Charles III (redirected from King Charles III)

Charles III, king of Naples

Charles III (Charles of Durazzo), 1345–86, king of Naples (1381–86) and, as Charles II, of Hungary (1385–86); great-grandson of Charles II of Naples. Adopted as a child by Joanna I of Naples, he later lived at the court of Louis I of Hungary. In 1380, Pope Urban VI summoned Charles to dethrone Joanna because of her support of the antipope, Clement IV; Joanna repudiated Charles as her heir in favor of Louis of Anjou (see Louis I, king of Naples). Charles conquered Naples, imprisoned Joanna, and was crowned (1381) by the pope. Joanna died by his order. Charles repulsed attacks on Naples by Louis of Anjou. In 1385, elected king of Hungary over Sigismund, Charles was crowned but was soon assassinated. He was succeeded in Naples by his son, Lancelot, and in Hungary by Sigismund.

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Charles III, king of Navarre

Charles III (Charles the Good), 1361–1425, king of Navarre (1387–1425), count of Évreux; son and successor of Charles II. He settled (1404) his inherited differences with France and later tried to negotiate between the Armagnacs and Burgundians. His reign was peaceful and beneficent. His daughter Blanche and her husband, John (later John II of Aragón), succeeded him.

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Charles III, king of Spain, and of Naples and Sicily

Charles III, 1716–88, king of Spain (1759–88) and of Naples and Sicily (1735–59), son of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese. Recognized as duke of Parma and Piacenza in 1731, he relinquished the duchies to Austria after Spain reconquered (1734) Naples and Sicily in the War of the Polish Succession. His reign in Naples was beneficent. In 1759 he succeeded his half brother, Ferdinand VI, to the Spanish throne, Naples and Sicily passing to his third son, Ferdinand (later Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies). Charles at first was neutral in the Seven Years War, but after concluding the Family Compact of 1761 with France, he involved Spain in the war in time to share France's defeat. By the Treaty of Paris of 1763 he ceded Florida to England but received Louisiana from France. Territorial disputes with Portugal in the Río de la Plata region were settled by the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1777). In the American Revolution, Charles entered (1779) the war on the American side and by the Treaty of Paris of 1783 regained Florida and Minorca. Spain prospered under the rule of Charles, who is regarded as the greatest Bourbon king of Spain and one of the "enlightened despots." His reign is noted for economic and administrative reforms and for the expulsion of the Jesuits (1767). Charles was ably assisted by Aranda, Floridablanca, Campomanes, and Jovellanos. He was succeeded by his son Charles IV.

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Charles III, 879–929, French king (Charles the Simple)

Charles III (Charles the Simple), 879–929, French king (893–923), son of King Louis II (Louis the Stammerer). As a child he was excluded from the succession at the death (884) of his half brother Carloman and at the deposition (887) of King Charles III (Charles the Fat), who succeeded Carloman. Instead, Eudes, count of Paris, succeeded Charles the Fat. In 893, however, Charles was crowned by a party of nobles and prelates and became sole king at the death of Eudes in 898. He put an end to Norse raids by the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911), ceding to the Norse leader Rollo part of the territory later known as Normandy, and in 911 Charles acquired Lorraine. In 922 some of the barons revolted and crowned Robert I, brother of Eudes, king. In 923, at the battle of Soissons, Robert was killed, but Charles was defeated. Raoul of Burgundy was elected king, and Charles was imprisoned.

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Charles III, emperor of the West, king of the East Franks, and king of the West Franks

Charles III or Charles the Fat, 839–88, emperor of the West (881–87), king of the East Franks (882–87), and king of the West Franks (884–87); son of Louis the German, at whose death he inherited Swabia (876). He succeeded to the East Frankish or German kingship after the deaths of his brothers Carloman (880) and Louis the Younger (882), with whom he had shared the kingdom of Louis the German. He had also gained Italy from Carloman and was crowned emperor by Pope John VIII in 881. After the death of the heirs of Charles II in France, he became (884) West Frankish king, thus reuniting briefly the empire of Charlemagne. A weak ruler, he was unable to protect his lands from invasion and in 886, when he went to relieve Paris, which was besieged by the Norsemen, he ransomed the city instead of fighting and allowed the invaders to ravage Burgundy. He was deposed in 887 and was succeeded in Germany by Arnulf and briefly in France by Eudes.

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Charles III, 839–88, French king (Charles the Fat)

Charles III or Charles the Fat, French king: see Charles III, emperor of the West.

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Charles III, king of Hungary

Charles III, king of Hungary: see Charles VI, Holy Roman emperor.

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Charles III

 known as Charles the Simple

(born Sept. 17, 879—died Oct. 7, 929, Péronne, France) King of France (893–922). In 911 he ceded territory by treaty, in the area later known as Normandy, to the Vikings, to end their raids; their descendants became the Normans. The magnates of Lorraine (Lotharingia) accepted Charles's authority on the death of their last Carolingian king. His preoccupation with Lotharingian affairs alienated the French nobles, and in 922 they elected Robert I king in his stead.

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Charles III

 Spanish Carlos

(born Jan. 20, 1716, Madrid, Spain—died Dec. 14, 1788, Madrid) King of Spain (1759–88). Son of Philip V and Isabella Farnese, he was duke of Parma (1732–34) and king of Naples (as Charles VII, 1734–59) before becoming king of Spain. He was convinced of his mission to reform Spain and make it once more a first-rate power, but his foreign policy was not successful; Spain's losses in the Seven Years' War revealed naval and military weakness. He was more successful in strengthening his own empire; during his reign Spain undertook commercial reforms, made territorial adjustments in the interest of defense, and introduced a modern administrative system. One of the enlightened despots of the 18th century, he helped lead Spain to a brief cultural and economic revival.

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Charles III

 known as Charles the Fat

(born 839, Bavaria? [Germany]—died Jan. 13, 888, Neidingen) Frankish king and emperor (881–87). The great-grandson of Charlemagne, he inherited the kingdoms of Swabia (876) and Italy (879). Charles was crowned emperor by the pope in 881. He gained control of the eastern and western Frankish kingdoms on the deaths of their rulers, and by 885 he had reunited all of Charlemagne's empire except Provence. Chronically ill, he failed to attack the Saracens and used tribute to buy off Viking invaders. His nephew Arnulf led an uprising against him in 887, and his fall marked the final disintegration of the empire of Charlemagne.

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Charles III

1. known as Charles the Fat. 839--888 ad, Holy Roman Emperor (881--887) and, as Charles II, king of France (884--887). He briefly reunited the empire of Charlemagne

2. 1716--88, king of Spain (1759--88), who curbed the power of the Church and tried to modernize his country