Louis X (1289-1316)

Called "the Quarreller", "the Headstrong", and "the Stubborn", Louis was born in Paris, the son of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. He inherited the title king of Navarre on the death of his mother, on April 2, 1305. On the death of his father in 1314, he became king of France and was officially crowned at Reims in August 1315.

The reign of Louis X was short and unremarkable, dominated by continued feuding with the noble factions within the kingdom.

On September 21, 1305 he married Marguerite de Bourgogne (Burgundy) and they had a daughter, Jeanne (January 28, 1312 – October 6, 1349). In 1313 Louis accused his wife of adultery and imprisoned her in Chateau Gaillard. Her alleged lover was tortured and executed. Marguerite herself died in suspicious circumstances, possibly murdered, on 14 August 1315 at Chateau Gaillard; Louis remarried a scant five days later, on August 19, 1315, to Clémence d'Anjou, daughter of Charles Martel of Naples and sister of Charles I of Hungary.

Louis died (possibly from dehydration, though there was also suspicion of poisoning) in 1316 at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, following a game of Jeu de Paume. He and his second wife Clémence are interred in Saint Denis Basilica.

At the time of Louis's death, his wife Clémence was pregnant, making it impossible to know Louis's successor until his child was born. A son would succeed Louis as king in France and Navarre. A daughter would leave the succession in doubt. The two main claimants were Louis's daughter, Joan and his brother Philip, Count of Poitiers; however, France had no history of inheritance by females, thus allowing Joan no favourable precedent. Navarre, by contrast, had a history of inheritance by or through women (for example, Louis' predecessor had been his mother, Joan I), which gave Joan II a strong claim; men were nonetheless preferred.

Philip was appointed regent for the five months remaining until the birth of his brother's child. The baby, who turned out to be male, lived only five days - an extremely short reign for Louis's posthumous son, John.