Henry II

Henry II (born April 1503, Sangüesa, Navarre—died May 29, 1555, Hagetmau, Fr.) was the king of Navarre from 1516 who for the rest of his life attempted by force and negotiation to regain territories of his kingdom that had been lost by his parents, Catherine de Foix and Jean d’Albret, in 1514.

In February 1516, when his mother died, Henry fell heir to the House of Albret claim; and in 1521, supported by French forces, he invaded Navarre but suffered crushing defeat. Henry fought with Francis I of France (1525) in Italy, was captured with him, but escaped. Two years later he married Francis’ sister Margaret of Angoulême; their daughter Jeanne became the mother of the future Henry IV of France. Emperor Charles V (who was also Charles I of Spain) in 1530 voluntarily ceded Henry the small section of Navarre north of the Pyrenees, but negotiations for the remainder failed. Henry was, however, accorded rulership of the southwestern French region of Guyenne by Francis.