Charles of Valois (12 March 1270 – 16 December 1325) was the
fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. He was a member of
the House of Capet and founded the House of Valois. In 1284, he was created
Count of Valois (as Charles I) by his father and, in 1290, received the title
of Count of Anjou from his marriage to Margaret of Anjou.
Moderately intelligent, disproportionately ambitious and
quite greedy, Charles of Valois collected principalities. He had as appanage
the counties of Valois, Alençon and Perche (1285). He became in 1290 count of
Anjou and of Maine by his marriage with Margaret, eldest daughter of Charles
II, titular king of Sicily; by a second marriage, contracted with the heiress
of Baldwin II de Courtenay, last Latin emperor of Constantinople, he also had
pretensions on this throne. But he was son, brother, brother-in-law,
son-in-law, and uncle of kings or of queens (of France, of Navarre, of England,
and of Naples), becoming, moreover, after his death, father of a king (Philip
VI).
He thus dreamed of more and sought all his life for a crown
he never obtained. In 1285 the pope recognized him as King of Aragon (under the
vassalage of the Holy See), as son of his mother, in opposition to King Peter
III, who after the conquest of the island of Sicily was an enemy of the papacy.
Charles then married Marguerite of Sicily, daughter of the Neapolitan king, in
order to re-enforce his position in Sicily, supported by the Pope. Thanks to
this Aragonese Crusade undertaken by his father Philip III against the advice
of his brother, the future Philip the Fair, he believed he would win a kingdom
and won nothing but the ridicule of having been crowned with a cardinal's hat
in 1285, which gave him the sobriquet of the "King of the Cap." He
would never dare to use the royal seal which was made on this occasion and would
have to renounce the title.
His principal quality was to be a good military leader. He
commanded effectively in Flanders in 1297. The king quickly deduced that his
brother could conduct an expedition in Italy against Frederick II of Sicily.
The affair was ended by the peace of Caltabellotta.
Charles dreamed at the same time of the imperial crown and
married in 1301 Catherine de Courtenay, who was a titular empress. But it
needed the connivance of the Pope, which he obtained by his expedition to
Italy, where he supported Charles II of Anjou against Frederick II of Sicily,
his cousin. Named papal vicar, he lost himself in the imbroglio of Italian
politics, was compromised in a massacre at Florence and in sordid financial
exigencies, reached Sicily where he consolidated his reputation as a looter and
finally returned to France discredited in 1301-1302.
Charles was back in shape to seek a new crown when the
German king Albert of Habsburg was murdered in 1308. Charles's brother, who did
not wish to take the risk himself of a check and probably thought that a French
puppet on the imperial throne would be a good thing for France, encouraged him.
The candidacy was defeated with the election of Henry VII as German king.
Charles continued to dream of the eastern crown of the Courtenays.
He did benefit from the affection which Philip the Fair, who
had suffered from the remarriage of their father, brought to his only full
brother, and he found himself given responsibilities which largely exceeded his
talent. Thus it was he who directed in 1311 the royal embassy to the
conferences of Tournai with the Flemish; he quarreled there with his brother's
chamberlain Enguerrand de Marigny, who openly flouted him. Charles did not
pardon the affront and would continue the vendetta against Marigny after the
king's death.
He was doggedly opposed to the torture of Jacques de Molay,
grand master of the Templars, in 1314.
The premature death of Louis X in 1316 gave Charles hopes
for a political role, but he could not prevent his nephew Philip, from taking
the regency while awaiting the birth of Louis X's posthumous son. When that son
(John I of France) died after a few days, Philip took the throne as Philip V.
In 1324, he commanded with success the army of his nephew
Charles IV (who succeeded Philip V in 1322) to take Guyenne and Flanders from
King Edward II of England.[3] He contributed, by the capture of several cities,
to accelerate the peace, which was concluded between the king of France and his
niece, Isabella, queen-consort of England.
The Count of Valois died 16 December 1325 at Nogent-le-Roi,
leaving a son who would take the throne of France under the name of Philip VI
and commence the branch of the Valois: a posthumous revenge for the man of whom
it was said, "Son of a king, brother of a king, uncle of three kings,
father of a king, but never king himself." Charles was buried in the
now-demolished church of the Couvent des Jacobins in Paris - his effigy is now
in the Basilica of St Denis.
Charles was married three times.
His first marriage, in 1290, was to Margaret, Countess of
Anjou, (1274–1299), daughter of King Charles II of Naples. They had the
following children:
Ã
Isabelle (1292–1309). Married John III, Duke of
Brittany.
Ã
Philip VI, first King of the Valois Dynasty.
Ã
Joan of Valois (1294–1342). Married William I,
Count of Hainaut, and had issue.
Ã
Margaret of Valois (1295–1342). Married Guy I of
Blois-Châtillon, Count of Blois, and had issue.
Ã
Charles II, Count of Alençon (1297 – 26 August
1346 at the Battle of Crécy). Married first Jeanne de Joigny and second Marie
de la Cerda and had issue from the second marriage.
Ã
Catherine of Valois (b. 1299, died young).
In 1302 he remarried to Catherine I of Courtenay
(1274–1307), titular Empress of Constantinople.They had four children:
Ã
John, Count of Chartres (1302–1308).
Ã
Catherine II of Valois, Princess of Achaea,
titular Empress of Constantinople (1303–1346). She married Philip I d'Anjou,
Prince of Taranto, and had issue.
Ã
Joan of Valois (1304–1363). Married Count Robert
III of Artois and had issue.
Ã
Elisabeth of Valois (1305–11 November 1349),
Abbess of Fontevrault.
Finally, in 1308, he married Mahaut of Châtillon
(1293–1358), daughter of Guy III of Châtillon, Count of Saint Pol. They had
also four children:
Ã
Louis, Count of Chartres (1309–1328)
Ã
Marie of Valois (1309–1332). Married Charles,
Duke of Calabria, and had issue.
Ã
Isabella of Valois (1313 – 26 July 1383). She
married Peter I, Duke of Bourbon.
Ã
Blanche of Valois (1317–1348). She married
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Sometimes called "Marguerite".
Charles de Valois was also known to have one natural child
by an unknown mother. This child was placed in a nunnery, and yet was also
treated as a legitimate heir to estates, being granted title to lands in Avignon
upon her majority:
Ã
Theresa of Avignon, Countess of Avignon
(1335–1387)
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles,_Count_of_Valois
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