Charles of Spain, I am Philip, son of a king, who you have foully slandered.

No! Please! Please don't kill me! Mercy! Please! Show me some mercy! I have money! I have lots of money! I can pay!

If you spare my life, I will give you my waiting gold, and as you can see, I am far from skinny! You shall die!

Please! Please spare me! I'll give you all my land! Leave France! I'll never return! Just spare my life! General Noble! Remarkably good-looking night! You shall die!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the History of England, episode 110 by Fire and Sword.

Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, the man screaming for mercy was one Charles of Spain brilliantly acted by one of the world's leading actors.

And the man with no mercy for the naked and defenseless Charles was one Philip of Navarre.

Once the evil deed was done, Philip and his men rode furiously up the road outside the village, where Philip's older brother, Charles of Navarre, was waiting to hear the outcome of the murder that he'd initiated.

He had hated Charles of Spain, and bitterly resented the power and influence he had with John, King of France, and now his rival was firmly out of the way.

Charles of Navarre will acquire the nickname of Charles the Bad, and I have to say that never has a nickname been so richly deserved.

Charles the Bad is really a figure in French history, but his path crosses ours so many times over the next 30 years or so, and he's such a fun character, I thought I'd introduce the lad to you all.

In fact, this week's episode, Gentle Listeners, will be about plating.

I have always loved plating, I have no idea why, possibly something of a character flaw, but there you are, something you need to know.

Anyway, plating together three themes, the machinations of Charles of Navarre in the English court to make war, the strand of diplomacy for peace, and the fate of King David in the Scots.

Now, the key to understanding Charles the Bad is his background.

He was the son of Philip of Evreau, a grandson of Philip III of France, and the son of Joan of Navarre, the daughter of Louis the Tent of France.

Like Edward, he'd been passed over for the throne of France because of the salic law, no queen thing, and in fact his claim was probably better than Edwards.

Charles liked to mention that he had royalty on both sides of the bed chamber as often as anyone would listen.

Now, his mum Joan had initially done quite well from her birth and being passed over, she became the lord of the massive and immensely rich region of champagne, along with Bri.

She was queen of Navarre because there was no salic law there.

But then her uncle, Philip V of France had basically stiffed her.

While she was still a little girl, he stitched her up like the proverbial kipper, taking champagne and Bri back for the crown, and leaving Joan with little more than a blankly blank checkbook and pen, or in this case, the much less valuable territories in Normandy and Navarre.

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