From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles IV
(18/19 June 1294 ? 1 February 1328), was the King of
France
and
Navarre
(as Charles I) and
Count of Champagne
from 1322 to his death. Charles IV the last French king of the old
Capetian line
. He was crowned King of France in 1322 at the
cathedral
in
Reims
.
Charles invaded Aquitaine, thus renewing the war with England. However, the peace of 1327 was the great triumph which gave him a generous land settlement and 50,000 marks.
During his six years as king Charles IV raised
taxes
. His expulsion of the Jews from France in 1323 was the culmination of centuries of persecution. They had long suffered from discriminatory taxes and other fiscal policies targeted at Jews, being scapegoated for the Black Plague, and multiple prior attempts to expel them from France. France's Jews were given only a little time to sell to their possessions before being escorted out of French lands.
Charles died without a son so there were questions about who would be the next king. He had two daughters, but under
Salic law
, the basis of law in France, there was no inheritance through the female line.
Edward III of England
then believed he had the right to become the new king of France, even though he was through the female line and therefore it was against Salic law. Thus he began the
Hundred Years' War
.