Charles, Count of Valois

Charles (12 March 1270 – 16 December 1325), count of Valois, was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, which ruled over France from 1328 to 1589. He was the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon.

Charles ruled several principalities. He held in appanage the counties of Valois, Alençon (1285), and Perche. He became Count of Anjou and Maine through his first marriage to Margaret, Countess of Anjou. Through his second marriage to Catherine I, Latin Empress of Constantinople, he was titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople from 1301 to 1307, although he ruled from exile and only had authority over Crusader States in Greece.

As the grandson of King Louis IX of France, Charles of Valois was a son, brother, brother-in-law and son-in-law of kings or queens (of France, Navarre, England and Naples), and was the heir presumptive to the throne of France from 1322 to 1324 and then again from 1324 until his death in 1325. His descendants, the House of Valois, would become the royal house of France three years after his death, beginning with his eldest son King Philip VI of France.