Kings and Queens of Navarre (1234-1610) Quiz

Answer: He composed music that is still played today

Theobald was first known as 'the Posthumous' because he was born after his father died. He would later get the nickname the 'Troubadour', because of his talent in music. He was also a renowned poet and dedicated a poem to Blanche, the Queen-regent of France, which created a lot of gossip. He was also a lawmaker and wrote a book about Navarrese traditions.

Answer: England

Her daughter was the famous Isabella, 'She-wolf' of France. She invaded England in 1327 after years of mistreatment by her husband Edward II, deposed him and ruled England for three years with her lover, Roger Mortimer.

Answer: Because it was suspected she was a bastard

Joan was born as a daughter to Louis X of France and Marguerite of Burgundy. Marguerite and her sister Blanche had affairs during their marriages with Louis and his youngest brother Charles. This scandal is known as the 'Affair of the Tower of Nesle'. Marguerite was rumored to have been killed on her husband's orders, so he could remarry. Joan was born two years before the affair and she was probably legitimate therefore. Still, it gave her two uncles a pretext to take over rule of Navarre after Louis died. She only got the throne after the last uncle died in 1328.

Salic Law did not apply in Navarre. Her uncles would never have cited this law for Navarre, since it would also invalidate their own claims through their mother.

Answer: He was accidentally set on fire and burned alive

When Charles got so ill that he could barely move, a doctor had him wrapped in linen and dipped in alcohol. One of his servants then tried to burn off a thread that still stuck out and set him on fire, which killed him. Charles was known as 'the Bad' because he kept changing his allegiance from the French King to the English King and back, during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453).

He also admitted to having murdered the Constable of France for being jealous of him and, to stir things up again, when the two warring parties made a treaty, he released many prisoners in Paris.

Answer: His son Charles

After Blanche died, he kept power in Navarre in his own hands, even though he only had a right to the throne through her. Many in Aragon supported their son Charles and they went to war. But Charles died in 1461 and was rumored to have been poisoned by his stepmother, Juana Enriquez.

John favored his daughter Eleanor as his successor and she governed Navarre for several years. When she did actually become Queen at his death in 1479, she ruled only a few weeks before dying as well. Ferdinand, his son by Juana, married Isabella of Castile, which united Aragon and Castile.

Answer: Ferdinand, King of Aragon

Though Catherine's uncle John fought her for nine years, she and her husband retained the crown. Later, his daughter Germaine of Foix became the second wife of Ferdinand of Aragon and Ferdinand attacked and annexed the southern part of Navarre. It has been part of Spain ever since.

Answer: Marguerite of Angoulême

Marguerite was the only sibling of Francis I of France, with whom she was very close. As a child, she had learned Latin and she was renowned as a diplomat and patron, but is most famous for her poetry, like the 'Heptameron'.

She had a moderating influence on Francis, advising tolerance when it came to the prosecution of Protestants. Though she urged reform in the Catholic Church, she was no Protestant herself.

Louise of Savoy was their mother, who acted as regent of France when Francis was captured at Pavia in 1526 by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Renee of France was the sister of Francis's first wife Claude and daughter of Louis XII.

Marie of Guise would become important a little later. She married the Scottish King James V and became the mother of Mary Stuart.

Answer: The Huguenots

Unlike her mother, Joan became a Protestant and made Calvinism the official religion in her country. Tensions ran high in France after Francis I and then his son Henry II died. A Catholic and Protestant party developed, while Catherine de Medici tried to play both groups against each other as she ruled for her young sons.

When the Protestants gained influence over the second of these sons, Charles IX, Catherine de Medici got worried. When Joan died in 1572 it was rumored Catherine had sent her poisoned gloves.

Answer: Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre

In 1572 Henry married Marguerite, the sister of Charles IX, to bring peace between the two parties. This worried the Catholics, especially since Protestants were still in favor with the king.

Charles IX was easily persuaded though and with his approval and Catherine's, Catholics began to kill the many thousands of Protestants who had come to Paris for the wedding. Henry only survived because he converted and became Catholic. After leaving Paris he claimed this was done under duress and he became openly protestant again.

Answer: His faith

In order to be accepted as king of the mostly Catholic kingdom of France, Henry decided to convert. Though Protestants saw him as a traitor because of this, he did issue the Edict of Nantes, which gave more freedom and security to them. He became a popular king, but was killed by a Catholic fanatic in 1610. The Edict of Nantes, which had given some peace to France, would be revoked by Louis XIV in 1685. Many Protestants then left France, which weakened the kingdom.

Henry's stormy first marriage to Marguerite was annulled and he did plan to marry his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées, to the shock of many. She died in childbirth before this could happen, though, and he married Maria de Medici instead. They became the ancestors of all the subsequent kings of the House of Bourbon.

Lower Navarre was not given up by Henry and became a part of France during his son Louis II's (Louis XIII of France's) rule in 1620.