Editing Charles IV of France (section)

==Foreign policy==
===Charles and England===
Charles inherited a long-running period of tension between England and France. Edward II, King of England, as Duke of [[Aquitaine]], owed homage to the King of France,<ref name="Holmes">Holmes, p.16.</ref> but he had successfully avoided paying homage under Charles's older brother Louis X, and had only paid homage to Philip V under great pressure. Once Charles took up the throne, Edward attempted to avoid payment again.<ref name="Holmes" /> One of the elements in the disputes was the border province of [[Agenais]], part of [[Gascony]] and in turn part of Aquitaine. Tensions rose in November 1323 after the construction of a [[bastide]], a type of fortified town, in [[Saint-Sardos, Lot-et-Garonne|Saint-Sardos]], part of the Agenais, by a French vassal.<ref>Neillands, p.30.</ref> Gascon forces destroyed the bastide, and in turn Charles attacked the English-held [[Montpezat, Lot-et-Garonne|Montpezat]]: the assault was unsuccessful,<ref>Neillands, p.31.</ref> but in the subsequent [[War of Saint-Sardos]] Charles's trusted uncle and advisor, [[Charles of Valois]], successfully wrested control of Aquitaine from the English;<ref>Holmes, p.16; Kibler, p.201.</ref> by 1324, Charles had declared Edward's lands forfeit and had occupied the whole of Aquitaine apart from the coastal areas.<ref>Kibler, p.314.</ref>

[[File:Isabela Karel Eda.jpg|thumb|An early 15th-century [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature]] showing the future [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] giving homage to Charles IV under the guidance of Edward's mother, and Charles's sister, [[Isabella of France|Isabella]], in 1325.<ref>Ainsworth, p.3.</ref>]]

Charles's sister [[Isabella of France|Isabella]], wife of King Edward II,  was sent to France in 1325 with the official mission of negotiating peace with her brother; unofficially, some chroniclers suggested that she was also evading [[Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester|Hugh Despenser the elder]] and [[Hugh Despenser the Younger|Hugh the younger]], her political enemies in England.<ref name="Lord1">Lord, p.46.</ref> Charles had sent a message through [[Pope John XXII]] to Edward suggesting that he was willing to reverse the forfeiture of the lands if Edward ceded the Agenais and paid homage for the rest of the lands.<ref name="Sumption" /> The Pope in turn had proposed Isabella as an ambassador. Charles met with Isabella and was said to have welcomed her to France. Isabella was joined by the young [[Edward III of England|Prince Edward]] later that year, who paid homage to Charles on his father's behalf as a peace gesture.<ref name="Lord1" /> Despite this, Charles refused to return the lands in Aquitaine to the English king, resulting in a provisional agreement under which Edward resumed administration of the remaining English territories in early 1326, whilst France continued to occupy the rest.<ref>Kibler, p.314; Sumption, p.98.</ref>

In 1326 after negotiations with [[Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray]], Charles renewed the [[Auld Alliance]] with Scotland through the [[Treaty of Corbeil (1326)]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barrow |first1=Geoffrey W.S. |title=Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland |date=1988 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh, Scotland |isbn=0-85224-604-8 |page=251, 259}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Isabella had entered into a relationship with the exiled English nobleman [[Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March|Roger Mortimer]] and refused to return to England, instead travelling to [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]], where she betrothed Prince Edward to [[Philippa of Hainault|Philippa]], the daughter of the local Count.<ref name="Kibler">Kibler, p.477.</ref> She then used this money, plus an earlier loan from Charles,<ref name="Lord2" /> to raise a mercenary army and invade England, deposing her husband Edward II,<ref name="Kibler" /> who was then murdered in 1327. Under Isabella's instruction, Edward III agreed to a peace treaty with Charles: Aquitaine would be returned to Edward, with Charles receiving 50,000 [[French livre|livres]], the territories of [[Limousin (province)|Limousin]], [[Quercy]], the Agenais, and [[Périgord]], and the [[Bazas]] county, leaving the young Edward with a much reduced territory.<ref>Neillands, p.32.</ref>

===Revolt in Flanders===

Charles faced fresh problems in [[County of Flanders|Flanders]]. Louis, the Count of Flanders, ruled an "immensely wealthy state"<ref name="Holmes" /> that had traditionally led an autonomous existence on the edge of the French state. The French king was generally regarded as having [[suzerainty]] over Flanders, but under former monarchs the relationship had become strained.<ref name="Holmes" /> Philip V had avoided a military solution to the Flanders problem, instead enabling the succession of [[Louis I, Count of Flanders|Louis]] as count – Louis was, to a great extent, already under French influence, having been brought up at the French court.<ref>TeBrake, p.47.</ref> Over time, however, Louis' clear French loyalties and lack of political links within Flanders itself began to erode his position within the county itself.<ref name="TeBrake">TeBrake, p.50.</ref> In 1323 a peasant revolt led by [[Nicolaas Zannekin]] broke out, threatening the position of Louis and finally imprisoning him in [[Bruges]].<ref name="TeBrake" />

Charles was relatively unconcerned at first, since in many ways the revolt could help the French crown by weakening the position of the Count of Flanders over the long term.<ref>TeBrake, p.93.</ref> By 1325, however, the situation was becoming worse and Charles's stance shifted. Not only did the uprising mean that Louis could not pay Charles some of the monies due to him under previous treaties, the scale of the rebellion represented a wider threat to the feudal order in France itself, and to some it might appear that Charles was actually unable, rather than unwilling, to intervene to protect his vassal.<ref>TeBrake, p.94.</ref> Accordingly, France intervened.

In November 1325 Charles declared the rebels guilty of high treason and ordered them [[excommunicated]], mobilising an army at the same time.<ref>TeBrake, p.95.</ref> Louis pardoned the rebels and was then released, but once safely back in Paris he shifted his position and promised Charles not to agree to any separate peace treaty.<ref>TeBrake, p.97.</ref> Despite having amassed forces along the border, Charles's military attentions were distracted by the problems in Gascony, and he eventually chose to settle the rebellion peacefully through the [[Peace of Arques]] in 1326, in which Louis was only indirectly involved.<ref>TeBrake, p.98.</ref>

===Charles and the Holy Roman Empire===

[[File:Wenceslaus IV Charles V of France Emperor Charles IV.jpg|thumb|right|Charles gave his name to his nephew, [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV]], shown here giving [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] to his patron.]]
Charles was also responsible for shaping the life of his nephew, [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV]]. The latter, originally named Wenceslaus, came to the French court in 1323, aged seven, where he was taken under the patronage of the French king. Charles gave his nephew a particularly advanced education by the standards of the day, arranged for his marriage to [[Blanche of Valois]], and also renamed him.<ref>Vauchez, Dobson and Lapidge, p.288.</ref>

===Charles and the Crusades===

The [[crusades]] remained a popular cause in France during Charles's reign. His father, [[Philip IV of France|Philip IV]], had committed France to a fresh crusade and his brother, Philip V, had brought plans for a fresh invasion close to execution in 1320. Their plans were cancelled, however, leading to the informal and chaotic [[Shepherds' Crusade (1320)|Shepherds' Crusade]].<ref>Housley, p.22.</ref>

Charles entrusted Charles of Valois to negotiate with [[Pope John XXII]] over a fresh crusade.<ref name="Kibler1" /> Charles, a keen crusader who took the cross in 1323, had a history of diplomatic intrigue in the [[Levant]] – he had attempted to become the Byzantine emperor earlier in his career.<ref name="Kibler2">Kibler, p.206.</ref> The negotiations floundered, however, over the Pope's concerns whether Charles IV would actually use any monies raised for a crusade for actual crusading, or whether they would be frittered away on the more general activities of the French crown.<ref name="Kibler2" /> Charles of Valois's negotiations were also overtaken by the conflict with England over [[Gascony]].

After the death of Charles of Valois, Charles became increasingly interested in a French intervention in [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]], taking the cross in 1326.<ref name="Geanakoplos">Geanakoplos, p.48.</ref> [[Andronikos II Palaiologos|Andronicus II]] responded by sending an envoy to Paris in 1327, proposing peace and discussions on [[Church union|ecclesiastical union]]. A French envoy sent in return with Pope John's blessing later in the year, however, found Byzantium beset with [[Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328|civil war]], and negotiations floundered.<ref name="Geanakoplos" /> The death of Charles the next year prevented any French intervention in Byzantium.<ref>Geanakoplos, p.49.</ref>