Philip IV didn't get his nickname Handsome for nothing. Correct facial features, large fixed eyes, wavy dark hair. He looked like a magnificent sculpture, motionless and bewitchingly inaccessible in its majestic detachment. The melancholy that eternal imprint on his face made him a mysterious and unique personality in history …
Philip was the second son of King Philip III and Isabella of Aragon. An extraordinary beauty was already visible in the angelic features of the baby, and it is unlikely that a happy father, looking at his offspring, could assume that he was going to become the last large-scale representative of the Capetian royal family.
Philip III is not a lucky monarch. The feudal lords did not really obey him, the treasury was empty, and the papal legates dictated their will.
And when the almighty pope ordered the French king to lead a campaign in Aragon in order to punish the Aragonese king for Sicily taken from the pope's favorite (Charles of Anjou), Philip could not resist, and the French army went on a campaign. Fate was not on Philip's side: the French suffered a heavy defeat, and the king himself died on the way back.
Philip IV the Handsome
His seventeen-year-old son, who fought with his father, learned from this deplorable enterprise one, but very important lesson - a persistent unwillingness to serve other people's, even papal, interests. In 1285, the coronation of Philip IV took place and his era began, which in all respects could be called "new".
First of all, the young king had to deal with the legacy of his father, to solve the Aragonese problem. He decided it in the most advantageous way for France - he completely stopped military operations, despite the urgent objections of the Holy See.
A real shock for medieval Europe was the refusal of a still very inexperienced monarch from the services of high-ranking advisers to his father. Instead, he established a Royal Council, membership in which was secured by special merit, and by no means of noble origin. This was a real revolution for feudal society.
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Thus, not noble people, but educated people, gained access to power. For their knowledge of the laws, they were called legists and were very hated. Three of his associates played a special role at the court of Philip the Fair: Chancellor Pierre Flotte, Seal Keeper Guillaume Nogaret and Coadjutor Angerrand Marigny. Raised to power by the king himself, they were extremely loyal to him and determined the course of all state policy.
And the whole policy of Philip IV was reduced to solving two problems: how to annex new lands to the state and where to get money for this.
Jeanne I of Navarre, princess of the House of Champagne, reigning queen of Navarre since 1274, daughter and heiress of Henry I of Navarre and Queen of France since 1285 - wife of Philip IV the Fair
Even Philip's marriage was subordinated to the great goal of expanding France: he married Jeanne I, Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne. This marriage gave him the opportunity to annex Champagne to his possessions, and also led to the first unification of France and Navarre.
But this was not the ultimate dream of the king. Refusing to aiding papal interests, Philip focused on the affairs of the English. The stumbling block was the monarch's desire to get Flanders.
Having summoned Edward I to the court of the Paris parliament, and using his refusal as a pretext for war, both sides, having acquired allies, with great pleasure began military operations. Having learned about this, Pope Boniface VIII called on both monarchs to reconcile. And both ignored this call.
The matter was further complicated by the fact that Philip was in dire need of money to conduct the war, and therefore forbade the export of gold and silver from France to Rome. The pope lost one of the sources of income and the relationship between Philip and Boniface did not become warmer from this.
Philip IV the Handsome - King of France from 1285, King of Navarre 1284-1305, son of Philip III the Bold, from the Capetian dynasty
The pope threatened to excommunicate Philip from the church. And then the Legists took up arms, that is, the feathers, and brought a number of accusations against the Pope, both of intrigues against France and of heresy.
The agitation bore fruit: the French ceased to be afraid of the papal wrath, and Nogare, who went to Italy, concocted an extensive conspiracy against the pope. Soon the rather elderly Boniface VIII died and the protege of France, Clement V, sat on the papal throne. The papal dispute was resolved.
Philip always lacked money. The policy of amalgamation and affiliation that he pursued was costly. The first victim of the king's financial difficulties was the coin. Its weight was significantly lightened, and its output was increased, which led to an increase in inflation. The second point of the king's financial program was taxation. Taxes rose steadily, causing riots to erupt. And finally - the Templar business.
The Templar Order arose at the beginning of the 12th century in Jerusalem. He represented himself as knights guarding the Holy Sepulcher. In addition, the knights - Templars guarded their own, very considerable, wealth and money of those who trusted them. The offensive of the Muslims forced the Templars to leave the Holy Land, and over time, their main function became precisely financial. In fact, they became a bank that kept and invested money.
One of the debtors of the order was Philip the Handsome himself. As life has shown, the king did not like to repay debts very much, and therefore in 1307, with the tacit consent of the pope, all the Templars throughout France were arrested in one day. The trial of the order was clearly sewn with white thread, the accusations were far-fetched, interrogations were carried out with the use of torture and the case ended in blazing fires throughout France. The Grand Master of the Order, Jean Molay, was also burned.
Jacques de Molay - 23rd and last Master of the Knights Templar
As the popular rumor testified, before the execution, the master cursed Clement V and Philip IV and predicted the death of the first in forty days, and the second in twelve months. The prediction came true by an amazing thing.
The pope died of dysentery thirty-three days after the execution of Molay, and the king then fell ill with some strange disease and died on November 29, 1314. The curse fell on the descendants of Philip. His three sons - "damned kings" - did not leave offspring on the throne, according to the curse of the Templars, and the Capetian family soon broke off.
Philip the Handsome has remained a mysterious and contradictory figure in history. Some call him a great reformer, others a cruel despot who fell under the influence of their advisers. The results of his reign turned out to be disappointing: the power vertical was never fully formed, but finances were upset in the end.
The zigzags of his politics, as well as frequent mood swings, as well as the manner of freezing without blinking at one point, many modern researchers associate with a manic-depressive disorder of his consciousness.
According to eyewitnesses, at certain times he was cheerful, talkative and even joked. But soon he became gloomy, withdrawn, silent and indifferently cruel.
Philip IV the Handsome
Well, the powers that be in this world also have weaknesses. And, nevertheless, King Philip the Handsome during his reign made France the most powerful country in the world and began a new era in the history of this state.