Louis X of France - Personality, Marriage and Coronation

Personality, Marriage and Coronation

Louis was born in Paris, the eldest son of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. He inherited the crown of Navarre on the death of his mother, on 4 April 1305. On 21 September 1305, at age 16, he married Margaret of Burgundy and they had a daughter, Joan. Louis was known as "the Quarreler" as the result of the tensions prevailing throughout his reigns.

Both Louis and Margaret became involved in the Tour de Nesle affair towards the end of Philip's reign. In 1314, Margaret, Blanche and Joan—the latter two being the wives of Louis' brothers Charles and Philip, respectively—were arrested on charges of infidelity. Margaret and Blanche were both tried before the French parliament later that year and found guilty. Their alleged lovers were executed, and the women had their hair shorn and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Philip stood by his wife Joan, who was ultimately found innocent and released. Louis, however, had not enjoyed a happy marriage to Margaret and requested that the marriage be annulled, with Margaret being imprisoned in poor conditions in the castle of Château Gaillard.

On the death of his father in 1314, Louis became King of France. Margaret died under suspicious circumstances, possibly murdered, on 14 August 1315 at Château-Gaillard. Louis remarried five days later, on 19 August to Clementia of Hungary, the daughter of Charles Martel of Anjou and the niece of Louis' own uncle and close advisor, Charles of Valois. Louis and Clementia were crowned at Reims on 24 August 1315.