He succeeded his father, John, and was initially under the regency of his mother, Margaret of Rohan, assisted by Jean I de La Rochefoucauld, one of his vassals.

He was thus a member of the Orléans cadet branch of the ruling House of Valois.

[1] Charles married Louise of Savoy, daughter of Philip the Landless and Margaret of Bourbon, on 16 February 1488.

She is often mistakenly called Antoinette by confusion with a member of a quite distinct family by the same name.

They had two daughters: He also had an illegitimate daughter by mistress Jeanne Le Conte:[4] This biography of a member of a European royal house is a stub.