Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/435

Rh He married Beatrice, heiress of Provence, after scattering his rivals by the aid of an army furnished by his brother, Louis IX. Soon after he accompanied the king on a crusade, during which he fought with braver} 7, but achieved no permanent success, and he was at last taken prisoner with his brother. During his absence most of the towns of Provence formed themselves into republics ; but on his return they were quickly subdued, and, among others, Marseilles lost the independence she had before enjoyed. Charles s power was now very considarable ; but his ambition was far from being satisfied. He therefore un scrupulously lent his arms to Margaret of Flanders, who offered him the province of Hainault in return for his assistance in setting aside her husband s children by a former wife in favour of her own ; but this scheme was crushed by Louis, who caused him to give up Hainault for a sum of money. Charles had now, besides, conceived a loftier ambition. He had been requested to assume the crown of the two Sicilies by Pope Urban IV., who desired to overthrow the bastard Manfred, the Ghibelline king; and in 1265 he was crowned at Rome. A crusade was preached against Manfred, who was defeated aad slain. The legitimate heir, Conradin, was also routed (1268), and being betrayed, was meanly tried and executed ; a similar fate befell a large number of Italian nobles ; many fiefs were confiscated to reward the French followers of the new king ; and the rule of the Prove^als was often arbitrary and brutal. Charles s ambition continued to widen. He now designed to make himself the head of the Eastern empire. With this end in view, he again accompanied his brother on a crusade ; but the accomplishment of his ultimate design was prevented by a terrible storm, and by the outbreak of the plague. He also incurred the enmity of the Pope, Nicholas III., by haughtily refusing to accept the hand of his niece for his own grandson. Nicholas joined the Ghibellines, and took from Charles, who offered no resistance, his titles of senator of Rome and vicar-general of Italy. But in 1280 Nicholas died, and Charles, by means of many intrigues, and after imprisoning two of the cardinals, effected the election of a Frenchman, Martin IV. In return, he was made senator of Rome, and his rival, the Emperor Michael Palaeobgus, was excommunicated. An other expedition was already fitted out against the East, when news was brought of the rebellion known as the Sicilian Vespers. Aroused by the rough rule of the French, the people were also stirred by the burning exhortations of John of Procida, a Calabrian doctor, formerly friend of Frederick and of Manfred, who had been travelling in disguise through Italy, Greece, and Spain, seeking assistance against the usurpation of Charles. On Easter Monday, 1282, he collected a large assembly of the Sicilian nobles at Palermo. An opportune pretext for a rising soon occurred. The viceroy had forbidden the bearing of arms ; and, on the pretext that weapons were concealed under her dress, a Frenchman insulted a girl of noble family on her very passage to the church where she was about to be married. He was killed on the spot, and every Frenchman in the city soon shared his fate. Some of the other Sicilian towns followed this example ; others expelled the French more mildly. Charles at once directed his fleet against Messina. He refused all offers of capitulation, and Messina held out till aid was brought it by Don Pedro of Aragon, and Charles s fleet was burned by the famous sailor, Roger de Loria. Charles, despairing of other means of success, now challenged Pedro to single combat. Pedro accepted the challenge, but Charles alone entered the lists. It is said that the former was dissatisfied with the arrangements, though others regard his acceptance as a mere ruse. Soon after Charles s son was defeated and taken prisoner, and in 1285 Charles himself fell ill, and died at Foggia.  CHARLES II. (1332-1387), king of Navarre and count of Evreux, was a grandson of Louis Hutin, and possessed a title to the French throne inferior to that of John II. only on account of the Salic law, and superior to that of Edward III. of England. Handsome, clever, eloquent, and bold, he yet thoroughly deserved the title of &quot; the Bad &quot; with which he mounted the throne in 1349, at the age of six teen. The commencement of his notorious career was the assassination of Le Cerda, the favourite of John, who had been appointed to the duchy of Angouleme, which the king had bought from Charles s mother, but of which the price was not yet paid. For this deed, which Charles openly avowed, declaring it to be a punishment richly deserved, John was at first unable to retaliate, being indeed obliged to make good his debts ; but not long after (1356) Charles was seized and thrown into prison. During the king s exile in England, Charles, aided by the States-General, obtained his release, and by his eloquence and the suavity of his man ners gained the hearts of the Parisians, who made him their captain-general. Suspecting him, however, of too great favour for the aristocracy, they deprived him of the office ; but he maintained his alliance with Stephen Marcel, and, at the head of companies of banditti he con tinued to lay waste the country till 1360, when he made peace with the king. This peace was not final, for Charles V. was resolved to crush him. He was accused of various unscrupulous plots, and extravagant stories were circulated against him, as, for example, that the king s weakness was due to poison administered by his contrivance. On the charge of being concerned in these intrigues, two of his ministers were executed, and his two sons were seized as hostages. The duke of Anjou was persuaded to attack Montpellier, the king of Castile to invade Navarre, and Duguesclin was sent to seize his fiefs in Normandy, and Charles was obliged to yield twenty places as security before he regained his territory. According to the popular story, he expired by a divine judgment, through the burning of the clothes steeped in sulphur and spirits in which he had been wrapped as a cure for a loathsome disease caused by his debauchery ; but the bishop who attended him affirms that he died placidly and in the odour of sanctity (1387). See Secousse, Histoire de Charles le Mauvais.  CHARLES IV. (U21-U61), king of Navarre, was the son of John of Aragon, and of Blanche, daughter and heiress of Charles III., king of Navarre. On her death the throne belonged to Charles, but his father retained it, and took as second wife the ambitious and unscrupulous Jeanne of Castile. Charles did not press his claim, but devoted himself to literature, until his step-mother roused him by repeated indignities. He succeeded in having himself crowned, but soon after was defeated and imprisoned (1652). Next year he was released ; the struggle recom menced, and he gained possession of a considerable part of Navarre. He was reconciled to his father, and recog nized as king of Barcelona ; but Jeanne caused him to be arrested and poisoned. He was a man of gentle disposition, and of considerable learning. He left a Spanish transla tion of the Ethics of Aristotle, a chronicle of the kings of Navarre, and several poems.  CHARLES, or (1771-1847), archduke of Austria, was the third son of the Emperor Leopold II. He commenced active service against the French at the age of twenty-two, and so distinguished himself that at twenty-five he was intrusted with the supreme command of the army of the Rhine. He defeated Jourdan at Teiningen, Amberg, and Wiirzburg, and Moreau at Rastadt ; and the year after (1797) he was honoured with the command against Napoleon in Italy. In a month, however, peace was concluded ; but the war soon re commenced, and in 1799 Charles defeated Jourdan once 