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 i6o THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. age. Two months after these nuptials, Donna Joanna died, on the 6th of October, 1346, at Conflans, and was buried at St. Denis. Her son Charles then became King of Navarre. This prince is styled by the Spanish writers, Don Carlos, "the Wicked," and by others, Charles d'Albret. He was eighteen years of age when he ascended the throne. He had been educated in the French court, and was one of the most accomplished persons of his time. He is described as courteous, eloquent in the ex- treme, and popular without losing his dignity ; indeed such were his great qualities that they attracted the notice of all Europe, before he became a king, but his subsequent shameful abuse of power drew upon him the detestation of mankind. His subjects had been led to anticipate a glorious reign, but they found themselves cruelly disappointed, for his first acts were of such severity as to alarm their minds for the future. This prince also formed a close intimacy with Don Pedro, called "the Cruel," on whom the crown of Castile had just de- volved. There was little inequality in the ages of these two princes, and their tempers assimilated. When they first met at Burgos they were both young, gay and unstained in character, and having splendid courts, the interview, which was most magnificent, gave mutual satisfaction. Don Carlos laid claim to the countries of Brie and Cham- pagne, and even made pretensions to Burgundy. John, King of France, who had succeeded his father, Philip, on the throne, in order to appease the King of Navarre, bestowed upon him his second daughter, Joanna, in marriage, which, although ac- ceptable to the Navarrese monarch, did not deter him from set- ting up new demands so soon as his nuptials were celebrated with the French princess. Of this lady, the mother of queen Joanna of Navarre, little notice occurs in history. Yet her life must have been both eventful and unhappy as the consort of such a prince as Charles, who became notorious for his crimes and unprincipled conduct, and whose life might be called a continual agitation to himself and others. The eldest son of Joanna was born at Nantes, and left for his education with Blanche, the queen dowager of France, when his parents returned to Spain in 1359. In the year 1365, Don Carlos sent his Queen Joanna into France to negotiate a peace with her brother, King Charles the