The years of life of Philip 4 handsome. Philip IV the Beautiful and the Templars: a curse come true. What was King of France Philippe the Beautiful

Philip IV the Beautiful was born in Fontainebleau in 1268, the second son of Philip III the Bold and Isabella of Aragon. He became king in 1285, seventeen years old.

His father - Philip III - could not be called a lucky monarch. The willful barons under his rule conducted their policies, the treasury was empty, and the papal legates dictated their will.

And when Pope ordered Philip III to lead a campaign in Aragonia in order to punish the King of Aragon for Sicily taken from Charles of Anjou, Philip was forced to submit, and the French army went on a campaign. In this campaign, the French suffered a heavy defeat, and the king himself died on the way back.

His seventeen-year-old son, also Philip, fought with his father. From this situation, he learned one, but very important lesson - the steady unwillingness to be an instrument of alien, even papal, interests.

In 1285, the coronation of Philip IV the Beautiful took place. He was really handsome, with regular features, large still eyes, wavy dark hair, and graceful manners. And on this beautiful face eternal imprint lay melancholy. It seemed to contemporaries a mysterious and motionless sculpture, fascinatingly inaccessible in its majestic renunciation.

“Quiet, God forbid, the king will look at us. From his gaze, blood runs cold in his veins, and it seems that his heart is about to stop. God gave strength, ”the courtiers whispered, looking at how this extraordinary king was marching through the throne room.

First of all, young Philip had to deal with the Aragon problem inherited from his father. And he decided it! Philip the Beautiful completely ceased hostilities, despite the Pope's urgent objections. The still inexperienced king refused the services of high-ranking advisers to his father. The young monarch established the Royal Council, membership in which was ensured by special merits and abilities, and by no means by noble origin. Europe was in shock! For feudal society, this was a real revolution.

Access to power was given to people who were not aristocratic, but educated. They were called legists because they knew the laws well. Of these, the king created his own team, with the help of which he was able to solve complex problems. Of this team, a special role in the court of Philip the Beautiful was played by the curator Guillaume Nogare, Chancellor Pierre Flotte and Coadjutor Angerran Marigny. They determined the course of all state policy.

Having thus solved the Aragon problem, Philip focused on relations with England. The king wanted to get Flanders. He summoned King Edward I of England to the court of the Paris Parliament, and when he refused to appear, he took advantage of his refusal as a pretext for war. Both sides gained allies and began military operations. Upon learning of this, Pope Boniface VIII urged both monarchs to reconcile. But they ignored this call.

On the side of Edward were the emperor Adolphus, counts of Flanders, Brabant, Geldern and Savoy, as well as the king of Castile. Philip's allies expressed a desire to become Count of Burgundy, Duke of Lorraine, Count of Luxembourg and the Scots.

True, of all these allies, only the Scots and Count of Flanders Guy Dampierre were able to have a real impact on the events. Edward himself, whose attention was focused on the war in Scotland, in 1303 made peace with Philip, according to which Guyenne was left behind by the English king.

In 1297, the French army invaded Flanders. Almost without resistance, Lille, Douai, Bruges and Ghent were captured.

The ruler of these lands Count Guy Dampier surrendered with his two sons and 51 knights. The king robbed his possessions as a rebel and annexed wealthy Flanders to his kingdom.

In 1301, Philip traveled around his new territories and was everywhere greeted with expressions of humility. But he imposed exorbitant taxes on the country. The tough order introduced by the French protege Jacques of Chatillon also fell in love with the Flemings.

When riots broke out in Bruges in 1301, Jacques sentenced to recover huge fines from the guilty, ordered him to break the city wall and build a citadel in the city.

The second uprising in 1302 soon spread to the entire province. Within one day, more than 3 thousand French knights and soldiers were killed in Bruges. An army led by Robert Artois was thrown to suppress the uprising, but was defeated in the stubborn battle of Curtre. Thousands of spurs taken from the slain knights were stacked in the Maastricht Church as victory trophies.

Philip could not leave it like that. In 1304, at the head of the 60,000th army, the king himself approached the borders of Flanders. In the August battle of Mons-en-Null, the Flemings were defeated, but in perfect order retreated to Lille. After several unsuccessful assaults on this city, peace was concluded with the son of Guy Dampier Robert Bethune, who was in French captivity. Philip agreed to return the country to him and keep the Flemings their rights and privileges. For his release, Robert Bethune had to pay a substantial indemnity. As a guarantee, the king took land on the right bank of the Fox with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orshe. But having received the money, Philip violated the contract and did not return the land. leaving them forever behind France.

All these events took place against the backdrop of growing tensions with dad every year. In the early years of his pontificate, Boniface was quite friendly with the French king. However, in the fall of 1296, Boniface issued a bull categorically forbidding the clergy to pay taxes to the laity, and laity to demand such payments from the clergy without special permission from Rome. At the Paris court then the doctrine began to dominate, that the clergy owed money to help the needs of their country. Philip the Beautiful, who constantly needed money, saw in this bull the damage to his interests.

In response to the bull, the king forbade the export of gold and silver, which were a prominent source of income for Rome. Then the Pope gave in: a new bull, nullified the previous one. As a sign of special favor, the Pope canonized the late grandfather of the king, St. Louis.

In response, Philip allowed to export to Rome the pope’s income in the form of gold and silver, which he received from the French clergy, but continued to oppress the church,

The legists surrounding Philip the Beautiful advised him to remove entire categories of criminal cases from the conduct of church justice. In 1300, relations between Rome and France sharply worsened. Bishop of Pamiersky Bernard Sesseti, whom Pope Boniface sent to Philip as a special legate, behaved very impudently. The king instituted legal proceedings against him and demanded that the pope deprive him of his dignity, accusing the bishop not only of insulting the king, but also of treason and other crimes.

To this, in December 1301, the Pope responded by accusing Philip himself of an encroachment on spiritual authority and demanded it before his court. He sent a bull to the king, in which he emphasized the fullness of papal authority and its superiority over any (without exception) secular authority.

According to legend, the king burned this bull. In April 1302, he convened the General States (the first in French history). Philip the Beautiful received the unconditional support of the nobles and representatives of cities. The clergy decided to ask the Pope to let them not go to Rome, where a cathedral was being prepared against Philip. Boniface did not allow them such disobedience, but the clergy did not go to Rome, for Philip categorically forbade them to do so.

The mutual attacks of the king and the pope continued.

In the end, in 1303, Nogare with a small retinue went to Italy to arrest the Pope. Boniface went to Anagni, where he wanted to betray Philip to a public curse .. There the Pope had many enemies. Nogare and his companions freely entered the city, were able to penetrate the palace. They treated the Pope extremely rudely, there is even a version that Nogare slapped the Pope.

Two days later, the inhabitants of Anagni released the Pope. A few days later from the humiliation suffered, Boniface VII fell into such a frustration that he lost his mind and then died. And after 10 months, his successor, Boniface IX, also died. Rumor attributed this death, so beneficial to the French king, to poisoning

In his place was elected Archbishop of Bordeaux Bertrand du Gotha, who took the name of Clement V. He did not go to Italy, but was ordained in Lyon. In 1309, he moved his residence to Avignon, which was not in power, but under the direct influence of the French government. Until his death, he remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king.

The period of the so-called “Avignon captivity of the popes” began, when the Roman high priests turned into French court bishops.

In addition to many other concessions to Philip, Clement agreed in 1307 with charges against the Knights Templar.

This knightly order played a huge role during the Crusades and gained great popularity in Europe. The Order accumulated enormous wealth, and when the era of the Crusades ended, began to actively intervene in European affairs.

Philip the Beautiful did not want to have a powerful order of the Templars at his side, which at any moment could encroach on the power of the king. In addition, the king owed the order a huge amount, which he did not want to return.

In 1307, the king ordered secretly the arrest of all the Templars in the kingdom. 140 French knights of this order were arrested, and a trial began over them on charges of heresy.

7 years the investigation lasted. Under torture, the Templars confirmed the allegations of heresy, witchcraft, and service to the devil. But during a public trial, they recanted their testimonies.

On March 18, 1314, the Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, was burned over low heat. Before his death, he cursed King Philip and his entire family and predicted the close degeneration of the Capetians. The Grand Master stated that Pope Clement, King Philip and Chancellor Nogare will be called for God's judgment within a year

Philip the Beautiful was in good health, had three adult sons, and therefore did not take the prophecy seriously. But the predictions of Jacques de Molay were fulfilled exactly. On April 20, Pope Clement died in torment. In November, Philip the Beautiful died. A year later, the preparation process against the Templars Angerran de Marigny was hanged. Guillaume de Nogaret, the director of the investigation, died in torment. The sons of Philip the Beautiful, who ruled in turn after his death, could not pass the throne to their children. All of them died prematurely, leaving no male heirs.

When Louis XVI was beheaded in 1793, a man jumped on the scaffold, dipped his hand in the blood of the dead king and said loudly: “Jacques de Molay, you are avenged!” Louis XVI was the thirteenth descendant of King Philip the Beautiful.

He was married to Jeanne, Queen of Navarre, and the Countess of Champagne (1270-1305). Even the marriage of Philip the Beautiful was subordinated to the great goal of the expansion of France. Thanks to this marriage, the king annexed Champagne to his possessions, and also led to the first unification of France and Navarre. Philip's family life was happy.

Four children from this marriage who have lived a long enough life:

* Louis X, king of France (since 1314) and Navarre (since 1307)

* Philip V, king of France and Navarre (since 1316)

* Isabella, wife of the English king Edward II and mother of Edward III. From Isabella come Plantagenet claims to the French crown, which served as an excuse for the start of the Hundred Years War.

* Charles IV, king of France and Navarre (since 1322)

After the death of Jeanne, Philip did not enter into a new marriage, despite the best offers. The rumor claimed that he loved the queen so much that after her death he did not know women at all.

In this, as in many other things, this king remained a mystery to historians. All his policies lead him to think that he was a man of iron will and rare energy, accustomed to with unshakable tenacity to go to his goal. But people who personally knew the king characterize him as a person who was distinguished by unusual meekness and modesty, avoided obscene conversations with disgust, accurately attended the service, performed the posts with precision, and wore a hair shirt. He was kind, condescending, and willingly placed complete trust in people who did not deserve it. According to contemporaries, the king easily obeyed bad advice.

Shortly before the death of Philip, in 1314, a scandal broke out in which the wives of his sons were involved, two of whom were convicted of adultery, and the third - in aiding them. The former were sentenced to life imprisonment, the latter to repentance in a monastery. The sentencing of adulterent princesses and the execution of their lovers were made publicly.

Contemporaries and descendants wondered: why did the king not try to hide the disgrace of his family? There is still no answer, for the thoughts and feelings of Philip the Beautiful, this extremely closed and always unperturbed man, were not known even to his closest associates.

The kingdom of France under Philip IV the Beautiful reaches the peak of its power. It was the largest state in the Christian Western world (13-15 million people or a third of the entire Catholic world) in terms of population. France was experiencing real economic prosperity at that time, the area of \u200b\u200barable land increased, trade flourished, resulting, in particular, in the heyday of the Champagne fair.

The era of Philip the Beautiful was a turning point in the history of France. He expanded royal possessions, introduced royal courts and Roman law, subjugated the church and the feudal lords. State life got a completely different character than under its predecessors.

The king did a lot to form an absolute monarchy in France and at the same time created the first body of democratic power - the General States.

Philip IV the Beautiful died on November 29, 1314, at the 47th year of his life, in the place of his birth - Fontainebleau. The successor was his son Louis X the Grumpy.

PHILIPPE IV BEAUTIFUL, King of France

King of France from the Capetian clan, who ruled 1285-1314. The son of Philip III and Isabella of Aragon. J.: Juan I, Queen of Navarre, daughter of King of Navarre, Enrique I (born 1271, d.1304). Rod 1268, the mind. November 29, 1314

Philip IV remains a somewhat mysterious figure for historians. On the one hand, his entire policy makes him think that he was a man of iron will and rare energy, accustomed to adhere to his goal with unshakable tenacity. Meanwhile, the testimonies of people who personally knew the king are in strange contradiction with this opinion. The chronicler Wilhelm the Scot wrote about Philip that the king had a beautiful and noble appearance, elegant manners and kept himself very impressive. For all this, he was distinguished by unusual meekness and modesty, avoided obscene conversations with disgust, carefully attended the service, performed the posts with precision, and wore a hair shirt. He was kind, condescending, and willingly placed complete trust in people who did not deserve it. They, according to Wilhelm, were the culprits of all the troubles and abuses that marked his reign: the introduction of oppressive taxes, extraordinary levies and systematic corruption of the coin. Another chronicler, Giovanni Vilani, wrote that Philip was very handsome, gifted with a serious mind, but he hunted a lot and liked to entrust others with management concerns. Geoffrey also reports that the king easily obeyed bad advice. Thus, we have to admit that his close associates played a large role in Philip's policy: Chancellor Pierre Flott, seal-keeper Guillaume Nogare and coadjutor of the kingdom of Angerran Marigny. All these were people of noble nature, ascended to the heights of power by the king himself.

Philip ascended the throne of seventeen years of age and first of all took up the resolution of the Sicilian and Aragonese questions inherited from his father. He immediately ceased hostilities and did nothing to support the claims of his brother Carl Valois, who dreamed of becoming the Aragonese (or, at worst, Sicilian) king. The negotiations, however, lasted another ten years and ended with the fact that Sicily remained behind the Aragonese dynasty. In relations with the English king Edward I, the policy of Philip was more energetic. Between the subjects of the two states, clashes often occurred. Using one of them, Philip in 1295 called the English king, as his vassal, to the court of the Paris Parliament. Edward refused to comply, and war was declared against him. Both opponents were looking for allies. Supporters of Edward became Emperor Adolph, counts of the Netherlands, Geldern, Brabant and Savoy, as well as the king of Castile. Philip's allies were the Count of Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine, the Count of Luxembourg and the Scots. However, of these, only the Scots and Count of Flanders Guy Dampier had a real impact on the events. Edward himself, who was engaged in a difficult war in Scotland, concluded a ceasefire with Philip in 1297, and in 1303 a peace in which Hyenne was left to the English king. The whole burden of the war fell on the shoulders of the Flemings. In 1297, the French army invaded Flanders. Philip himself besieged Lille, and Count Robert Artois won the victory at Fournes (largely thanks to the betrayal of the nobility, among which there were many adherents of the French party). After that, Lille surrendered. In 1299, Carl Valois captured Douai, passed through Bruges and in May 1300 entered Ghent. He did not meet resistance anywhere. Count Guy surrendered with his two sons and 51 knights. The king dispossessed him as a rebel and annexed Flanders to his kingdom. In 1301, Philip traveled around his new possessions and was everywhere greeted with expressions of humility. But he immediately tried to derive maximum benefit from his new acquisition and imposed heavy taxes on the country. This caused discontent, and the harsh rule of Jacques of Chatillon intensified hatred of the French. When riots broke out in Bruges in 1301, Jacques sentenced the guilty to huge fines, ordered the city wall to be broken and a citadel built in the city. Then in May 1302 a second, much more powerful uprising broke out. Within one day, the people killed 1,200 French knights and 2,000 soldiers in the city. After that, all of Flanders took up arms. In June, the French army, led by Robert Artois, approached. But in a stubborn battle at Kurtre, she was utterly defeated. Together with his general, up to 6,000 French knights fell. Thousands of spurs taken from the dead were stacked in the mastricht church as trophies of victory. Philip could not leave not avenged such a shame. In 1304, at the head of a 60,000-strong army, the king approached the borders of Flanders. In August, in a stubborn battle at Monsan-Null, the Flemings were defeated, but in perfect order retreated to Lille. After several attacks, Philip made peace with the son of Guy Dampier Robert Bethune, who was in captivity. Philip agreed to return the country to him, while the Flemings retained all their rights and privileges. However, for the release of their count and other prisoners of the city had to pay a large indemnity. As a guarantee of ransom, the king took land on the right bank of the Fox with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orshe. He should have returned them after receiving the money, but treacherously violated the contract and left them forever in France.

These events unfolded against the backdrop of growing tensions with dad every year. At first, nothing seemed to portend this conflict. None of the European kings was so loved by Pope Boniface VIII, as Philip the Beautiful. Back in 1290, when the pope was only Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani and as a papal legate came to France, he admired the piety of the young king. Having ascended the throne in 1294, Boniface assiduously supported the policy of the French king in Spain and Italy. The first signs of mutual distrust were discovered in 1296. In August, the pope issued a bull, in which he forbade the laity to demand and receive subsidies from the clergy. By a strange accident, or perhaps in response to the bull, Philip at the same time banned the export of gold and silver from France: this destroyed him one of the main sources of papal income, because the French church could no longer send any money to Rome. Already then a quarrel could arise, but Boniface’s position on the papal throne was still fragile, the cardinals begged him to stop the scandals caused by the bull, and he ceded to them. In 1297, a bull was published, actually canceling the previous one. Apparently, the pope expected the king to make concessions too. Philip allowed to export to Rome the income of the pope, which he received from the French clergy, but continued to oppress the church, and soon there were new clashes with the pope. The Archbishop of Narbonne complained to Boniface that the royal dignitaries took away his lenient power over some of the vassals of his department and generally caused him various offenses. The pope sent a bishop of Pamiers de Paris Bernard Sesse to Paris on this matter. At the same time, he was instructed to demand the release of the Count of Flanders from captivity and the fulfillment of the previously given promise of participation in the crusade. Bernard, known for his arrogance and hot temper, was completely the wrong person to whom such a delicate commission could be entrusted. Unable to make concessions, he began to threaten Philip with an interdict and generally spoke so sharply that he usually led Philip to his temper. The king sent two members of his council to Pamme and the county of Toulouse to collect evidence to accuse Bernard of rebellion. During the investigation, it turned out that the bishop during his sermons often used inappropriate expressions and set his flock against royal authority. Philip ordered the legate to be arrested and detained at Sanley. He also demanded that the pope depose Bernard and allow him to be brought to secular court. The pope answered the king with an angry letter, demanded the immediate release of his legate, threatened Philip with excommunication and ordered him to appear at his court in order to justify himself from accusations of tyranny, bad governance and minting of a damaged coin. Philip ordered to solemnly burn this bull on the porch of Notre Dame. In April 1302, he convened the first General States in history in Paris. They were attended by representatives of the clergy, barons and prosecutors of the main northern and southern cities. In order to arouse the indignation of the deputies, they read out a fake papal bull, in which the pope's claims were strengthened and sharpened. After this, Chancellor Flott turned to them with the question: can the king count on the support of the estates if he takes measures to protect the honor and independence of the state, as well as rid the French church of violating her rights? Nobles and city deputies replied that they were ready to support the king. After a brief hesitation, the clergy also joined the opinion of two other classes.

After this, during the year the opponents hesitated with decisive measures, but hostility between them grew. Finally, in April 1303, Boniface excommunicated the king from the church and freed the seven church provinces in the Rhone basin from vassal dependence and from the oath of allegiance to the king. This measure, however, had no effect. Philip declared Boniface a false father (indeed, there were some doubts about the legality of his election), a heretic and even a warlock. He demanded that an ecumenical council be convened to hear these accusations, but he said that the pope should be at this council as a prisoner and accused. From words he turned to action. In the summer, the loyal Nogare, with a large sum of money, went to Italy. Soon he entered into relations with the enemies of Boniface and formed an extensive conspiracy against him. At that time, Papa was in Anagni, where on September 8 he wanted to betray Philip to a public curse. On the eve of this day, the conspirators broke into the papal palace, surrounded Boniface, showered him with all sorts of insults and demanded his abdication. Nogare threatened that he would chain him and as a criminal would take him to the cathedral in Lyon to convict him. Dad endured these attacks with dignity. For three days he was in the hands of his enemies. Finally, the inhabitants of Anagni freed him. But from the humiliation suffered, Boniface fell into such a frustration that he lost his mind and died on October 11. His humiliation and death had grave consequences for the papacy. The new Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogare from the church, but stopped the persecution of Philip himself. In the summer of 1304, he died. In his place was elected Archbishop of Bordeaux Bertrand du Gotha, who took the name of Clement V. He did not go to Italy, but was ordained in Lyon. In 1309, he settled in Avignon and turned this city into a papal residence. Until his death, he remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king. In addition to many other concessions to Philip, Clement agreed in 1307 with charges against the Knights Templar. In October, 140 French knights of this order were arrested, and a trial began on them for accusing them of heresy. In 1312, the pope declared the order annihilated. Philip, who owed huge sums to the Templars, took possession of all their wealth. In March 1313, the Grandmaster of the Order Jacques Molet was burned. Before his death, he cursed the entire family of the Capetians and predicted his near degeneration. Indeed, shortly after the execution, Philip began to suffer from a debilitating disease that doctors could not recognize, and died of it in Fonteblo on November 29, 1314. at the 46th year of life. His reign constituted a turning point in the history of medieval France: he expanded the kingdom with the addition of new lands (shortly before his death, he annexed Lyon and its districts to France), forced the church and feudal lords to obey the orders of the king, and suppressed any independent authority in their state. The royal administration under him embraced all aspects of society: cities, the feudal nobility, the clergy - all came under its control. His rule seemed to contemporaries a time of cruel oppression and despotism. But behind all this, a new era was already visible. With the help of a large corporation of lawyers, the king took every opportunity to establish royal courts everywhere and introduce Roman law. Toward the end of his life, all judicial power in the country passed exclusively to the crown, and public life acquired a completely different character than under his predecessors.

All the monarchs of the world. - Academician. 2009 .

See what is "PHILIPPE IV BEAUTIFUL, King of France" in other dictionaries:

Philip IV Beautiful Philippe IV le Bel Philip IV Beautiful (Portrait of a New Age) ... Wikipedia

There are articles on Wikipedia about other people named Philip I. Philip I Beautiful Felipe el Hermoso ... Wikipedia

Philippe IV le Bel Philipp IV Beautiful (Portrait of a New Age) ... Wikipedia

Philip III the Bold Philippe III le Hardi Philip III the Bold (Portrait of a New Age) ... Wikipedia

Philip IV the Beautiful - (Philip IV, the Fair) (1268 1314), King of France (1285 1314). Inherited the throne of his father, strengthened the queens, power, reformed legislation. Pope Boniface VIII challenged his right to tax clerics, but was imprisoned and ... ... The World History

In the residence of the French kings, in June 1268, the royal couple, Philip III the Bold and Isabella of Aragon, had a son, who was named in honor of his father - Philippe. Already in the first days of the life of little Philip, everyone noted his unprecedented angelic beauty and his huge brown eyes. No one then could have predicted that the just born second heir to the throne would be the last of the Capetian clans to be the eminent king of France.

Atmosphere of childhood and youth

During the childhood and youth of Philip, when his father Philip III ruled, France expanded its territory, annexing the Toulouse province, counties of Valois, Brie, Auvergne, Poitou and the pearl - the Kingdom of Navarre. Champagne was promised to join the kingdom, thanks to an early agreement on the marriage of Philip to the county’s heiress, Princess Joan of Navarre. The annexed lands certainly bore fruit, but France, torn by large feudal lords and papal legates, was on the verge of disaster with an empty treasury.

Failures began to haunt Philip III. The heir to the throne, the first son of Louis, to whom he had high hopes, dies. The king, being weak-willed and led by his advisers, gets involved in adventures that ended in failure. So in March 1282, Philip III was defeated in the Sicilian national liberation uprising, where the Sicilians exterminated and expelled all the French who were there. The next and final failure of Philip III was a military campaign against King Aragon, Pedro III the Great. The seventeen-year-old Philip IV took part in this company, who, along with the reigning father, participated in the battles. Despite increased offensives, the royal army and navy were defeated and held under the walls of the fortress of Girona, in northeastern Spain. The subsequent retreat undermined the king’s health, he was overwhelmed by illness and fever, which he did not suffer. So, in the fortieth year, the life of King Philip III, nicknamed the Bold, ended, and the time came for the reign of Philip IV.

Long live the king!

The coronation was scheduled for October 1285, immediately after the burial of his father, at the Abbey of Saint-Denis.

After the coronation, the wedding of Philip IV with the Queen of Navarre, Jeanne I of Navarre, took place, which served to annex the lands of the county of Champagne and strengthened the power of France.

Taught by the bitter experience of his father, Philip clarified one rule for himself, which he followed all his life - sole rule, the pursuit of his own interests and those of France.

The young king’s first business was to resolve the conflicts surrounding the failure of the Aragonese company. The king went against the will of Pope Martin IV and the desire of his brother Carl Valois to become king of Aragon, and withdrew the French troops from Aragonese land, thereby ending the military conflict.

The next action, which shocked the whole of high-society French and European society, was the removal from the affairs of all the advisers of the deceased father and the appointment of people who distinguished themselves for their merits to the king. Philip was a very attentive person, he always noted the qualities necessary for him in people, therefore, not noticing managerial notes in the nobility, lazy from the well-fed life, he chose intelligent people of noble origin. So were appointed to the position of the Catholic titular bishop Angerran Marigny, Chancellor Pierre Flott and curator of the royal seal Guillaume Nogare.

Large feudal lords were outraged by the actions of the young king, which threatened a bloody revolution. In order to prevent a riot and weaken the powerful feudal society, the king is conducting a serious reform, which concerned government. He limits the influence of customary and ecclesiastical rights on the royal power, based on the codes of Roman law, and appoints the Treasury (Accounts Chamber), the Paris Parliament and the Supreme Court as the current supreme democratic authority. Weekly discussions were held in these institutions, in which respectable citizens and small knights (legists) with knowledge of Roman law participated and served.

Confrontation to Rome

Being a thorough and purposeful man, Philip IV continued to expand the borders of his state, and this required constant replenishment of the royal treasury. At that time, the church had a separate treasury, from which funds were allocated for subsidies for citizens, for the needs of the church and for deductions to Rome. It was this treasury that the king planned to use.

By coincidence, for Philip IV, at the end of 1296, Pope Boniface VIII decided to first take possession of church savings and issues a document (bull), which prohibits the granting of subsidies from the church treasury to citizens. Being in this very warm and friendly relationship with Boniface VIII, Philip still decides to take open and harsh actions for the Pope. Philip believed that the church is obliged not only to participate in the life of the country, but to allocate funds for its needs. And he issues a decree prohibiting the export of church treasury to Rome, thereby depriving the Papacy of the constant financial income that they provided the French church. For this reason, the quarrel between the king and Baniface was hushed up by the publication of a new bull, which cancels the first, but for a short time.

Having made concessions, the French king Philip the Beautiful allowed the removal of funds to Rome and continued to oppress the churches, which led to complaints from church ministers against the King of the Pope. Due to these complaints, which indicated violations of subordination, disrespect, disobedience and insult by vassals, Boniface VIII sends Bishop of Pamerisky to France to the king. He was to oblige the king to fulfill his earlier promises of participation in the Aragon Crusade and release from captivity the captive Count of Flanders. The sending of a bishop, who was not restrained in character, very harsh and quick-tempered, in the role of ambassador and permission to solve such delicate issues for him was Banination's greatest mistake. Having not met with understanding from Philip and was refused, the bishop allowed himself to speak in harsh and elevated tones, threatening the king with a ban on all church services. Despite all his natural restraint and calm, Philip the Beautiful did not manage to restrain himself, and he orders to arrest and imprison the arrogant bishop in Sanli.

Meanwhile, the French king Philip 4 the Beautiful took care of collecting information about the unlucky ambassador and found out that he spoke negatively about the king’s power, hurt his honor and pushed the flock to rebellion. This information was enough for Philip to demand in the letter from the Pope the urgent deposition of the Bishop of Pamiers and bringing him to a secular court. To which Banifacii responded with threats of excommunication of Philip from the church and the imperative of the presence of the royal person in his own court. The king was angry and promised the high priest to burn his decree on the unlimited power of the Roman Church over secular power.

The disagreements prompted Philip to more decisive action. He convenes for the first time in the history of France the General States, which were attended by all the prosecutors of the cities of France, nobles, barons and the highest clergy. To reinforce indignation and aggravate the situation, those present at the council were given a pre-falsified papal bull. On the council, after some hesitation of the representatives of the church, a decision was made to support the king.

The conflict flared up, opponents exchanged blows: Banifacia was followed by the excommunication of the king, the seizure of seven provinces and liberation from vassal control, and Philip publicly declared the pope a warlock, a false pope and a heretic, engaged in a conspiracy and conspired with the enemies of the Pope.

The conspirators led by Nogare captured Baniface VIII, who at that time was in the city of Anagni. Full of dignity, the Pope withstands the attacks of his enemies, and awaits the release of the inhabitants of Anagni. But the transferred experiences inflicted irreparable damage on his mind, and Banifatsiy lost his mind and died.

The next Pope Benedict XI stopped the attacks and persecution of the king, but his faithful servant Nogare for excommunication Banifacii VIII excommunicated. Pope did not serve long, died in 1304, and Clement V came to replace him.

The new Pope obeyed King Philip, and never rebuked his demands. By order of the royal person, Clement transferred the papal throne and residence from Rome to the city of Avignon, which was under the strong influence of Philip. Another significant favor in 1307 for the king was the agreement of Clement V on charges against the Knights Templars (Templars). Thus, under the reign of Philip IV, the papacy turned into obedient bishops.

Declaration of war

During the growing conflict with Boniface VIII, the king of France, Philip IV the Beautiful, was engaged in strengthening the country and expanding its territories. He was most interested in Flanders, which at that time was a self-sufficient craft and agricultural state with an anti-French direction. Since the sub-vassal Flanders was not inclined to obey the French king, she was more comfortable with a good relationship with the English house, Philip did not hesitate to take advantage of this confluence of circumstances, and summoned the English king Edward I to court in the Paris Parliament.

The English king, focused on a military company with Scotland, responds with a refusal of his presence at the court, which was useful for Philip IV. He declares war. Torn by two military companies, Edward I looks for allies and finds them in the count of Brabant, Geldern, Savoy, Emperor Adolphus and King of Castile. Philip also enlisted the support of allies. Counts of Luxembourg and Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine and the Scots joined him.

At the beginning of 1297, fierce battles broke out over the territory of Flanders, where in Robert the Count Robert d'Artois defeats the troops of the Count of Flanders Guy de Dampier and captures him with his family and the remaining soldiers. In 1300, troops under the command of Charles de Valois captured the city of Douai, passed through the city of Bruges and in the spring entered the city of Ghent. The king, meanwhile, was engaged in a siege of the fortress of Lille, which surrendered after nine weeks of confrontation. In 1301, part of Flanders surrendered to the mercy of the king.

Rebellious Flanders

King Philip the Beautiful did not fail to take advantage of the submissiveness of the newly made subordinates, and decided to derive great benefit from this by imposing exorbitant taxes on the Flemings. To control the country, Jacques of Chatillon was appointed, who, with his strict management, increased the discontent and hatred of the French inhabitants of the country. And without that, the Flemings, who had not yet calmed down from the conquest, could not stand it and were organizing a rebellion, which was quickly suppressed, and the participants in the rebellion were lined with huge fines. Then, in the city of Bruges, Jacques of Chatillon orders the residents to demolish the city wall and begins the construction of the citadel.

The people, exhausted by taxes, decide on a new, more organized rebellion, and in the spring of 1302, the French garrison clashes with the Flemings. During the day, embittered Flemings destroyed three thousand two hundred French soldiers. The army, which came to pacify the rebellion, was destroyed along with the military commander Robert d’Artua. Then about six thousand horse knights died, whose spurs were removed as trophies and laid at the altar of the church.

Offended by the defeat and death of a relative, King Philip the Beautiful makes another attempt, and leading a large army, enters the battle in Flanders at Mons-en-Pevel and defeats the Flemings. Once again successfully besieging Lille, but the Flemings no longer submitted to the king of France.

After numerous bloody battles that did not bring due success, Philip decided to conclude a peace treaty with Count of Flanders Robert III of Bethune, with full preservation of privileges, restoration of rights and the return of Flanders.

Only the release of captured soldiers and counts implied the payment of a legitimate indemnity. As collateral, Philip added the cities of Orsch, Bethune, Douai and Lille to his territory.

The Templar Case

The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Templars was founded in the 11th century, and in the 12th century it was officially approved as the Order of the Templars by Pope Honorius II. Over the centuries of its existence, society has established itself as advocates of believers and excellent economists. For two centuries, the Templars regularly participated in the Crusades, but after the loss of Jerusalem, the unsuccessful battles for the Holy Land and the numerous losses in Acre, they had to move their headquarters to Cyprus.

At the end of the 13th century, the Templar Order was not so numerous, but it remained a well-formed militarized structure, and the last 23rd leader of the Order was Grand Master Jacques de Molay. In the last years of the reign of Philip IV, the Order was engaged in financial affairs, interference in the secular affairs of the state and the protection of its treasures.

The impoverished treasury from constant expenditures on military needs needed urgent replenishment. Being a personal debtor of the Templars, Philip was puzzled by the question of how to get rid of accumulated debts and get to their treasury. In addition, he considered the Templar Order dangerous to the royal power.

Therefore, supported by the non-interference of the tamed Popes, Philip in 1307 begins a case against the religious Order of the Templars, arresting every single templar in France.

The case against the Templars was clearly falsified, terrible torture was used during interrogations, far-fetched accusations of having connections with Muslims, witchcraft, and devil worship. But no one dared argue with the king and act as the protector of the Templars. For seven years, the investigation continued in the case of the Templars, who, exhausted by long imprisonment and torture, admitted to all the charges against them, but refused them during a public trial. During the trial, the treasury of the Templars completely passed into the royal hands.

In 1312, the Order was annihilated, and the following year, in the spring, Grand Master Jacques de Molay and some of his associates were sentenced to death by burning.

The execution was attended by King Philippe the Beautiful himself (a portrait you can see in the article) with his sons and Chancellor Nogare. Flames Jacques de Molay uttered a curse on the entire family of the Capetians, and predicted the imminent death of Pope Clement V and the Chancellor.

The death of the king

Having good health, Philip did not pay attention to de Molay's curse, but in the very near future, the same spring, after the execution, the Pope suddenly died. Predictions began to come true. In 1314, Philip the Beautiful went hunting and fell off his horse, after which he suddenly became ill with an unknown debilitating disease, which is accompanied by delirium. In the fall of the same year, the forty-six-year-old king dies.

What was King of France Philippe the Beautiful

Why is "Beautiful"? Was he really like that? The French king Philip IV the Beautiful remains a controversial and mysterious figure in the history of Europe. Many of his contemporaries called the king cruel and oppressive, led by his advisers. If you look at the policies pursued by Philip, you involuntarily think - in order to carry out such serious reforms and achieve the desired goals, you need to have rare energy, iron, unbending will and perseverance. Many who were close to the king and did not support his policy, decades after his death, will remember with tears in his eyes his rule, as a time of justice and great deeds.

People who knew the king personally spoke of him as a modest and meek man who carefully and regularly attended church services, observed all fasting posts, and always avoided obscene and immodest conversations. Philip was distinguished by kindness and condescension, often trusted people who did not deserve his trust. Often the king was closed and unperturbed, sometimes frightening his subjects with a sudden numbness and piercing eyes.

All the courtiers quietly whispered when the king walked around the castle: “God forbid, the king to look at us. From his gaze, the heart stops and the blood colds in my veins. ”

King Philip 4 earned the nickname “Beautiful” justly, since the addition of his body was perfect and bewitching, like a beautifully cast sculpture. Facial features were distinguished by their regularity and symmetry, large smart and beautiful eyes, black wavy hair framed his melancholy brow, all this made his image unique and mysterious for people.

Heirs of Philip the Beautiful

The marriage of Philip IV with Jeanne I of Navarre can rightly be called a happy marriage. The royal couple loved each other and were faithful to the conjugal bed. This is confirmed by the fact that after the death of his wife, Philip rejected lucrative proposals for re-marriage.

In this union they gave birth to four children:

• Louis X the Grumpy, future King of Navarre from 1307 and King of France from 1314
• Philip V Long, the future king of France and Navarre since 1316
• Beautiful (Handsome), the future king of France and Navarre since 1322.
• Isabella, the future wife of King Edward II of England and the mother of King Edward III.

King Philip the Beautiful and his daughter-in-law

King Philip never worried about the future of the crown. He had three heirs who were successfully married. It only remained to wait for the appearance of the heirs. But alas, the wishes of the king should not have come true. The king, being a believer and a strong family man, learning about the adultery of his daughters-in-law with the courtiers, imprisoned them in a tower and brought judgment on them.

Until their death, the unfaithful wives of the royal sons languished in prison casemates and hoped that the sudden death of the king would free them from imprisonment. But they did not deserve forgiveness from their husbands.

The traitors had a different fate:

• the wife of Louis X, gave birth to a daughter, Jeanne. After the coronation of her husband was strangled in captivity.
• Blanca, wife of Charles IV. There was a divorce and the replacement of prison with a monastery cell.
• Jeanne de Chalon, wife of Philip V. After the coronation of her husband, she was forgiven and released from captivity. Born three daughters.

Second wives of the heirs to the throne:

• Clementia of Hungary became the last wife of the king. In this marriage was born the heir John I Posthumous, who lived for several days.
• Mary of Luxembourg, King Charles’s second wife.

Despite the opinions of dissatisfied contemporaries, Philip IV the Beautiful created a powerful French kingdom. During his reign, the population increased to 14 million, many buildings and fortifications were built. France reached the peak of economic prosperity, arable land expanded, fairs appeared, and trade flourished. The descendants of Philip the Beautiful got a renewed, strong and modern country with a new way and structure.

Philip IV the Beautiful

Philip IV.
Reproduction from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Philip IV the Beautiful (Philippe IV le Bel) (1268–1314), king France from the Capetian dynasty, born in 1268 in Fontainebleau, in 1285 succeeded his father Philip III on the throne. The king steadily expanded his power at the expense of the rights of the feudal nobility. Feudal crowds ousted their own royal sources of replenishment of the treasury, the jurisdiction of the royal court significantly increased. The standing army, supported by the king’s money, replaced the former feudal militia. Philip’s attempt to occupy Gascony led to a war with King Edward I of England, which lasted until 1298. The French king then turned his attention to the county of Flanders, where on July 11, 1302 his troops were defeated by the Flemish burghers at Curtre. Meanwhile, starting in 1296, Philip came into conflict with Pope Boniface VIII over taxation of the clergy. Boniface claimed the supreme power also in the secular region and forbade secular rulers to tax the clergy without his consent. In 1303, the ambassadors of Philip arrested the pope in his palace in Anagni, but two days later the locals released him, so it was not possible to send the pope to France for trial. A month later, Boniface died, as it is believed, from the humiliation suffered. Success came to Philip two years later, when the pope, under the name of Clement V, was elected Archbishop of Bordeaux, who agreed to transfer the papal curia to Avignon, which was located in close proximity to the possessions of the French king. From this time began a long period of French control over the papacy. In 1307, Philippe fell upon the Knights Templar, many of the members of the order were executed, and the property of the order in France passed to Philip after Clement, in order to please the king, dissolved the order at Vienna Cathedral 1313. In March 1314, Jacques de Molay, the great was burned in Paris Master of the Order. Another important event during the reign of Philip - the convening in April 1302 of the first General States, designed to provide the king with broad support in the fight against Boniface VIII. Philip died in Fontainebleau on November 29, 1314.

The materials of the encyclopedia "The World Around Us" are used.

Philip IV, king of France
Philip I, King of Navarre
Philip IV the Beautiful
Philippe IV le Bel
Years of life: 1268 - November 29, 1314
Years of rule: France: October 5, 1285 - November 29, 1314
Navarra: October 5, 1285 - April 2, 1305
Father: Philip III
Mother: Isabella of Aragon
Wife: Jeanne of Navarre
Sons: Louis, Philip Carl, Robert
Daughters: Margarita, Blanca, Isabella

All contemporaries agree in the description of Philip as a person with a beautiful and noble appearance and elegant manners, however, when characterizing his style of government, estimates differ. Some testify that the king was a purposeful man of iron will and rare energy. Others characterize him as a meek and pious man, kind, condescending and trusting, often falling under the influence of others. The political line with him was drawn by upstart people: Chancellor Pierre Flotte, the curator of the royal press Guillaume Nogare and Coadjutor Angerran Marigny, who are attributed to all the troubles and abuses that were in the reign of Philip.
Having become king, Philip immediately stopped the Aragonese war and recognized Sicily as the Aragonese dynasty. In 1295, Philip called to court Edward I of England as his vassal, and when he refused, he began a war against him. On the side of Edward were the emperor Adolf, the counts of Holland, Geldern, Brabant and Savoy, the king of Castile. Philip was supported by the counts of Burgundy and Lorraine, the Duke of Lorraine, the king of Scotland. While Edward fought with the Scots, Philip attacked Flanders. Almost without resistance, Lille, Douai, Bruges and Ghent were captured. However, the strict orders introduced by the French ruler, Jacques of Chatillon, did not appeal to the Flemings. In 1301 and 1302 rebellions broke out in Bruges. The second of them soon spread to the entire province. In just one day, more than 3 thousand French knights and soldiers were killed in Bruges. An army led by Robert Artois was thrown against the rebels, but was defeated at the Battle of Curtre. Thousands of spurs taken from the slain knights were stacked in the Maastricht Church as trophies. In 1304, the king himself led a 60,000th army. The Flemish army was besieged in Lille, and after several unsuccessful jokes, peace was concluded. Flanders was returned to Count Robert of Bethune, who was in French captivity. For his release, he had to pay a solid indemnity. As a guarantee, Philip left himself the land on the right bank of the Fox, but, having received the money, violated the contract and did not return the land.
At the same time, relations between Philip and Rome began to deteriorate sharply. Dad, still a cardinal, was on friendly terms with Philip. However, in 1296, the pope issued a bull forbidding the laity to demand and receive subsidies from the clergy. Philip in response banned the export of gold and silver from France. Dad stopped receiving his income from France. The position of the pope on the throne was rather precarious, and he backtracked, but relations between the king and the pope began to deteriorate sharply. Soon, the Archbishop of Narbonne wrote a complaint to the pope about the arbitrariness of the royal dignitaries in his possessions. To resolve the issue, Boniface sent to Paris the Bishop of Pamiersky Bernard Sesse, an arrogant and hot-tempered man. Bernard threatened the king with an interdict. Angry Philip imprisoned him and demanded that the pope depose the rebellious bishop. Dad sent a bull, in which he demanded the release of Bernard. Philip burned it on the porch of Notre Dame. In 1302, he convened the first General States in the history of France. He read out to the deputies a specially made fake bull and enlisted their support in the matter of protecting the French state and church from violation of their rights.
In April 1303, Boniface excommunicated Philip from the church. In response, the king declared Boniface an antipope, a heretic and a warlock and demanded that an ecumenical council be convened to hear charges against him. In summer, the faithful Guillaume Nogare was sent to Rome with a large sum of money. Teaming up with the enemies of the pope, he made an extensive conspiracy. The rebels broke into the Boniface Palace in Anagni, began to shower insults at the pope, threatened with arrest and demanded renunciation. Unable to withstand these attacks, Boniface was damaged in his mind and died in October of that year. The new Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogare from the church, but did not touch Philip. A year later, he also died. The new pope under the name of Clement V was the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Guo. He did not go to Rome, but was ordained in Lyon. In 1309, he settled in Avion, making this city a papal residence instead of Rome, and until his death was an obedient executor of royal will. In particular, in 1307, Clement agreed with the charges against the Knights Templar, to which Philip owed a huge amount. 140 knights were arrested, and the property of the order was confiscated. In March 1313, the head of the order, Jacques Mollet, was burned, but before his death, he cursed Philip and his entire family, predicting the imminent end of the Capetian dynasty. Philip himself was not yet old and healthy, besides he had three adult sons, and therefore did not take the prophecy seriously. However, shortly afterwards, he fell ill from a strange debilitating illness that no doctor could recognize, and died on November 29, 1314.
The era of Philip the Beautiful was a turning point in the history of France. Philip further expanded royal possessions, subjugated the church and the feudal lords, introduced royal courts and Roman law. State life received a completely different character than under its predecessors. However, the Curse of Jacques Molay looms over the Capetations ...

Used materials from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Philip IV the Beautiful (1268-1314) - King of France from the Capetian clan, who ruled in 1285-1314. The son of Philip III and Isabella of Aragon.

Wife: Juan I, Queen of Navarre, daughter of King of Navarre, Enrico I (born 1271 + 1304).

Philip IV remains a somewhat mysterious figure for historians. On the one hand, his entire policy makes him think that he was a man of iron will and rare energy, accustomed to adhere to his goal with unshakable tenacity. Meanwhile, the testimonies of people who personally knew the king are in strange contradiction with this opinion. The chronicler Wilhelm the Scot wrote about Philip that the king had a beautiful and noble appearance, elegant manners and kept himself very impressive. For all this, he was distinguished by unusual meekness and modesty, avoided obscene conversations with disgust, carefully attended the service, performed the posts with precision, and wore a hair shirt. He was kind, condescending, and willingly placed complete trust in people who did not deserve it. They, according to Wilhelm, were the culprits of all the troubles and abuses that marked his reign: the introduction of oppressive taxes, extraordinary levies and systematic corruption of the coin. Another chronicler, Giovanni Vilani, wrote that Philip was very handsome, gifted with a serious mind, but he hunted a lot and liked to entrust others with management concerns. Geoffrey also reports that the king easily obeyed bad advice. Thus, we have to admit that his close associates played a large role in Philip's policy: Chancellor Pierre Flott, seal-keeper Guillaume Nogare and coadjutor of the Kingdom of Angerran Marigny. All these were people of noble nature, ascended to the heights of power by the king himself.

Philip ascended the throne of seventeen years of age and first of all took up the resolution of the Sicilian and Aragonese questions inherited from his father. He immediately ceased hostilities and did nothing to support the claims of his brother Carl Valois, who dreamed of becoming the Aragonese (or, at worst, Sicilian) king. The negotiations, however, lasted another ten years and ended with the fact that Sicily remained behind the Aragonese dynasty. In relations with the English king Edward 1, the policy of Philip was more energetic. Between the subjects of the two states, clashes often occurred. Using one of them, Philip in 1295 called the English king, as his vassal, to the court of the Paris Parliament. Edward refused to comply, and war was declared against him. Both opponents were looking for allies. Supporters of Edward became Emperor Adolph, counts of the Netherlands, Geldern, Brabant and Savoy, as well as the king of Castile. Philip's allies were the Count of Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine, the Count of Luxembourg and the Scots. However, of these, only the Scots and Count of Flanders Guy Dampier had a real impact on the events. Edward himself, who was engaged in a heavy war in Scotland, concluded a truce with Philip in 1297, and in 1303 a peace in which Hyenne was left behind by the English king. The whole burden of the war fell on the shoulders of the Flemings. In 1297, the French army invaded Flanders. Philip himself besieged Lille, and Count Robert Artois won the victory at Fournes (largely thanks to the betrayal of the nobility, among which there were many adherents of the French party). After that, Lille surrendered. In 1299, Carl Valois captured Douai, passed through Bruges and in May 1300 entered Ghent. He did not meet resistance anywhere. Count Guy surrendered with his two sons and 51 knights. The king deprived his possessions as a rebel and annexed Flanders to his kingdom. In 1301, Philip traveled around his new possessions and was everywhere greeted with expressions of humility. But he immediately tried to derive maximum benefit from his new acquisition and imposed heavy taxes on the country. This caused discontent, and the harsh rule of Jacques of Chatillon intensified hatred of the French. When riots broke out in Bruges in 1301, Jacques sentenced the guilty to huge fines, ordered the city wall to be broken and a citadel built in the city. Then in May 1302 a second, much more powerful uprising broke out. Within one day, the people killed 1,200 French knights and 2,000 soldiers in the city. After that, all of Flanders took up arms. In June, the French army, led by Robert Artois, approached. But in a stubborn battle at Kurtre, she was utterly defeated. Together with his general, up to 6,000 French knights fell. Thousands of spurs taken from the dead were stacked in the mastricht church as trophies of victory. Philip could not leave not avenged such a shame. In 1304, at the head of a 60,000-strong army, the king approached the borders of Flanders. In August, in a stubborn battle at Mons-en-Null, the Flemings were defeated, but in perfect order retreated to Lille. After several attacks, Philip made peace with the son of Guy Dampier Robert Bethune, who was in captivity. Philip agreed to return the country to him, while the Flemings retained all their rights and privileges. However, for the release of their count and other prisoners of the city had to pay a large indemnity. As a guarantee of ransom, the king took land on the right bank of the Fox with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orshe. He should have returned them after receiving the money, but treacherously violated the contract and left them forever in France.

These events unfolded against the backdrop of growing tensions with dad every year. At first, nothing seemed to portend this conflict. None of the European kings was so loved by Pope Boniface VIII, as Philip the Beautiful. Back in 1290, when the pope was only Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani and as a papal legate came to France, he admired the piety of the young king. Having ascended the Throne in 1294, Boniface assiduously supported the policy of the French king in Spain and Italy. The first signs of mutual distrust were discovered in 1296. In August, the pope issued a bull, in which he forbade the laity to demand and receive subsidies from the clergy. By a strange accident, and perhaps in response to the bull, Philip at the same time banned the export of gold and silver from France: this destroyed him one of the main sources of papal income, because the French church could no longer send any money to Rome. A quarrel could have already arisen, but Boniface’s position on the papal throne was still fragile, the cardinals begged him to stop the scandals caused by the bull, and he ceded to them. In 1297, a bull was published, actually canceling the previous one. Apparently, the pope expected the king to make concessions too. Philip allowed to export to Rome the income of the pope, which he received from the French clergy, but continued to oppress the church, and soon there were new clashes with the pope. The Archbishop of Narbonne complained to Boniface that the royal dignitaries robbed him of his power over some of the vassals of his department and generally cause him various offenses. The pope sent a bishop of Pamiers de Paris Bernard Sesse to Paris on this matter. At the same time, he was instructed to demand the release of the Count of Flanders from captivity and the fulfillment of the previously given promise of participation in the crusade. Bernard, known for his arrogance and hot temper, was completely the wrong person to whom such a delicate commission could be entrusted. Unable to make concessions, he began to threaten Philip with an interdict and generally spoke so harshly that he usually led Philip out of himself. The king sent two members of his council to Pamme and the county of Toulouse to collect evidence to accuse Bernard of rebellion. During the investigation, it turned out that the bishop during his sermons often used inappropriate expressions and set his flock against royal authority. Philip ordered the legate to be arrested and detained at Sanley. He also demanded that the pope depose Bernard and allow him to be brought to secular court. The pope answered the king with an angry letter, demanded the immediate release of his legate, threatened Philip with excommunication and ordered him to appear at his court in order to justify himself from the charges of tyranny, bad governance and minting of a damaged coin. Philip ordered to solemnly burn this bull on the porch of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris. In April 1302, he convened the first General States in history in Paris. They were attended by representatives of the clergy, barons and prosecutors of the main northern and southern cities. To arouse the indignation of the deputies, they read out a fake papal bull in which the pope's claims were strengthened and sharpened. After this, Chancellor Flott turned to them with the question: can the king count on the support of the estates if he takes measures to protect the honor and independence of the state, as well as rid the French church of violating her rights? Nobles and city deputies replied that they were ready to support the king. After a brief hesitation, the clergy also joined the opinion of two other classes.

After this, during the year the opponents hesitated with decisive measures, but hostility between them grew. Finally, in April 1303, Boniface excommunicated the king from the church and freed seven church provinces in the Rhone basin from vassal dependence and from the oath of allegiance to the king. This measure, however, had no effect. Philip declared Boniface a false pope (indeed, there were some doubts about the legality of his election), a heretic and even a warlock. He demanded that an ecumenical council be convened to hear these accusations, but he said that the pope should be at this council as a prisoner and accused. From words he turned to action. In the summer, the loyal Nogare, with a large sum of money, went to Italy. Soon he entered into relations with the enemies of Boniface and formed an extensive conspiracy against him. At that time, Papa was in Anagni, where on September 8 he wanted to betray Philip to a public curse. On the eve of this day, the conspirators broke into the papal palace, surrounded Boniface, showered him with all sorts of insults and demanded his abdication. Nogare threatened that he would chain him and as a criminal would take him to the cathedral in Lyon to convict him. Dad endured these attacks with dignity. For three days he was in the hands of his enemies. Finally, the inhabitants of Anagni freed him. But from the humiliation suffered, Boniface fell into such a frustration that he lost his mind and died on October 11. His humiliation and death had grave consequences for the papacy. The new Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogare from the church, but stopped the persecution of Philip himself. In the summer of 1304, he died. In his place was elected Archbishop of Bordeaux Bertrand du Gotha, who took the name of Clement V. He did not go to Italy, but was ordained in Lyon. In 1309, he settled in Avignon and turned this city into a papal residence. Until his death, he remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king. In addition to many other concessions to Philip, Clement agreed in 1307 with charges against the Knights Templar. In October, 140 French knights of this order were arrested, and a trial began on them for accusing them of heresy. In 1312, the pope declared the order annihilated. Philip, who owed huge sums to the Templars, took possession of all their wealth. In March 1313, the Grandmaster of the Order Jacques Molet was burned. Before his death, he cursed the entire family of the Capetians and predicted his near degeneration. And indeed, shortly after the execution, Philip began to suffer from a debilitating disease, which doctors could not recognize, and died of it in Fonteblo on November 29, 1314. at the 46th year of life. His reign constituted a turning point in the history of medieval France: he expanded the kingdom with the addition of new lands (shortly before his death, he annexed Lyon and its districts to France), forced the church and feudal lords to obey the orders of the king, and suppressed any independent authority in their state. The royal administration under him embraced all aspects of society: cities, the feudal nobility, the clergy - all came under its control. His rule seemed to contemporaries a time of cruel oppression and despotism. But behind all this, a new era was already visible. With the help of a large corporation of lawyers, the king took every opportunity to establish royal courts everywhere and introduce Roman law. Toward the end of his life, all judicial power in the country passed exclusively to the crown, and public life acquired a completely different character than under his predecessors.

All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999

Read on:

Jeanne I (1273-1305), Queen of Navarre, Countess of Champagne and Bree, wife of Philip.

(chronological table).

(chronological table).

People are legends. Middle Ages

Philip IV (Philippe IV le Bel) remains for some historians a mysterious figure.

On the one hand, his entire policy makes him think that he was a man of iron will and rare energy, accustomed to adhere to his goal with unshakable tenacity. Meanwhile, the testimonies of people who personally knew the king are in strange contradiction with this opinion. The chronicler Wilhelm the Scot wrote about Philip that the king had a beautiful and noble appearance, elegant manners and kept himself very impressive. For all this, he was distinguished by unusual meekness and modesty, avoided obscene conversations with disgust, carefully attended the service, performed the posts with precision, and wore a hair shirt. He was kind, condescending, and willingly placed complete trust in people who did not deserve it. They, according to Wilhelm, were the culprits of all the troubles and abuses that marked his reign, the introduction of oppressive taxes, extraordinary levies and systematic corruption of the coin. Another chronicler, Giovanni Vilani, wrote that Philip was very handsome, gifted with a serious mind, but he hunted a lot and liked to entrust others with management concerns. Geoffrey also reports that the king easily obeyed bad advice. Thus, one has to admit that his close associates played a large role in Philip's policy: Chancellor Pierre Flott, curator Guillaume Nogare and coadjutor of the kingdom of Angerran Marigny. All these were people of noble nature, ascended to the heights of power by the king himself.

Philip IV the Beautiful was born in Fontainebleau in 1268, from Philip III and Isabella of Aragon. Philip ascended the throne of seventeen years of age and first of all took up the resolution of the Sicilian and Aragonese questions inherited from his father.

Coronation of Philip III - father of Philip IV the Beautiful

He immediately ceased hostilities and did nothing to support the claims of his brother Carl Valois, who dreamed of becoming the Aragonese (or, at worst, Sicilian) king. The negotiations, however, lasted another ten years and ended with the fact that Sicily remained behind the Aragonese dynasty. In relations with the English king Edward I, the policy of Philip was more energetic. Between the subjects of the two states, clashes often occurred. Using one of them, Philip in 1295 called the English king, as his vassal, to the court of the Paris Parliament. Edward refused to comply, and war was declared against him. Both opponents were looking for allies. Supporters of Edward became Emperor Adolph, counts of the Netherlands, Geldern, Brabant and Savoy, as well as the king of Castile. Philip's allies were the Count of Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine, the Count of Luxembourg and the Scots. However, of these, only the Scots and Count of Flanders Guy Dampier had a real impact on the events. Edward himself, who was engaged in a difficult war in Scotland, concluded a truce with Philip in 1297, and in 1303 a peace in which Hyenne was left to the English king. The whole burden of the war fell on the shoulders of the Flemings. In 1297, the French army invaded Flanders. Philip himself besieged Lille, and Count Robert Artois won the victory at Fournes (largely thanks to the betrayal of the nobility, among which there were many adherents of the French party). After that, Lille surrendered. In 1299, Carl Valois captured Douai, passed through Bruges and in May 1300 entered Ghent.

He did not meet resistance anywhere. Count Guy surrendered with his two sons and 51 knights. The king deprived his possessions as a rebel and annexed Flanders to his kingdom. In 1301, Philip traveled around his new possessions and was everywhere greeted with expressions of humility. But he immediately tried to derive maximum benefit from his new acquisition and imposed heavy taxes on the country. This caused discontent, and the harsh rule of Jacques of Chatillon intensified hatred of the French. When riots broke out in Bruges in 1301, Jacques sentenced the guilty to huge fines, ordered the city wall to be broken and a citadel built in the city. Then in May 1302 a second, much more powerful uprising broke out. Within one day, the people killed 1,200 French knights and 2,000 soldiers in the city. After that, all of Flanders took up arms. In June, the French army, led by Robert Artois, approached. But in a stubborn battle at Kurtre, she was utterly defeated. Together with his general, up to 6,000 French knights fell.

Battle of Curtra

Thousands of spurs taken from the dead were stacked in the mastricht church as trophies of victory. Philip could not leave not avenged such a shame. In 1304, at the head of a 60,000-strong army, the king approached the borders of Flanders. In August, in a stubborn battle at Mons-en-Null, the Flemings were defeated, but in perfect order retreated to Lille. After several attacks, Philip made peace with the son of Guy Dampier Robert Bethune, who was in captivity. Philip agreed to return the country to him, while the Flemings retained all their rights and privileges.

The Battle of Mons-en-Null

However, for the release of their count and other prisoners of the city had to pay a large indemnity. As a guarantee of ransom, the king took land on the right bank of the Fox with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orshe. He should have returned them after receiving the money, but treacherously violated the contract and left them forever in France.

These events unfolded against the backdrop of growing tensions with dad every year. At first, nothing seemed to portend this conflict. None of the European kings was so loved by Pope Boniface VIII, as Philip the Beautiful. Back in 1290, when the pope was only Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani and as a papal legate came to France, he admired the piety of the young king. Having ascended the throne in 1294, Boniface assiduously supported the policy of the French king in Spain and Italy. The first signs of mutual distrust were discovered in 1296. In August, the pope issued a bull, in which he forbade the laity to demand and receive subsidies from the clergy. By a strange accident, or perhaps in response to the bull, Philip at the same time banned the export of gold and silver from France: this destroyed him one of the main sources of papal income, because the French church could no longer send any money to Rome. Already then a quarrel could arise, but Boniface’s position on the papal throne was still fragile, the cardinals begged him to stop the scandals caused by the bull, and he ceded to them.

Boniface VIII - Pope

In 1297, a bull was published, actually canceling the previous one. Apparently, the pope expected the king to make concessions too. Philip allowed to export to Rome the income of the pope, which he received from the French clergy, but continued to oppress the church, and soon there were new clashes with the pope. The Archbishop of Narbonne complained to Boniface that the royal dignitaries took away his lenient power over some of the vassals of his department and generally caused him various offenses. The pope sent a bishop of Pamiers de Paris Bernard Sesse to Paris on this matter. At the same time, he was instructed to demand the release of the Count of Flanders from captivity and the fulfillment of the previously given promise of participation in the crusade. Bernard, known for his arrogance and hot temper, was completely the wrong person to whom such a delicate commission could be entrusted. Unable to make concessions, he began to threaten Philip with an interdict and generally spoke so sharply that he usually led Philip to his temper. The king sent two members of his council to Pamme and the county of Toulouse to collect evidence to accuse Bernard of rebellion. During the investigation, it turned out that the bishop during his sermons often used inappropriate expressions and set his flock against royal authority. Philip ordered the legate to be arrested and detained at Sanley. He also demanded that the pope depose Bernard and allow him to be brought to secular court. The pope answered the king with an angry letter, demanded the immediate release of his legate, threatened Philip with excommunication and ordered him to appear in his court in order to justify himself from accusations of tyranny, and the bad government Philip ordered to solemnly burn this bull on the porch of Notre Dame Cathedral.

In April 1302, he convened the first General States in history in Paris. They were attended by representatives of the clergy, barons and prosecutors of the main northern and southern cities. In order to arouse the indignation of the deputies, they read out a fake papal bull, in which the pope's claims were strengthened and sharpened. After this, Chancellor Flott turned to them with the question: can the king count on the support of the estates if he takes measures to protect the honor and independence of the state, as well as rid the French church of violating her rights? Nobles and city deputies replied that they were ready to support the king. After a brief hesitation, the clergy also joined the opinion of two other classes. After this, during the year the opponents hesitated with decisive measures, but hostility between them grew. Finally, in April 1303, Boniface excommunicated the king from the church and freed the seven church provinces in the Rhone basin from vassal dependence and from the oath of allegiance to the king. This measure, however, had no effect. Philip declared Boniface a false father (indeed, there were some doubts about the legality of his election), a heretic and even a warlock. He demanded that an ecumenical council be convened to hear these accusations, but he said that the pope should be at this council as a prisoner and accused. From words he turned to action. In the summer, the loyal Nogare, with a large sum of money, went to Italy. Soon he entered into relations with the enemies of Boniface and formed an extensive conspiracy against him. At that time, Papa was in Anagni, where on September 8 he wanted to betray Philip to a public curse.

On the eve of this day, the conspirators broke into the papal palace, surrounded Boniface, showered him with all sorts of insults and demanded his abdication. Nogare threatened that he would chain him and as a criminal would take him to the cathedral in Lyon to convict him. Dad endured these attacks with dignity. For three days he was in the hands of his enemies. Finally, the inhabitants of Anagni freed him. But from the humiliation suffered, Boniface fell into such a frustration that he lost his mind and died on October 11. His humiliation and death had grave consequences for the papacy. The new Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogare from the church, but stopped the persecution of Philip himself. In the summer of 1304, he died. In his place was elected Archbishop of Bordeaux Bertrand du Gotha, who took the name of Clement V.

Clement V - Pope

He did not go to Italy, but was ordained in Lyon. In 1309, he settled in Avignon and turned this city into a papal residence. Until his death, he remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king. In addition to many other concessions to Philip, Clement agreed in 1307 with charges against the Knights Templar.

The burning of the Templars

In October, 140 French knights of this order were arrested, and a trial began on them for accusing them of heresy. In 1312, the pope declared the order annihilated. Philip, who owed huge sums to the Templars, took possession of all their wealth. In March 1313, the Grandmaster of the Order Jacques Molet was burned. Before his death, he cursed the entire family of the Capetians and predicted his near degeneration.

Grand Master of the Knights Templar Jacques de Molay

In 1314, Philip conceived a new campaign against Flanders, where anti-French forces intensified. On August 1, he convened the General States, which agreed to the introduction of an emergency tax on war, the first ever tax act with the sanction of popular representation. Soon after the execution, Philip began to suffer from a debilitating disease that the doctors could not recognize.

And the campaign did not take place, because on November 29, 1314, at the 46th year of his life in Fonteblo, the king apparently died of a stroke, although rumor attributed his death to the curse of Jacques de Molay or the poisoning by the Templars.

Contemporaries did not like Philip the Beautiful, people close to him were afraid of the rational cruelty of this unusually beautiful and surprisingly unemotional man. Violence against the pope caused outrage throughout the Christian world. Large feudal lords were unhappy with the infringement of their rights and the strengthening of the central administration, which consisted of rootless people. The taxing class was indignant at the increase in taxes, the so-called "corruption" of the coin, that is, the decrease in its gold content while forcing its face value to be kept, which led to inflation. Philip's heirs were forced to soften his centralization policy.

The reign of Philip IV the Beautiful, who ascended the French throne at the age of seventeen, after the death of his father Philip III, on October 5, 1285, is considered by historians not only as one of the most important periods in the history of France, but also as one of the most controversial.

The reconciliation of Philip IV the Beautiful with the English king Edward I

This reign seems important because the French kingdom reaches the peak of its power: the largest state in the Christian Western world (13-15 million or a third of the entire Catholic world) in terms of population, real economic prosperity (just an example is the increase in arable land or the heyday of the Champagne fair). In addition, the power of the monarch is so strengthened that in Philippe they see the first ruler of a new type in Europe: the state is as powerful and centralized as ever, the kingdom is surrounded by legists - educated and educated people, real experts in the field of law.

However, this rainbow-colored picture does not conform to other facts. So, the apparent economic prosperity only masks the sluggish crisis, as evidenced by numerous shocks in the financial market (under Philippe, monetary policy was extremely, as they say, voluntaristic). And at the end of his reign, the fairs in Champagne did not at all compete with the Italian sea trade, and in addition, literally the day after the king’s death, the devastating famine 1315-1317 erupted. Moreover, if you look closely, you can see that the king did not know his kingdom well: he could not even imagine how far his borders stretched, he could not establish direct taxes, and effective and clear government was still unattainable. It is unlikely that the chain of dubious, semi-political, semi-secular scandals added popularity to the king, in particular, the process of the bishop of Troyes, Guichard, who was accused of killing the queen through witchcraft or the process of the bishop of Pamiersky, Bernard Sesse, a process that complicated the already difficult relationship between the king and dad. And the process of the Templars? And the imprisonment of the king’s daughter-in-law and the execution of their lovers? In general, the identity of King Philip the Beautiful remains mysterious. Who was he? The core of French politics or a simple tool in the hands of their advisers? The authors of the chronicles - contemporaries of the king - are inclined mainly to the second option - they, in particular, reproach the king for inept monetary and tax policy, explaining this by the fact that worthless advice was given to the king by worthless advisers. But, despite such uncertainty in estimates, the king still sees the "non-classical" monarch of the Middle Ages. Although the chroniclers insist that France treated him with respect, which, however, he allegedly owed to the authority of his grandfather, Philippe Augustus, who had undertaken economic and political reforms aimed at strengthening the central government.

The leitmotif of historians contemporary to Philip the Beautiful is the regret of the era of "His Majesty St. Louis," which is considered almost like a golden age, while Philip IV is characterized only as the "antipode of St. Louis." But, despite all this, historians agree on one thing: a new era began with this king. However, it is hardly worth exaggerating the "modernity" of Philippe the Beautiful and France of his time.

Philip IV the Beautiful - King of France from 1285 to 1314

Nevertheless, the reign of Philip IV the Beautiful constituted a turning point in the history of medieval France: he expanded the kingdom with the addition of new lands (shortly before his death, he annexed Lyon and its okrug to France), forced the church and feudal lords to obey the orders of the king, and suppressed any independent power. The royal administration under him embraced all aspects of society: cities, the feudal nobility, the clergy - all came under its control. His rule seemed to contemporaries a time of cruel oppression and despotism. But behind all this, a new era was already visible. With the help of a large corporation of lawyers, the king took every opportunity to establish royal courts everywhere and introduce Roman law. Toward the end of his life, all judicial power in the country passed exclusively to the crown, and public life acquired a completely different character than under his predecessors.

In compiling the article, material provided specifically for the project by Vadim Strunov was used.