[1] After the failed reconquest attempt of Navarre in 1516, John III died, followed by Catherine I's demise in her independent dependencies of Béarn one year later, in 1517.

Henry II was 13 years old when he became King in February 1517, and his sister Anne of Navarre functioned as his regent until he was 15 and was declared of legal majority on 18 April 1518.

After ineffectual conferences in Noyon in 1516 and in Montpellier in 1518, an active effort was made in 1521 to establish him in de facto sovereignty in Pamplona and occupied territory.

[2] A French and Navarrese expedition made another attempt at reconquering occupied Navarre, conquered Pamplona in May 1521, but were ultimately repelled by Charles after the Battle of Noain in June 1521.

[3] In 1525, Henry was taken prisoner during the Battle of Pavia,[4] but he managed to escape and in 1526, married Margaret, the sister of King Francis I of France and the widow of Charles, Duke of Alençon.