Charles IV of France

Charles IV, third son of Philip IV, took the throne in 1322 and immediately faced a peasant revolt in Flanders the following year. In 1324 he failed to win election as Holy Roman Emperor, then turned his attention to Edward II of England, who as Duke of Guyenne owed him homage but refused to give it. Charles conquered the duchy in the War of Saint-Sardos, forced Edward to swear allegiance and pay a fine, then returned Guyenne in shrunken form. When he died on 1 February 1328 with no male heir, the senior line descended from Philip IV ended. His niece Joan II took Navarre; his cousin Philip of Valois took France. But his sister Isabella's descendants in England disputed the French succession, and that fracture became one of the sparks of the Hundred Years' War.