Individual Details
Count Charles de Valois
(12 Mar 1270 - 16 Dec 1325)
Son of Philippe III 'le Hardi', king of France and Isabelle of Aragón, Charles was born on 12 March 1270 at Carenne. Fairly intelligent, inordinately ambitious and rather greedy, Charles collected principalities. He was count of Valois, Alençon and Chartres and, by his first marriage, count of Anjou and Maine. He was a son, brother, brother-in-law and son-in-law of kings or queens (of France, Navarre, England and Naples), as well, after his death, as father of a king.
However he dreamt and schemed all his life to gain a crown he was never to succeed in obtaining. In 1280 the pope recognised him as king of Aragón (under the pope's vassalage) as his mother's son, in competition with King Peter III 'the Great' of Aragón who, after conquering the island of Sicily, became an enemy of the papacy. On 16 August 1290 at Corbeil Charles married Marguerite of Anjou, Neapolitan daughter of Charles II, king of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem, who was supported by the pope. Charles and Marguerite had six children of whom two sons and two daughters would have progeny. Thanks to this crusade against Aragón, undertaken by his father against the wishes of Charles' brother, the future Philippe IV of France, he thought to gain a kingdom and only garnered the ridicule of being crowned with a cardinal's hat in 1285, which gave him the nickname 'the hat king'. He never dared to use the royal seal made for the occasion and had to give up the title.
His greatest quality was as an effective battle commander. He commanded in Flanders with distinction in 1297. King Philippe IV determined rather precipitously from this that his brother could lead a campaign in Italy.
Charles then contemplated the imperial crown, and on 8 February 1301 he married Catherine de Courtenay, granddaughter and heiress of the last Latin emperor of Constantinople, Baudouin II. He needed the complicity of the pope, which he obtained while going with an army to the aid of his former father-in-law Charles II of Anjou, king of Naples. Appointed pontifical vicar, he became lost in the imbroglio of Italian politics, was compromised in a massacre in Florence and in sordid financial dealings, gained Sicily where he consolidated his reputation as a plunderer, and returned to France discredited in 1301-1302. With Catherine he had four children of whom two daughters would have progeny.
Charles again began to covet a crown when the emperor-elect Albrecht von Habsburg died in 1308. His brother Philippe IV encouraged him in this, not himself wishing to risk failure and probably thinking that a man of straw on the imperial throne would be a good thing for France. The candidature fell through with the election of Heinrich VII. Charles continued to dream of the Eastern crown of the Courtenays.
In June 1308 Charles married Mahaut de Châtillon, daughter of Guy III de Châtillon, comte de St.Pol, and Marie de Bretagne. They had three daughters who would all have progeny. He did not profit from the affection that Philippe IV had felt for him, which led Philippe to give him responsibilities that largely exceeded his talents. It was Charles who in 1311 led the royal delegation to the conferences at Tournai with the Flemings; he clashed there with Enguerrand de Marigny, who patently eclipsed him. Charles did not forgive the affront and was the strongest opponent of Marigny after the death of the Philippe IV.
The untimely death of Philippe's son Louis X in 1316 gave Charles hope of a political role, but he could not prevent Louis' brother Philippe de France, Charles' nephew, from taking the regency while waiting to become King Philippe V. On Philippe's death in 1324 no one considered the count of Valois as his successor.
In 1324 he successfully commanded the army of his nephew Charles IV, Philippe V's successor, in Guyenne.
Charles de Valois died on 16 December 1325. Two of his sons survived him: the elder was Philippe, the future king of France under the name Philippe VI; the younger was Charles, count of Alençon.
Source: Leo van de Pas
However he dreamt and schemed all his life to gain a crown he was never to succeed in obtaining. In 1280 the pope recognised him as king of Aragón (under the pope's vassalage) as his mother's son, in competition with King Peter III 'the Great' of Aragón who, after conquering the island of Sicily, became an enemy of the papacy. On 16 August 1290 at Corbeil Charles married Marguerite of Anjou, Neapolitan daughter of Charles II, king of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem, who was supported by the pope. Charles and Marguerite had six children of whom two sons and two daughters would have progeny. Thanks to this crusade against Aragón, undertaken by his father against the wishes of Charles' brother, the future Philippe IV of France, he thought to gain a kingdom and only garnered the ridicule of being crowned with a cardinal's hat in 1285, which gave him the nickname 'the hat king'. He never dared to use the royal seal made for the occasion and had to give up the title.
His greatest quality was as an effective battle commander. He commanded in Flanders with distinction in 1297. King Philippe IV determined rather precipitously from this that his brother could lead a campaign in Italy.
Charles then contemplated the imperial crown, and on 8 February 1301 he married Catherine de Courtenay, granddaughter and heiress of the last Latin emperor of Constantinople, Baudouin II. He needed the complicity of the pope, which he obtained while going with an army to the aid of his former father-in-law Charles II of Anjou, king of Naples. Appointed pontifical vicar, he became lost in the imbroglio of Italian politics, was compromised in a massacre in Florence and in sordid financial dealings, gained Sicily where he consolidated his reputation as a plunderer, and returned to France discredited in 1301-1302. With Catherine he had four children of whom two daughters would have progeny.
Charles again began to covet a crown when the emperor-elect Albrecht von Habsburg died in 1308. His brother Philippe IV encouraged him in this, not himself wishing to risk failure and probably thinking that a man of straw on the imperial throne would be a good thing for France. The candidature fell through with the election of Heinrich VII. Charles continued to dream of the Eastern crown of the Courtenays.
In June 1308 Charles married Mahaut de Châtillon, daughter of Guy III de Châtillon, comte de St.Pol, and Marie de Bretagne. They had three daughters who would all have progeny. He did not profit from the affection that Philippe IV had felt for him, which led Philippe to give him responsibilities that largely exceeded his talents. It was Charles who in 1311 led the royal delegation to the conferences at Tournai with the Flemings; he clashed there with Enguerrand de Marigny, who patently eclipsed him. Charles did not forgive the affront and was the strongest opponent of Marigny after the death of the Philippe IV.
The untimely death of Philippe's son Louis X in 1316 gave Charles hope of a political role, but he could not prevent Louis' brother Philippe de France, Charles' nephew, from taking the regency while waiting to become King Philippe V. On Philippe's death in 1324 no one considered the count of Valois as his successor.
In 1324 he successfully commanded the army of his nephew Charles IV, Philippe V's successor, in Guyenne.
Charles de Valois died on 16 December 1325. Two of his sons survived him: the elder was Philippe, the future king of France under the name Philippe VI; the younger was Charles, count of Alençon.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | 12 Mar 1270 | Carenne | |||
| Marriage | 16 Aug 1290 | Corbeil - Marguerite d'Anjou | |||
| Death | 16 Dec 1325 | Le Perray, nr Rambouillet |
Families
| Spouse | Marguerite d'Anjou ( - 1299) |
| Child | Philippe VI King of France (1293 - 1350) |
| Child | Marguerite de Valois (1295 - 1342) |
| Father | Philippe III "le Hardi" King of France (1245 - 1285) |
| Mother | Isabelle of Aragón (1248 - 1271) |