Charles IV (1294-1328)

The last French king of the senior Capetian lineage, he was the third son of Philip IV. By virtue of his mother, Jeanne I of Navarre's, birthright, Charles claimed the title Charles I, King of Navarre.

From 1314 to his accession to the throne, he held the title of Count of La Marche.

He was crowned King of France in 1322 at the cathedral in Reims. In 1325, Charles seized English possessions in France. At the time, Charles's sister Isabella was married to King Edward II of England. Edward sent Isabella to France to negotiate with her brother. Instead, Charles and Isabella organized the overthrow of Edward II, and the installation of Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer, as regents of England on behalf of Isabella's young son Edward III of England.

During his six-year reign Charles IV increased taxes, imposed onerous duties, and arbitrarily confiscated estates from enemies or those he disliked. In 1323 he expelled the Jews from France, using as an excuse the widely circulated rumor that they had conspired with lepers and Islamic rulers (including the king of Babylon) to poison the wells and murder every Christian in the kingdom.

As with his brother before him, Charles died without a male heir, thus ending the direct line of the Capetian dynasty. Twelve years earlier a rule against succession by females, arguably derived from the Salic Law, had been recognized as controlling succession to the French throne. Application of this rule barred Charles's 1-year-old daughter Mary by his third wife, Jeanne d'Évreux, from succeeding as the monarch. Jeanne was also pregnant at the time of his death. Since it could have been possible that she would give birth to a son, a regency was set up with the heir presumptive Philip of Valois, a member of the House of Valois (the next-most-senior branch of the Capetian dynasty), being the regent. After two months, Jeanne gave birth to another daughter. The regent thus became the King and in May was consecrated and crowned Philip VI. At this time, a further rule of succession, again arguably based on the Salic Law, was recognized as forbidding not only inheritance by a woman, but also inheritance through a female line, deliberately aimed at barring Edward III of England from the French throne.