Henry II of Navarre

Henry II
Portrait by unknown French artist
King of Navarre
Reign	12 February 1517 – 25 May 1555
Predecessor	Catherine
Successor	Jeanne III and Antoine
Born	(1503-04-18)18 April 1503 Sangüesa
Died	25 May 1555(1555-05-25) (aged 52) Hagetmau
Spouse	Margaret of Angoulême ​ ​ (m. 1526; died 1549)​
Issue more...	Jeanne III of Navarre
House	Albret
Father	John III of Navarre
Mother	Catherine of Navarre
Religion	Roman Catholic, although strongly sympathized with Calvinists throughout his life
Signature

Henry II (18 April 1503 – 25 May 1555), nicknamed Sangüesino because he was born in Sangüesa, was the King of Navarre from 1517. The kingdom had been reduced to a small territory north of the Pyrenees mountains by the Spanish conquest of 1512. Henry succeeded his mother, Queen Catherine, upon her death. His father was her husband and co-ruler, King John III, who died in 1516.

King of Navarre

After the failed reconquest attempt of Navarre in 1516, John III died, followed by Catherine I's demise in her independent dependencies of Béarn one year later, in 1517. Heir apparent Henry was proclaimed King of Navarre, and was lavishly crowned in Lescar. The title was also claimed by Ferdinand II of Aragon, who had invaded the realm in 1512 and usurped the title, and the claim was continued by his grandson Charles V. Henry II enjoyed the protection of Francis I of France.

Henry II was 13 years old when he became King in February 1517, and his sister Anne of Navarre functioned as his regent until he was 15 and was declared of legal majority on 18 April 1518. As Henry was often absent from Navarre, his sister Anne continued to act as his regent during his absences.

After ineffectual conferences in Noyon in 1516 and in Montpellier in 1518, an active effort was made in 1521 to establish him in de facto sovereignty in Pamplona and occupied territory. A French and Navarrese expedition made another attempt at reconquering occupied Navarre, but they were ultimately repelled by Charles after the Battle of Noain in June 1521.

Henry in contemporary miniature

In 1525, Henry was taken prisoner during the Battle of Pavia, but he managed to escape and in 1526, married Margaret, the sister of King Francis I of France and the widow of Charles, Duke of Alençon. In 1530, after the Treaty of Cambrai between Castile and France, Charles V evacuated the northernmost county (merindad) of Navarre, Lower Navarre, allowing Henry to seize it. The Pyrenean border between Lower and Upper Navarre now constitutes the Franco-Spanish border in this sector.

Henry had some strong sympathy with the Huguenots, and was fluent in both French and Spanish, according to the seigneur de Brantôme. He died at Hagetmau on 25 May 1555.

Marriage

In 1526, he married Margaret of Angoulême, who became known as Marguerite de Navarre (11 April 1492 – 21 December 1549) and had issue:

• Jeanne III of Navarre (16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572); mother of Henry IV of France
• John (7 July 1530 – 25 December 1530)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Henry II of Navarre
8. Jean I, Lord of Albret 4. Alain I, Lord of Albret 9. Catherine of Rohan 2. John III of Navarre 10. William, Viscount of Limoges 5. Frances, Countess of Périgord 11. Isabelle de La Tour d'Auvergne 1. Henry II of Navarre 12. Gaston IV, Count of Foix 6. Gaston, Prince of Viana 13. Eleanor of Navarre 3. Catherine of Navarre 14. Charles VII of France 7. Madeleine of Valois 15. Marie of Anjou

Sources

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Henry II. of Navarre". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 293.
• Cholakian, Patricia Francis; Cholakian, Rouben Charles (2006). Marguerite de Navarre: Mother of the Renaissance. Columbia University Press.
• Commire, Anne (2000). Women in World History. Vol. 10.
• Hillgarth, J. N. (2000). The Mirror of Spain, 1500–1700: The Formation of a Myth. University of Michigan.
• Stephenson, Barbara (2017). The Power and Patronage of Marguerite de Navarre. Routledge.
• Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2011). A Global Chronology of Conflict:From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. II. ABC-CLIO.
• Vernier, Richard (2008). Lord of the Pyrenees: Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix (1331-1391). The Boydell Press.