Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/494

LEFT CHAHLES I. 430 CHARLES II. Theresa, Queen of Hungary. He died in 1745. CHARLES I. (IV. IN HUNGARY) former Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary; born Aug. 17, 1887. He was grandson of the Archduke Karl Ludwig, and son of the Archduke Otto Franz Josef. On the death of his great-uncle, Franz Josef I., he succeeded to the throne, Nov. 21, 1916. He was of an amiable disposition, but lacked the quali- ties of a great ruler. His heart was never in the war, and there is little doubt that he would have liked to with- draw from it at any time after his acces- sion. His wife was Empress Zita, a princess of Bourbon and Parma, whose sympathies were naturally with Italy, and it was largely to her influence that the lukewarmness of Charles was attrib- uted. A great sensation was created in 1917 by the publication of the "Dear Sixtus" letter, which had been sent by Charles in his own handwriting to his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Bour- bon, in which the emperor referred to "France's just claims to Alsace-Lor- raine." Attempts were made to show that the letter was a forgery, but the evidence was irrefutable, and Charles finally admitted that he was the author. Great tension was created between the courts of Berlin and Vienna by the inci- dent, and Charles was compelled to atone for his indiscretion by writing another letter to the German emperor, in which he reiterated his firm adherence to the military plans of Germany. The rela- tives of Empress Zita were banished from Vienna and the Austrian armies were placed more fully than before un- der German leadership. Immediately after the collapse of the Central Powers and the signing of the armistice, Charles abdicated, and removed with his family to the stronghold of Eckhartsau. Their safety being menaced there, the royal family fled to Switzerland. CHARLES LOUIS, (Archduke of Austria), third son of the Emperor Leo- pold II., and one of the first generals of his time, born in 1771. Appointed to an important military command, in 1796, he defeated the French generals Jourdan and Moreau, and in 1799 again defeated Jourdan in Suabia, and Marshal Massena at Zurich, and again, in 1805, at Caldiero. In 1809 he defeated the French under Napoleon at the bloody battle of Aspern and Esslingen (March 21-22), but was himself defeated at the decisive battle of Wagram (July 5-6). He died in 1847. CHARLES I. (D'ANJOU). King of Naples, the son of Louis VIII. of France, waged war on King Manfred of Sicily, and having defeated him, seized on the Neapolitan crown in 1266. His cruelty and exacting rule raised such a spirit of anarchy, and induced such a detestation of the French name, that the Sicilians, headed by John de Procida, rose in arms on the eve before Easter-day, 1282, and slaughtered all the French in the town and neighborhood of Palermo, the signal for rising being the tolling of the vespei-- bell ; this tragedy is hence recorded in history as the "Sicilian Vespers." By this act the French were entirely ex- pelled from the island, and Sicily lost to Charles I.'s crown. Charles died in 1285. CHARLES I., King of Rumania; bom in 1839; was the second son of Prince Charles Anthony of Hohenzollem-Sigma- ringen. He was elected Prince of Ru- mania on April 20, 1866, and reigned as prince until 1881, and as king until his death, Oct. 10, 1914. His reign was char- acterized by wisdom and prudence, and signalized the entrance of Rumania as an important state in the family of na- tions. He introduced railways, estab- lished the national finances on a sound basis, and was foremost in every plan of commercial and national development. He showed himself a brilliant military leader at the siege of Plevna, in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878. In No- vember, 1869, he married Princess Eliza- beth of Wied, who under the pen-name of "Carmen Sylva" (q. v.) showed herself possessed of marked poetic gifts. At the opening of the World War he kept his kingdom neutral, though by birth and tradition his natural sympathies were with the Hohenzollerns. He was suc- ceeded by his nephew Ferdinand, Oct. 11, 1914. CHARLES ALBERT, born in 1798, ascended the throne of Sardinia in 1831. Till 1848 he had devoted himself to the internal economy of his kingdom and welfare of his subjects, but in that year of revolution he at once declared for lib- eral principles, and heading the Italian movement, led his army into Lombardy to support the Venetians, Lombards, Modenese, and other states who had thrown off the Austrian tyranny. At first he was successful in several encoun- ters, but suffering a signal defeat at the hands of Marshal Radetzky, his power rapidly declined, the battle of Novara de- ciding* his political influence, and, after about a year of further hostilities, he abdicated in favor of his son, Victor Emanuel, and retiring to Portugal, died there in 1849, CHARLES II., King of Spain, suc- ceeded his father, Philip IV., in 1665. In this reign, Spain, which for nearly three