through his
bedclothes catching fire; Secousse says that he died in peace with many
signs of contrition; another story says he died of leprosy; and a
popular legend tells how he expired by a divine judgment through the
burning of the clothes steeped in sulphur and spirits in which he had
been wrapped as a cure for a loathsome disease caused by his debauchery.
He had three sons and four daughters, and was succeeded by his eldest
son Charles; one of his daughters, Jeanne, became the wife of Henry IV.
of England.

See Jean Froissart, _Chroniques_, edited by S. Luce and G. Raynaud
(Paris, 1869-1897); D.F. Secousse, _Memoires pour servir a l'histoire
de Charles II, roi de Navarre_ (Paris, 1755-1768); E. Meyer, _Charles
II, roi de Navarre et la Normandie au XIVe siecle_ (Paris, 1898); F.T.
Perrens, _Etienne Marcel_ (Paris, 1874); R. Delachenal, _Premieres
negotiations de Charles le Mauvais avec les Anglais_ (Paris, 1900);
and E. Lavisse, _Histoire de France_, tome iv. (Paris, 1902).

CHARLES III. (1361-1425), called THE NOBLE, king of Navarre and count of
Evreux, was the eldest son of Charles II. the Bad, king of Navarre, by
his marriage with Jeanne, daughter of John II., king of France, and was
married in 1375 to Leonora (d. 1415), daughter of Henry II., king of
Castile. Having passed much of his early life in France, he became king
of Navarre on the death of Charles II. in January 1387, and his reign
was a period of peace and order, thus contrasting sharply with the long
and calamitous reign of his father. In 1393 he regained Cherbourg, which
had been handed over by Charles II. to Richard II. of England, and in
1403 he came to an arrangement with the representatives of Charles VI.
of France concerning the extensive lands which he claimed in that
country. Cherbourg was given to the French king; certain exchanges of
land were made; and in the following year Charles III. surrendered the
county of Evreux, and was created duke of Nemours and made a peer of
France. After this his only interference in the internal affairs of
France was when he sought to make peace between the rival factions in
that country. Charles sought to improve the condition of Navarre by
making canals and rendering the rivers navigable, and in other ways. He
died at Olite on the 8th of September 1425 and was buried at Pampeluna.
After the death of his two sons in 1402 the king decreed that his
kingdom should pass to his daughter Blanche