John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne
Encyclopedia
John of Foix was a younger son of Gaston IV of Foix and Queen Eleanor of Navarre
. His elder brother was Gaston, Prince of Viana.
and Louis XII of France
. He married Marie of Orléans
, sister of Louis XII, in 1476. They had two children:
Following the death of his nephew, Francis I of Navarre
in 1483, John claimed Navarre as the next male in the succession, challenging Francis' sister and heiress, Catherine I of Navarre. Although the Salic law
had never been enforced in the Kingdom of Navarre
, the result of this claim was a civil war in Navarre, which only ended in Catherine's favour in 1497, with John being forced to give up his claim. He died three years later.
Eleanor of Navarre
Eleanor of Aragon , Regent and the queen regnant of Navarre in 1479...
. His elder brother was Gaston, Prince of Viana.
Life
He received the Viscounty of Narbonne from his father. He was on good terms with both Louis XI of FranceLouis XI of France
Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....
and Louis XII of France
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
. He married Marie of Orléans
Marie of Orléans (1457-1493)
Marie of Orléans was the elder sister of King Louis XII of France. Due to her marriage to John of Foix, she was Countess of Étampes and Viscountess of Narbonne....
, sister of Louis XII, in 1476. They had two children:
- Germaine de Foix (1488–1538), who married Ferdinand II of AragonFerdinand II of AragonFerdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
, and whose relationship to the Navarrese throne was used as an excuse by Ferdinand to claim the throne of Navarre. - Gaston de Foix (1489–1512), who served as a general for his uncle Louis XII, dying at the Battle of RavennaBattle of Ravenna (1512)The Battle of Ravenna, fought on 11 April 1512, by forces of the Holy League and France, was a major battle of the War of the League of Cambrai in the Italian Wars...
in Italy.
Following the death of his nephew, Francis I of Navarre
Francis I of Navarre
Francis Phoebus of Foix was king of Navarre and count of Foix . He was the son of Gaston de Foix, Prince of Viana, and grandson of Eleanor of Navarre, whom he succeeded.During his brief reign, he was the charge of his mother, the regent, Magdalena of Valois...
in 1483, John claimed Navarre as the next male in the succession, challenging Francis' sister and heiress, Catherine I of Navarre. Although the Salic law
Salic law
Salic law was a body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
had never been enforced in the Kingdom of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
, the result of this claim was a civil war in Navarre, which only ended in Catherine's favour in 1497, with John being forced to give up his claim. He died three years later.