Civil War in Navarre

Queen Blanca I was married twice - to Martin I of Sicily , and then to Juan II of Aragon (from 1419). In 1425 , when Blanca and Juan ascended to the throne, Infant Charles (born in 1421) received the title of Prince of Vian as heir to the throne of Navarre.

Juan II, brother of King Alfonso V of Aragon , was in conflict with the Castilian faction at the Navarre court, which was supported by King Juan II of Castile . In turn, Juan of Aragon tried to intrigue at the Castilian court. Queen Blanca I tried to stay away from these intrigues, defending the way of life formed by her father Charles III.

When Queen Blanca died in 1441 , the throne remained in the hands of Juan II of Aragon, who almost did not appear in Navarre, and his son Karl Viansky, who in the position of lieutenant actually exercised royal power, as was provided for in his mother's will. In her will, Blanca also asked her son to respect the dignity and honor of his father and not to accept the crown without his consent. But for this, harmony was necessary between father and son, which was not.

In Navarre, there were two opposing factions of the nobility: Agramonts, who rose in the beginning of the XII century under Sancho VII the Strong, and Beaumont, favorites of Charles III. The age-old rivalry between two influential clans, full of intrigue, eventually led to open war.

The stay of Juan II of Aragon outside Navarre made it possible to avoid conflicts between him and Karl Viansky, who settled in Olit , in the palace of his grandfather Charles III, and surrounded himself with representatives of the Bomonov family. At this time, Juan II of Aragon tried to achieve the crown of Castile. To this end, he married for the second time Juan Enriquez in 1444, thereby achieving a relationship with the most powerful family of Castile. The Castilian nobles also became interested in the possibility of joining Navarre and promised Juan support in fighting the son. When in 1451, the forces of Juan II invaded Navarre, occupying Buradon and settling in the immediate vicinity of Puente la Reina, Karl Viansky was able to rally his supporters in the person of Beaumont and a civil war began ^[1] .

The conflict was not so much an armed struggle, as a set of expeditions, clashes and mutual sabotage.

In the fall of 1451, Karl Viansky and his captain Luis de Beaumont were captured in the battle of Eibar. Karl was imprisoned and spent nearly two years in the fortresses of Tafalla, Tudela, Mullen, Monroy and Zaragoza. Meanwhile, the situation in Navarre was heating up. The Cortes , the governing bodies and the administration split into two parts. Most of the Navarreans supported Karl Viansky, with the exception of the cities of Ribera-Navarre, which Juan II passed on to his allies, and the cities of Estella, Sangues and Tudela .

In 1455 , faced with a stalemate, Juan II decided to strengthen his position and gave his daughter Eleanor to Barcelona for Count Gaston IV de Foy , inviting him to become the heir to the throne of Navarre. Gaston IV de Foy was able to achieve loyalty to Pamplona and other rebel strongholds and, as soon as he received the consent of the King of France, he occupied Lower Navarre and met with Infante Eleanor in Sangues. In alliance with Gaston, Juan II deprived his son Carl Vian of his inheritance. However, another contender for the Navarre throne was the sister of Charles and also the daughter of Juan II and Blanca I, Blanca II , the wife of the Castilian king Enrique IV . In defense of his rights and the rights of his sister, Karl Viansky went to Naples to request the arbitration of his uncle Alphonse V. But the negotiations did not take place, because Alphons died in 1458 , and Aragon also came under the authority of Juan II ^[1] .

In 1460, Enrique IV undertook an expedition to Navarre in support of his wife’s dynastic rights. After nine months of struggle, Juan II was able to return the land occupied by the Castilians and distributed them to his supporters ^[2] .

In 1460 in Barcelona an agreement was reached on peace. The Bomonas retained their privileges in Navarre, but new differences emerged, which led to the re-arrest of Karl Viansky and his imprisonment in Lleida. In response, his supporters launched a new uprising against Juan II. In 1461, Karl was released thanks to the efforts of his supporters among Castilian nobles, but after 16 days he died ^[2] , probably from tuberculosis , although rumors circulated about his poisoning with Juan II or his stepmother Juana Enriquez ^[3] . These rumors caused a large-scale uprising in Catalonia.

Meanwhile, Blanca II, the sister of Karl and Eleanor, was imprisoned by her father in Olite. On April 23, 1462, Gaston de Foix and Eleanor decided to transport the prisoner to Bearn . Blanca, fearing to be poisoned, made a will in which she transferred her rights to the Navarre throne to Enrique IV of Castile, and not her sister Eleonora. In November 1464, Blanca was present with her father at a meeting of the Navarre Cortes, but ten days later, on December 2, 1464 , she died in Orthez , rumored to be poisoned by her sister Eleanor ^[2] .

In 1464, a general truce was reached, and Juan II reconciled with the Bomons.

In September 1468, Juan II wrote a letter to his daughter Eleonora de Foy, who managed Navarre as a lieutenant, in which he reminded her that she could not act without his permission. Nicolas de Echabarri, the Bishop of Pamplona, ​​convened the Cortes to respond to Juan II, considering his threats ^[2] . Soon after, the bishop was killed. Eleanor and Gaston de Foix rebelled against Juan II and Juana Enriquez. This time the Agramonts sided with Eleanor, and the Beaumons supported Juan II. Juana Enriquez openly demanded the annexation of Navarre to Castile and Aragon, united under the hand of her son Ferdinand II , who married Isabella of Castile in 1469 .

Juana Enriquez met with Eleanor de Foix in Ehea on June 20, 1467 . At the meeting, an agreement was reached that Eleanor retains the crown of Navarre, but refuses claims to Aragon. Eleanor was able to get her father to sign in Olita on May 30, 1471, the rejection of claims against Navarre, but in various official documents Juan II continued to confirm the rights of her son Ferdinand to Navarre.

In 1474 , after the death of Enrique IV , Ferdinand and Isabella were recognized as the king and queen of Castile. At the same time, Ferdinand did not renounce claims to Navarre. On May 6, 1476, three years before the death of his father, Ferdinand was officially called “the grace of God the King of Navarre, Castile, Leon, Portugal, Sicily and the firstborn son of Aragon”, which challenged his father and sister Eleonora.

A few months later, on October 2 , Ferdinand II secured an agreement with Juan II, Luis Beaumont and Pierre de Peralta (the leader of Agramont) on a truce for eight months and negotiating a final peace. As a guarantee of negotiations, Ferdinand occupied Pamplona and a number of other cities, placing his soldiers there. Bomonah also strengthened their position. Complaints Eleanor father to the actions of Ferdinand did not lead to anything. Two years later, Ferdinand managed to get the fortress of Estella.

Eight days after the death of Juan II, on February 20, 1479, it was announced that the crown of Navarre was transferred to Eleanor de Foix, but she had already died 15 days later. Her heir, Eleanor, proclaimed the minor grandson Francisco de Foix , recommending that he take a vassal oath to the French king. Regency was taken over by mother Francisco Madeleine . Ferdinand II tried to prevent the transfer of Navarre into the hands of the French by marriage between Catherine de Foix , sister of Francisco, and his son Juan , but failed. Francisco I de Foy’s premature death from poison in 1483 made Catherine the Queen of Navarre, the next year she was extradited to Jean III de Albre .

• Ramírez Vaquero, Eloísa (1993). “Carlos III. Nobleza y Monarquía ". Historia Ilustrada de Navarra. Pamplona: Diario de Navarra. ISBN 84-604-7413-5 .
• Ramírez Vaquero, Eloísa (1990). “Juan II, Leonor y Gastón de Foix, Francisco Febo”. Reyes de Navarra, tomo XVII (Pamplona: Editorial Mintzoa). ISBN 84-85891-45-7 (tomo) ISBN 84-85891-24-4 .
• Serrano Izko, Bixente (2006). Navarra. Las tramas de la historia. Pamplona: Euskara Kultur Elkargoa. ISBN 84-932845-9-9 .
• Esarte, Pedro (2001). Navarra, 1512-1530. Pamplona: Pamiela. ISBN 84-7681-340-6 .
• Lacarra, José María (1975). Historia del Reino de Navarra en la Edad Media. Pamplona: Caja de Ahorros de Navarra. ISBN 84-500-7465-7 .