Hence in 1455
both prepared to renew the contest. The following year, 1456, the
prince was again defeated by his father, and was compelled to fly to
his uncle Alphonso, who was then at Naples. During his absence Juan
summoned the estates and declared that both Charles and his eldest
daughter Blanche were excluded from succession to the throne--Charles
on account of his rebellion, Blanche for having espoused his cause--and
Juan proclaimed his youngest daughter Leonora to be his heir. Blanche
had been married to, and then separated from, Henry the Impotent, King
of Castille. Leonora was married to the Count of Foix.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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