CHARLES (1421-1461), prince of Viana, sometimes called Charles IV., king of Navarre, was the son of John, afterwards John II., king of Aragon, by his marriage with Blanche, daughter of Charles III. of Navarre. Both his grandfather Charles and his mother, who ruled over Navarre, had bequeathed this kingdom to Charles, whose right had also been recognized by the Cortes; but when Blanche died in 1441 her husband John seized the government. The ill-feeling between father and son was increased when in 1447 John took for his second wife Joanna Henriquez, a Castilian princess, who bore him a son, afterwards Ferdinand I., king of Spain. When Joanna began to interfere in the internal affairs of Navarre civil war broke out; and in 1452 Charles, although aided by John II., king of Castile, was taken prisoner. Released upon promising not to take the kingly title until after his father's death, the prince, again unsuccessful in an appeal to arms, took refuge in Italy with Alphonso V., king of Aragon, Naples and Sicily. In 1458 Alphonso died and John became king of Aragon, while Charles was offered Naples and Sicily. He de clined these proposals, and having been reconciled with his father returned to Navarre in 1459. Aspiring to marry a Castilian prin cess, he was thrown into prison by his father; the Catalans rose in his favour, and John was obliged to yield. Charles was recog nized as perpetual governor of Catalonia and heir to the kingdom, but he died on Sept. 23, 1461. Charles was a cultured prince; he translated the Ethics of Aristotle into Spanish (Saragossa, 15o9) and wrote a chronicle of the kings of Navarre, Cronica de los reyes de Navarra, an edition of which, edited by J. Yangues y Miranda, was published at Pampeluna (1843).
See G. Desdevises du Dezert, Carlos d'Aragon (Paris, 1889).