Editing Charles II of Navarre (section)

===Burgundian inheritance and the loss of Normandy (1361–1365)===
In 1361, after the death of his second cousin the young Duke [[Philip I of Burgundy]], Charles claimed the [[Duchy of Burgundy]] by [[primogeniture]]. He was the grandson of [[Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France|Margaret]], eldest daughter of Duke [[Robert II of Burgundy]] (d. 1306). However, the duchy was taken by King John II, who was son of [[Joan the Lame of Burgundy|Joan]], second daughter of Duke Robert II, who claimed it in [[proximity of blood]], and made provision that after his death it would pass to his favourite son [[Philip the Bold]].

To have become Duke of Burgundy would have given Charles the position at the centre of French politics that he had always craved, and the abrupt dismissal of his claim provoked fresh bitterness. After the failure of an attempt to win [[Pope Innocent VI]] to his claim, Charles returned to his kingdom of Navarre in November 1361. He was soon plotting afresh to become a power in France. A planned rising of his supporters in Normandy in May 1362 was an abject failure, but in 1363 he evolved an ambitious plan to form two armies in 1364, one of which would go by sea to Normandy and the other, under his brother Louis, would join forces with the [[Gascony|Gascons]] operating with the [[Catalan Company|Great Company]] in Central France and invade Burgundy, thus threatening the French King from both sides of his realm. In January 1364 Charles met [[Edward, the Black Prince]], at [[Agen]] in order to negotiate the passage of his troops through the English-held duchy of [[Aquitaine]], to which the Prince agreed perhaps because of his friendship with Charles's new military adviser [[Jean III de Grailly, captal de Buch]], who had been betrothed to Charles' sister and was to lead his army to Normandy.{{sfn|Sumption|1999|pp=504–505}} In March 1364 the Captal marched towards Normandy to secure Charles's domains.

John II of France had returned to London to negotiate with Edward III, and the defence of France was once more in the hands of the Dauphin. There was already a royal army in Normandy besieging the town of [[Rolleboise]], nominally commanded by the Count of Auxerre but actually generalled by [[Bertrand du Guesclin]]. Charles's designs were well known in advance and in early April 1364 this force seized many of Charles's remaining strongholds before the Captal de Buch could reach Normandy. When he arrived he started concentrating his forces around Évreux, which still held out for Charles. He then led his army against the royal forces to the east. On 16 May 1364 he was defeated by du Guesclin at the [[Battle of Cocherel]]. John II had died in England in April, and news of the victory of Cocherel reached the Dauphin on 18 May at [[Rheims]], where on the following day he was crowned Charles V of France.{{sfn|Sumption|1999|p=508–511}} He immediately confirmed his brother Philip as Duke of Burgundy.

Undeterred by this resounding defeat, Charles of Navarre persisted in his grand design. In August 1364 his men began a fight back in Normandy while a small Navarrese army under [[Rodrigo de Uriz]] sailed from [[Bayonne]] to [[Cherbourg]]. Meanwhile Charles's brother Louis of Navarre led an army augmented by contingents pledged by the captains of the [[Tard-Venus|Great Company]] and the freebooter [[Seguin de Badefol]] through the Black Prince's territories and across France, evading the French royal forces sent to intercept him and arrived in Normandy on 23 September. Hearing of the collapse of the civil war in Brittany after the [[Battle of Auray]] on 29 September, Louis abandoned his design to invade Burgundy and instead set about reconquering the Cotentin for Charles. Meanwhile Séguin de Badefol and his fellow-captains captured the town of [[Anse, Rhône|Anse]] on the Burgundian border, but only to use it as a centre for raiding and plundering far and wide. They did Charles of Navarre's cause no discernible good, and [[Pope Urban V]] excommunicated Séguin. Although Charles offered Bernard-Aiz V, [[Albret|Lord of Albret]], huge sums to take over the command of his forces around Burgundy, he finally realized he could not prevail against the King of France and must come to an accommodation with him. In May 1365, in Pamplona, he agreed to a treaty by which there was to be a general amnesty for his supporters, the remains of Navarrese executed and displayed for treason were to be returned to their families, prisoners would be mutually released without ransom. Charles was allowed to keep his conquests of 1364, except for the citadel of [[Meulan]], which was to be razed to the ground. In compensation Charles received [[Montpellier]] in [[Languedoc|Bas-Languedoc]]. His claim to Burgundy was to be referred to the arbitration of the Pope.{{sfn|Sumption|1999|pp=520–523}} The Pope never in fact pronounced on the matter. It was an ignominious end to Charles's 15 years of struggle to create a major territory for himself and his line in France. Henceforth he resided mainly in his kingdom.

At the end of 1365 Séguin de Badefol arrived in Navarre to claim the considerable sums Charles had pledged to pay him for his services in Burgundy, even though he had achieved nothing of substance. Charles was not pleased to see him, received him in private and poisoned him with a crystallised pear.{{sfn|Sumption|1999|p=525}}