Philip IV Handsome. biography
1268–1314) French king (since 1285) from the Capet dynasty. Expanded the territory of the royal domain. Captured Flanders (1300), but lost it (1302) as a result of an uprising of the Flanders cities. Made the papacy dependent on the French kings. Achieved from the Pope the abolition of the Knights Templar (1312). Philip IV, a silent but very handsome man, "like a statue carved of stone" (according to the chroniclers of the same era), a man who thought a lot, but spoke very little, was born in Fontainebleau in 1268. His father Philip III the Bold in his first marriage was married to Isabella of Aragon, who gave him three sons: Louis, Philip the Handsome and Charles of Valois. The second time he married in 1274 was Mary of Brabant, Countess of Flanders, Queen of Sicily and Jerusalem. Maria gave birth to her husband only one son - Louis Count d'Evre. By order of the Roman Curia, Philip III led a military campaign in Aragon to punish the local king for daring to take Sicily from Charles of Anjou (the Neapolitan king, vassal and favorite of the Pope). The campaign ended in a heavy defeat for the French army, and the king himself died on the way back. Young Philip also participated in this campaign, although he believed that the forces of the state should not be put at the service of foreign interests and that they should serve the greatness and power of their own country. Philip the Handsome was crowned at Reims at the age of seventeen. For the Middle Ages, the very beginning of the reign of the young Philip was shocking. He created the so-called Royal Council, completely beyond the limits of the ideas that existed at that time. His predecessors also had their own royal councils - however, they consisted mainly of representatives of the nobility and higher clergy, regardless of their abilities and knowledge. Philip the Beautiful, when choosing advisers, was not guided by the nobility of origin. Most of the council came from the petty nobility and the emerging burgess class. They were called legalists, because they were, as a rule, good experts in law, often studying at several universities (at that time in Paris, for example, only ecclesiastical law was taught, but in Orleans and Montpellier - common law). In addition, the Royal Council of Philip the Handsome was a permanent institution, reminiscent of modern government. Some historians reproach this institution for the fact that it consisted of people "ignoble", "parvenu". This was not entirely true: along with them, the highest nobility was also represented in the council. The Council even included the king's brother Charles of Valois, and later the royal sons. At the same time, not a single historian can deny these “parvens” their exceptional administrative and organizational abilities and the desire to make the Capet kingdom a strong state. An important role in Philip's politics was played by his entourage: chancellor Pierre Flotte, keeper of the seal Guillaume Nogaret and coadjutor of the kingdom Anguerrand Marigny. All these were people of no nobility, raised to the heights of power by the king himself. Under Philip the Handsome, Paris becomes the capital in the full sense of the word. In the center of the city, in the western part of the Cité on the Seine, a magnificent architectural complex began to be built. It includes the royal palace, the meeting place of his council, the Parisian parliament (that was the name of the court at that time), and later - the bodies of estate representation. The construction of this complex was carried out for many years and was completed shortly before the death of Philip the Handsome. A well-thought-out system of state administration is being formed. There is an institution of royal officials who headed the judicial and administrative districts: in northern France - bails, in southern France - seneschals. At the same time, Parisian institutions manage the entire system of government in France. In case of disagreement with their actions, one could appeal to the king. Apparently, Philip the Handsome was aware of the growing weight of his power. “He is both the king, and the emperor, and the Pope in his country,” the Aragonese ambassador to the French court characterized Philip IV. Philip often clashed with the English king Edward I. In 1295, he called his opponent, as his vassal, to the court of the Parisian parliament. Edward refused to submit, and war was declared on him. Upon learning of this, Pope Boniface VIII ordered both monarchs to conclude a truce. However, neither Philip IV nor Edward I listened to his demand. From this episode begins a dramatic duel between Philip the Handsome and Boniface VIII. The struggle in it is not over issues of religion and church (it even seems that the king was a much more devout Catholic than the Pope), but because of power and money. Philip the Handsome and Edward were looking for allies in the upcoming war. On the side of Edward, Emperor Adolf, the counts of Flanders, Guelders, Brabant and Savoy, as well as the king of Castile, expressed their readiness to speak. Philip's allies were the Count of Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine, the Count of Luxembourg and the Scots. However, of all those listed, only the Scots and the Count of Flanders, Guy Dampierre, had a real impact on events. Edward himself, busy with a difficult war in Scotland, concluded a truce with Philip (1297), and then a peace (1303), according to which Guyenne was left to the English king. In 1297 the French army invaded Flanders. Philip himself laid siege to Lille, and Count Robert of Artois won a victory at Fournes (largely due to the betrayal of the nobility, among which there were many adherents of the French party). After that, Lille surrendered. In 1299, Charles of Valois captured Douai, passed through Bruges and entered Ghent in May of the following year. He met no resistance anywhere. Count Guy surrendered, along with his two sons and 51 knights. The king deprived him of his possessions as a rebel and annexed the rich Flanders to his kingdom. In 1301, Philip traveled to new possessions and everywhere was met with expressions of humility. But he immediately tried to extract the maximum benefit from his new acquisition and imposed exorbitant taxes on the country. Money played an excessively large role under Philip the Handsome: growing tributes, taxes and tithes provided the king with the unflattering nickname "forgery king" (when minting coins, he began to reduce the metal content in them). This caused discontent, and the harsh administration of the Frenchman Jacques of Chaillon further increased the hatred of the invaders. When riots broke out in Bruges, Jacques sentenced the perpetrators to huge fines, ordered the city wall to be broken and a citadel built in the city. 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, a French army led by Robert Artois approached. But in a stubborn battle at Courtrai, she was defeated. Together with their commander, up to 6,000 French knights fell. Thousands of spurs taken from the dead were piled in the Mastricht church as trophies of victory. Philip could not leave such a disgrace unavenged. In 1304, at the head of an army of 60,000, the king approached the borders of Flanders. In August, in a stubborn battle at Mons-en-Nullet, the Flemings were defeated, but retreated in good order to Lille. Philip made peace with the son of Guy Dampierre, Robert of Bethune, who was in his captivity. Philip agreed to return the country to him and keep the Flemings their rights and privileges. However, for the release of their count and other prisoners, the cities had to pay a huge indemnity. As a pledge to pay the ransom, the king took lands on the right bank of the Lys with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orsha. He undertook to return them after receiving the money, but treacherously violated the contract and left them forever with France. As mentioned above, money played a decisive role in the dispute between Philip the Handsome and Boniface VIII. The reforms carried out by the French king in the state apparatus, like the war in Guyenne and in Flanders, all cost a lot of money. Therefore, Philip the Handsome (and the English King Edward I) taxed church property. The Pope sharply opposed this decision, forbidding clerics in England and France by a special bull of 1296 to pay "secular" taxes. In response, the French and English kings began to take the estates from those who carried out the order of the Pope. Philip the Handsome went even further and forbade allocating funds from the kingdom for the maintenance of the papal court. But when, two years later, the French and English kings made peace and even sealed their union with family ties - Philip's daughter Isabella became the wife of Edward's son and successor - Edward II, the Pope, formally invited to the French-English peace negotiations, was forced to temporarily retreat. Just at this time he was struggling with strong opposition from the cardinals. Philip the Handsome decided that he would not allow the Pope to interfere even in the church affairs of his country. In the south of France, the royal court opposed the bishops who refused to pay tribute from church property. In 1301, the Pope issued several bulls at once, in which he sharply condemned the behavior of the French royal court and announced the convening of a general church council in Rome, where he, together with the French prelates and bishops, intended to condemn and punish Philip the Handsome. In response, the royal legalists quickly organized practically the first French estates parliament, which not only rejected the papal bulls, but also accused Boniface VIII (following the example of the Roman opposition of the cardinals) of dubious legitimacy and suspicion of heresy. But just at that time the uprising broke out in Flanders, which was mentioned above, Boniface VIII rejoiced after the battle of Courtrai. At a solemn synod, he announced a grandiloquent bull in which he justified the right of the church to rule with "both swords." Boniface ordered his legate in France to put a curse on Philip the Handsome. However, the king imprisoned the legate and burned the bull. From this moment on, events take a dramatic turn. Clever legalists, taking advantage of the situation, at the new "estate meetings" put forward against the Pope both true and fictitious accusations of crimes against the kingdom. In this way they managed to win the universities, monasteries and cities over to their side; voices are heard demanding the convening of an ecclesiastical council and the removal of the unworthy Pope. This time the council should take place not in Rome, but in France. One of the prominent (and most cunning) members of the royal council, the legalist Guillaume Nogaret, was sent to the Pope with a summons to the church council. Boniface at that time, however, was not in Rome, but in his native city of Anagni, where he was preparing to announce a new bull that would bring a final curse to Philip the Handsome. Boniface VIII receives an uninvited guest in his bedroom. Shortly after this visit, the Pope dies. According to the historian Favier, someone gave him a slap in the face. Who - has not been established, although it is claimed that it was Nogare Boniface VIII who briefly survived this humiliation - it is possible that his early death was the result of a mental shock from such an attack. Many French historians have tried to rid Nogaret of unflattering suspicion and place the blame for the incident in the papal bedroom on the Roman servants. However, despite their efforts, Nogaret retained the reputation of a man who "slapped the Pope." The new Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogaret, but stopped the persecution of Philip himself. In the summer of 1304, he also departed to another world. In his place was elected the Archbishop of Bordeaux Bertrand du Gotha, who took the name of Clement V. In 1309 he settled in Avignon and founded the papal residence here. Until his death, he remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king. Clement V canceled all the bulls of Boniface directed against Philip, and finally transferred his court to Avignon. At the end of the XII century in France, and especially in Paris, a large number of merchants settled - immigrants from Lombardy. Therefore, in the Middle Ages, all usurers and interest-bearers received the collective name "Lombards". They were joined by businessmen of French origin and Jews who traded in the same craft. In 1306, Philip the Handsome brought down sanctions on the usury activities of the Lombards, shamelessly confiscating property at the same time, then extended his repressions to the Jews, expelling them from France. The population, among which there were many who were indebted to the Lombards and Jewish usurers, greeted these draconian measures with enthusiasm. On May 15, 1307, Philip the Handsome spoke in Poitiers with his protege, Pope Clement V. At this meeting, the king for the first time brought charges against the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar arose at the beginning of the 12th century in Jerusalem, its members called themselves church knights. They took care of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and during the period of the Crusades they were organized in a military way. Along with this, the Templars guarded the treasury - both their own and those belonging to the rulers or just private individuals. With the retreat of the crusaders from the holy land, the center of gravity of the Templars' activities shifted from the military to the financial area. In all major cities there were so-called temples, which in fact were banking houses. The treasures of the order - and indeed large ones - reached incredible proportions in the legends and rumors that circulated about them, becoming the envy of the main competitors of the Templars - the Italian bankers. On Friday, October 13, 1307 (according to the Julian calendar), Philip the Handsome made a sudden arrest of the Templars throughout France. They were accused of desecration of the cross, idolatry and sodomy. It is possible that the king believed much of what was said about the Templars among the people (they were reproached for secularism and pride, for dark rites, and much more). However, the main reason for his intervention was probably that, as in disputes with Boniface, he considered himself the most chosen defender of Christianity, the most Christian king, whose right and duty is direct intervention in the affairs of the church. At first, Philip tried to set Pope Clement V against the Templars, however, when he showed no desire to act, he took the fate of the order into his own hands. Probably, money again played a major role in the decision of the king. Philip the Handsome owed the Templars huge sums. The "judgment" to which several hundred Templars were subjected consisted of torture, false promises of mercy, and extraction of confessions to all sorts of crimes. The Grand Master of the Order, Jacques Molay himself, during such a "trial" admitted to denying Christ and spitting on the cross. When Clement V showed a timid desire to arrange a church inquisitorial process, all the Templars began to abandon their own. confessions. By royal order, more than fifty members of the order were burned at the stake "for refusing recognized crimes." Clement V convened in October 1311 in the city of Vienne a general church council. Under pressure from the French court, it was decided to abolish the Knights Templar and confiscate its property, which happened in April 1312. Initially, the confiscated funds were supposed to be transferred to another order and used to organize new crusades, but most of this huge property went to Philip himself and other monarchs. They, on the advice of the king, also banned the order of the Templars in their territories and profited from their wealth. The Grand Master of the Order, Jacques Molay, was also burned. As it was later passed from mouth to mouth, before his death, he predicted to Clement V and Philip IV the Handsome that they would appear before the Supreme Judge, one in forty days, and the other in twelve months. The rest will be done by the fire element. And the prediction came true. At first, the Pope died of dysentery and bouts of vomiting. This happened at Rock Sea, located in the valley of the Rhone, on April 20, 1314, in the ninth year of his pontificate, or, according to the Gregorian calendar, May 1, on the day of St. Philip. Exactly thirty-three days have passed since de Molay's martyrdom. Philip the Handsome died on Friday 29 November 1314 at Fontainebleau, where he had ordered himself to be transported earlier that month. It is curious that the "Phoebic calendar" of astrologers gives this day the symbolic name "House in flames." Exactly 255 days separate the auto-da-fé on the Jewish island and Philip's agony. Both of them, the Pope and the king, died at the time indicated in the last curse of de Molay. The voice of retribution, sounded from the flames of the fire, struck not only the Pope and the king. The curse left a centuries-old seal on all the offspring of Philip IV the Handsome. The women of his family, by virtue of their debauchery, generously endowed the world with illegitimate children, later called, not without humor by children, "God's will."
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PHILIP IV THE BEAUTIFUL
1268–1314) French king (1285–1314) from the Capetian dynasty. Expanded the territory of the royal domain. He made the papacy dependent on the French kings (Avignon captivity of the popes). Convened the first Estates-General (1302). Achieved from the pope the abolition of the Knights Templar (1312). Philip the Handsome was born at Fontainebleau in 1268. His father, Philip III the Bold, in his first marriage was married to Isabella of Aragon, who bore him three sons: Louis, Philip the Handsome and Charles of Valois. The second time he married Mary of Brabant, Countess of Flanders, Queen of Sicily and Jerusalem. Philip IV was crowned at Reims at the age of seventeen. He came to power after the death of his father during a campaign in Aragon. In 1284, Philip married Jeanne, Queen of Navarre and Countess de Champagne. From this marriage he had three sons - Louis X the Grumpy, Charles IV the Handsome and Philip V the Long and a daughter, Isabella. Under Philip IV, the foundations of all further French diplomacy were laid. His reign was marked by a large number of negotiations, which were aimed either at territorial acquisitions or, conversely, at preventing wars. All this contributed to the development and improvement of French diplomacy. It began to play a very important role, entering into profitable alliances, bringing to life powerful coalitions. Previously, France's diplomatic relations with foreign countries were reduced to rare and short-term missions. The negotiations were mostly oral. It was only under Philip that written diplomatic relations were established, and embassies became a frequent occurrence. Diplomatically, the Sicilian and Aragonese issues were resolved, which were inherited by Philip the Handsome from his father. He immediately stopped hostilities and did not support the claims of his brother Charles of Valois, who dreamed of becoming the Aragonese (or Sicilian) king. In order to settle the conflict, a real international congress was even convened in 1291 in Tarascon - something like the congresses of the new time - which was attended by representatives of the pope, the French, English, Neapolitan and Aragonese kings and where pan-European affairs were discussed. In relations with the English king Edward I, Philip's policy was more stringent. There were often conflicts between the subjects of the two states. Taking advantage of one of them, Philip in 1295 called the English king, as his vassal, to the court of the Parisian parliament. Edward refused to submit, and war was declared on him. But already in 1297, Edward, busy with a difficult war in Scotland, concluded a truce with Philip, and in 1303 - a peace according to which Guyenne was left to the English king. The kings even sealed their union with family ties - Philip's daughter Isabella became the wife of Edward's son and successor - Edward II. And in foreign policy, as well as in domestic, Philip IV followed the advice of his legists, who were entirely obliged to him for their promotion through the ranks. These were mostly petty knights or people from the bourgeoisie, newly minted nobles. With the help of the Legists, mostly educated in the law schools of Italy and France, and becoming skilful defenders of royal interests, Philip tried to carry out his grandiose international designs. He carried them out primarily with the help of diplomatic skill, and not weapons. The French king liked to give his seizures an outwardly legal form. That is why litigation was so widespread under him. Almost every major undertaking in the reign of Philip IV took the form of a process. His lawyers, acting under various names - "royal notaries", "knights of the king", "king's people" - and allowing lawlessness in defending the interests of the king, invariably covered themselves with the appearance of the law. France was turning into a strong feudal monarchy, which led to a clash with the papacy, which, having defeated the Holy Roman Empire, continued to interfere powerfully in the affairs of European sovereigns, to claim dominance in Europe and "all over the world." In the confrontation with Pope Benedict VIII, the diplomatic talents of Philip IV were fully revealed. Boniface VIII was elected to the papacy in December 1294, when he was 76 years old. A connoisseur of church law, he was distinguished by extraordinary dexterity in business and was known for his inexhaustible energy and perseverance in defending the ideas of papal supremacy. The reforms introduced by the French king in the state apparatus, as well as the war on almost two fronts with England in Guyenne and in Flanders - all this cost a lot of money. Therefore, Philip (as, indeed, the English king Edward I) taxed church property. Boniface responded in 1296 with a formidable bull, which forbade, under pain of excommunication, secular sovereigns from imposing any kind of taxes on the clergy, and forbidding the clergy from paying anything without papal permission. This prohibition dealt a blow to one of the fundamental rights of the monarch. Then the French and English kings began to take the estates from everyone who obeyed the pope. Philip went even further: by a special decree, he forbade the export of gold and silver from the kingdom, and thus the Roman curia lost all receipts from France. A sharp controversy followed: indignant messages from the pope and anonymous pamphlets from champions of royal interests. However, when the French and English kings made peace two years later, the Pope, formally invited to the French-English peace negotiations, was forced to temporarily retreat. During this time, he was fighting strong opposition from the cardinals, led by the Columns. Boniface feared that the Columns would unite with the French king. For several years, Philip IV kept the pope under the constant threat of an alliance with his worst enemies in Italy, and at the same time occasionally provided the pope with the financial assistance that he so badly needed. Boniface VIII still managed to suppress the opposition. This success, as well as the huge crowds of pilgrims who descended on Rome on the occasion of the jubilee year 1300, made him feel his strength. He appeared before the assembled tens of thousands and, in the most defiant manner, declared his claim to supreme power in worldly affairs. However, the French king decided that he would not allow the pope to interfere not only in worldly, but even in the church affairs of his country. In 1301 the former dispute about the taxation of the clergy grew into a general dispute about the rights of the papacy and the French king. Another reason for the aggravation of relations was the case of the papal legate, sent to Philip to collect money for the crusade and detained in France. The papal legate, Bishop of Pameres Bernard Sesse, not having achieved concessions, began to threaten Philip with an interdict. Philip ordered the legate to be arrested and taken into custody in Sanli. He demanded from the pope that he deposed Bernard and allowed him to be brought to a secular court. The pope, in response, insisted on the immediate release of the legate. Boniface deprived the French king of the right to collect taxes from the clergy and forbade the French clergy to pay anything to the king without the permission of the pope. He accused Philip IV of seizing church property, of tyrannical acts and other misdeeds, and announced his decision to convene the French clergy to a church council, which was to open in Rome on November 1, 1302. Boniface suggested that the king himself go there or send his representatives. “However,” the bull ended, “we will not fail to carry it out even in the event of your absence. And you will hear God's judgment pronounced by our lips." Philip ordered to solemnly burn this bull on the porch of Notre Dame Cathedral. A skilful campaign against the pope followed, organized by eminent legalists. Forgeries were launched: fictitious papal bulls and fictitious replies to them by the king. These fakes were accepted by many as the truth. Playing on national feelings, the legalists presented the matter as Boniface's desire to turn France into a vassal state. Universities, monasteries and cities took the side of the king, voices were heard, demands to convene a Church Council and remove the unworthy pope. This time the council should take place not in Rome, but in France. Not stopping in time, but struggling with this wave of national feeling, Boniface made a fatal miscalculation. In April 1302, Philip IV convened in Paris the first Estates-General in history. 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 were read a false papal bull, in which the claims of the pope were strengthened and sharpened. After that, Chancellor Flott addressed the delegates 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 to save the French church from violating its rights? The states supported the king's line. In May 1302, an uprising broke out in Flanders, caused by the heavy burden of taxes. In the famous "Battle of the Spurs" at Courtrai, the militias of the Flemish cities inflicted a severe defeat on the royal knights. All of Flanders was cleared of the French. Then Boniface, inspired by the defeat of Philip IV, responded to the decision of the Estates General with the famous bull, in which the papal maximum program was formulated. There are two swords - spiritual and secular. The spiritual sword is in the hands of the pope, the secular sword is in the hands of the sovereigns, but the sovereigns can use it only for the church, in accordance with the will of the pope. “Spiritual authority must set the earthly authority, and judge it if it deviated from the true path…” Submission to the pope was declared an article of faith, and not only the rebellious Philip, but the entire French people were declared deprived of salvation if he did not obey the will of Boniface. In April 1303, the pope excommunicated the king and freed the seven ecclesiastical provinces in the Rhone basin from vassalage and oath of allegiance to the king. Then Philip declared Boniface a false pope (indeed, there were some doubts about the legality of his election), a heretic and even a warlock. Boniface had gone too far: neither kings nor nations could be intimidated by anathemas. The legists worked up public opinion accordingly: emissaries of the king scurried all over France, who convinced the subjects of the correctness of Philip's actions. The French king demanded that an ecumenical council be convened, but at the same time he said that the pope should be at this council as a prisoner and accused. He moved from words to deeds. One of the prominent (and most cunning) members of the royal council, the legalist Guillaume Nogaret, was sent to the pope with a summons to the church council. Boniface at that time, however, did not live in Rome, but in his hometown of Anagni (where, according to some sources, he retired, hiding from the Roman nobility led by the Columns), where he was preparing to announce a new bull on September 8, passing the final curse on Philip . But after meeting with Nogare, dad fell ill and died on October 11. The pope's claim to supremacy was defeated in the struggle against royalty. An important consequence of the struggle between Philip IV and Boniface VII was that the king for the first time set the precedent for appealing papal decisions to the Ecumenical Council, which was thus placed above the pope. This idea was destined to play an important role later, both during the schism in the Western Church and several centuries later. In 1304, at the head of an army of 60,000, the king undertook a new campaign in Flanders. In the end, he succeeded, as a result of not so much military action as clever diplomatic maneuvers, to impose peace on Flanders in 1305. The Flemings retained all their rights and privileges. However, they had to pay a large indemnity. As a pledge to pay the ransom, the king took lands on the right bank of the Lys with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orsha. Philip was supposed to return them after receiving the money, but treacherously violated the contract and left them forever with France. After the pontificate of Benedict XI, which lasted only a few months, in June 1305 the cardinals elected the archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Go, who went down in history as Pope Clement V. The new pope, who was given the city of Avignon for permanent residence, first of all appointed several Frenchmen and thus ensured the election of "French" popes in the future. Philip's moral triumph was immortalized in the bull of Clement V, which recognized Philip's "zeal" in the dispute with Boniface as "good and just", and the king himself as "the champion of religion". Clement until his death remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king. Meanwhile, French diplomacy was unusually active and nurtured aggressive plans. The policy of capturing various border possessions that were part of the empire became traditional under Philip IV. In the border zone between France and Germany, there were many large and small feudal principalities that only formally depended on the empire, between which there were endless territorial disputes. As soon as one of them leaned on the empire in these strife, the other side immediately turned to France for help. The rulers of these principalities traded allied bonds. The tactic of royal diplomacy in these areas was always to have their own Francophile party in them, "trusted" people, and, if the opportunity arose, to annex this or that possession. French influence extended to all disputed areas of the Franco-German border, to Lorraine possessions, to Lyon, which finally recognized the sovereignty of the French king in 1312, to Valenciennes, whose townspeople rebelled against their count and demanded "to belong to the French kingdom." During the reign of the Emperor Albrecht of Austria, during his meeting with Philip IV, secret negotiations took place at Vaucouleurs. Philip secretly undertook to help Albrecht keep the imperial crown in the hereditary possession of the House of Habsburg, in return for which Albrecht had to cede vast territories to Philip IV - the left bank of the Rhine and the Rhone Valley. Whatever the actual content of the secret negotiations in Vaucouleurs, they leave no doubt that the left bank of the Rhine and the program of extensive territorial conquests were already in the field of attention of French diplomacy. With the death of Albrecht of Austria, who was killed in 1308, the plans of French diplomacy became completely grandiose. There is a well-known phrase that many historians attribute to Philip: “We who want to round our possessions ...” To do this, Philip decided to try to elevate his brother Charles of Valois to the imperial throne, which was created more for battles and tournaments than for politics. One of King Philip IV's trusted men, the indefatigable legist Pierre Dubois, presented a confidential note to the king. He recommended that Philip himself be crowned Holy Roman Emperor with the help of Clement V, bypassing his brother Charles of Valois. The management of such an empire (almost all of Western Europe) required a different person, and not a “regular of tournaments” imbued with chivalrous romance, the legalist wrote. Dubois dreamed of annexing the left bank of the Rhine or Provence, Savoy to France and obtaining the rights that the empire had in Lombardy and Venice. Through dynastic ties, the French king would hold Italy and Spain in his hands. “Then,” Dubois concludes his cherished thoughts, “Philip would lead European politics from France ... He would restore internal calm in Germany and Italy and after that he could lead all Western nations under his banner to conquer Palestine.” However, the prospect of a worldwide Capetian monarchy was too great a danger to all its neighbors. Everyone took up arms against this, and first of all the German princes and even Pope Clement V. Through their joint efforts, the plans of French diplomacy were failed, and not Valois, but Henry of Luxembourg was elevated to the German throne. Thus, despite the sophisticated maneuvers of Philip IV and his legists, despite bribery and intimidation, he failed to take over the empire for the second time. A third attempt was thwarted by Philip's death in 1314. Speaking of Philip IV, it is impossible not to mention the so-called process of the Knights Templar. This order was very rich, was engaged in usury and more than once provided loans to the French king and other high-ranking officials at high interest rates. Abbot John Trittenheim categorically states that the order of the Templars was the richest order, owning not only huge money, but also lands, cities, castles scattered throughout Europe. By order of Philip in 1307, all members of the Knights Templar throughout France were arrested on the same day. They were accused of desecration of the cross, idolatry and sodomy. At the same time, it is by no means excluded that Philip believed much of what was said about the Templars among the people (they were reproached for secularism and pride, for dark rites, and much more). However, money still played the biggest role in the decision of the king. According to some reports, Philip the Handsome owed a huge amount to this richest order. In October 1311, Clement V convened a general church council in the city of Vienne, where, under pressure from the French court, it was decided to abolish the Knights Templar order and confiscate its property, which happened in April 1312. Initially, the confiscated funds were supposed to be transferred to another order and used to organize new crusades, but most of this huge property went to Philip himself and other monarchs, who also banned the Knights Templar order in their territories and profited from their wealth. By the end of the reign of Philip IV, France became the most powerful power in Europe: the papal power was defeated, the German Empire lost all influence, its princes were alone on the salary of Philip, others were on the pay of the English king. Philip died on 29 November 1314 at Fontainebleau.
| Count of Champagne |
Fontainebleau, France
Fontainebleau, France
Characteristic
His reign played an important role in the decline of the political power of the feudal lords and the strengthening of monarchism in France. He continued the work of his father and grandfather, but the conditions of his era, the character traits and intrigues of court advisers at times led to the manifestation of aggression and cruelty in the king's policy. Despite this, Philip's reign strengthened French influence in Europe. Many of his actions, from the war with Flanders to the execution of the Templars, were aimed at replenishing the country's budget and strengthening the army.
Litigation with the English king
Edward I's homage to King Philip
Philip's advisers, brought up in the spirit of the traditions of Roman law, always tried to find a "legitimate" ground for the demands and harassment of the king and clothed the most important diplomatic disputes in the form of lawsuits. The entire reign of Philip is filled with quarrels, "trials", diplomatic litigation of the most shameless nature.
So, for example, having confirmed the possession of Guienne for the king of England, Edward I, Philip, after a series of nit-picking, summoned him to court, knowing that Edward, who was at war with the Scots just at that time, could not appear. Edward, fearing war with Philip, sent an embassy to him and allowed him to occupy Guyenne for forty days. Philip occupied the duchy and did not want, according to the condition, to leave it. Diplomatic negotiations began, which led to the outbreak of hostilities; but in the end Philip gave Guyenne so that the English king would still swear an oath to him and recognize himself as his vassal. It happened in - years. Military operations against England ended because the allies of the British, the Flemings, guided by independent interests, began to disturb the north of the kingdom.
War for Flanders
Philip IV managed to win over the Flemish urban population; the count of Flanders was almost alone before the invading French army and was taken prisoner, and Flanders was annexed to France. In the same 1301, unrest began among the conquered Flemings, who were oppressed by the French governor Châtillon and other henchmen of Philip. The uprising swept the whole country, and at the Battle of Courtrai (1302) the French were utterly defeated. After that, the war with varying success lasted more than two years; only in 1305, the Flemings were forced to cede to Philip a fairly large part of their territory, recognize the vassalage of the rest of the lands, hand over about 3,000 citizens for execution, destroy fortresses, etc. The war with Flanders dragged on mainly because the attention of Philip the Handsome was diverted by the struggle with Pope Boniface VIII.
Fight with dad. Avignon captivity of the popes
Seal of King Philip IV the Handsome (1286)
This compliance did not, however, lead to a lasting peace with Philip, who was tempted by the wealth of the French church. The legalists who surrounded the king - especially Guillaume Nogaret and Pierre Dubois - advised the king to remove entire categories of criminal cases from the jurisdiction of church justice. In 1300, relations between Rome and France became very tense. Bishop Bernard Sesse of Pamere, sent by Boniface to Philip as a special legate, behaved extremely impudently: he was the representative of that party in Languedoc, which especially hated the northern French. The king initiated a lawsuit against him and demanded that the pope defrock him; the bishop was accused not only of insulting the king, but also of treason and other crimes.
In December 1301, the pope answered Philip by accusing him of infringing on spiritual authority and demanded him to his court. At the same time, he sent the bull Ausculta fili to the king, in which he emphasized the fullness of papal power and its superiority over any (without exception) secular power. The king (according to legend, having burned this bull) convened in April 1302 the Estates General (the first in French history). The nobles and representatives of the cities expressed their unconditional support for the royal policy. The clergy turned to the Pope with a request not to go to Rome, where he called them to the council, which was being prepared against Philip. Boniface did not agree, but the priests still did not go to Rome, because Philip forbade them.
At the council, which took place in the autumn of 1302, in the bull Unam Sanctam, Boniface again confirmed his opinion about the supremacy of spiritual power over secular, "spiritual sword" over "worldly". In 1303, Boniface liberated part of the lands subject to Philip from the vassal oath, and the king, in response, convened a meeting of senior clerics and secular barons, before which Nogaret accused Boniface of all kinds of atrocities.
Shortly thereafter, Nogaret, with a small retinue, went to Italy to arrest the pope, who had mortal enemies there, which greatly facilitated the task of the French agent. The pope left for Anagni, not knowing that the inhabitants of the city were ready to betray him. Nogare and his companions freely entered the city, entered the palace and behaved rather rudely here, almost using violence (there is a version of a slap given to the pope). Two days later, the mood of the inhabitants of Anagni changed and they released the pope. A few days later, Boniface VIII died, and 10 months later, his successor, Boniface IX, also died. This death happened very opportunely for the French king, so popular rumor attributed it to poisoning.
The administration was highly centralized; this was especially felt in the provinces, where feudal traditions were still strong. The rights of feudal lords were significantly limited (for example, in minting coins). The king was disliked for his overly greedy economic policy.
Philip's extremely energetic foreign policy with regard to England, Germany, Savoy and all the border possessions, which often led to an increase in French possessions, was his only achievement, which was appreciated by his contemporaries and subsequent generations.
Death
Posthumous tombstone of Philip IV the Handsome
Philip IV the Handsome died on November 29, 1314, at the age of 47, at his birthplace - Fontainebleau, probably the cause of his death was a massive stroke. Many associated his death with the curse of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, who, before his execution on March 18, 1314 in Paris, predicted Philip's death in less than a year. He was buried in the Basilica of the Abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris. He was succeeded by his son Louis X the Quarrelsome.
Family and Children
He was married from August 16, 1284 to Jeanne I (January 11, 1272-April 4, 1305), Queen of Navarre, and Countess of Champagne from 1274. This marriage made it possible to annex Champagne to the royal domain, and also led to the first unification of France and Navarre within the personal unions (until 1328).
From this union seven children were born:
Being still a fairly young widower (37 years old), Philip IV did not remarry, remaining faithful to the memory of his late wife.
see also
Literature
- Dominique Poirel. Philippe le Bel. Perrin, collection: Passé Simple, Paris, 1991. 461 p. ISBN 978-2-262-00749-2
- Sylvie LeClech. Philippe IV le Bel et les derniers Capetiens. Tallandier, collection: La France au fil de ses rois, 2002 ISBN 978-2-235-02315-3
- Georges Bordonov. Philippe le Bel, roi de fer. Le Grand livre du mois, Paris, 1984 ISBN 978-2-7242-3271-4
- Joseph Strayer. The reign of Philip the Fair. 1980.
- Favier, Jean. Philippe le Bel
- Boutari. La France sous Philippe le Bel. P. 1861
- Jolly. Philippe le Bel. P., 1869
- B. Zeller. Philippe le Bel et ses trois fils. P., 1885
- Maurice Druon. Iron King. The first book in the Cursed Kings series (Iron King. The Prisoner of Chateau Gaillard. Translated from French. M., 1981)
Links
| Faciens misericordiam - 12 August 1308 | |
|---|---|
| Commissioners | Gilles Aycelin Guillaume Durand Guillaume de Bonnet Raynaud de La Porte Matthieu de Naples Jean de Mantoue Jean de Montlaur Guillaume Argani |
| Protagonists | Clement V Philip Handsome |
| Other | Templars Jacques de Molay |
| Portal: Templars | |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
His reign played an important role in the decline of the political power of the feudal lords and the strengthening of monarchism in France. He continued the work of his father and grandfather, but the conditions of his era, the peculiarities of his character and the qualities of the advisers and assistants around him emphasized and intensified the coloring of violence and cruelty, which was not completely absent in previous reigns.
War for Flanders
Philip IV managed to win over the Flemish urban population; the count of Flanders was left almost alone in front of the invading French army and was captured, and Flanders was annexed to France. In the same (1301) year, unrest began among the conquered Flemings, who were greatly oppressed by the French governor Châtillon and other henchmen of Philip. The uprising swept the whole of Flanders, and at the Battle of Courtrai (1302) the French were utterly defeated. After that, the war with varying success lasted more than two years; only in 1305 the Flemings were forced to cede to Philip a fairly large part of their territory, to recognize the vassal dependence of the rest of the lands on him, to extradite about 3,000 citizens for execution, to destroy fortresses, etc. The war with Flanders dragged on, mainly because attention Philip the Handsome was distracted just during these years by the struggle with Pope Boniface VIII.
Fight with dad. Avignon captivity of the popes
In the early years of his pontificate, Boniface was rather friendly to the French king, but they soon fell out for purely fiscal reasons. In the autumn of 1296, Boniface issued the bull clericis laicos, which categorically forbade the clergy from paying taxes to the laity, and the laity from demanding such payments from the clergy without the special permission of the Roman Curia. Philip, who was always in need of money, saw in this bull a damage to his fiscal interests and a direct opposition to the doctrine that was beginning to dominate at the Parisian court, the main supporter of which, Guillaume Nogaret, preached that the clergy were obliged to help the needs of their country with money.
In response to the bull, Philip the Handsome forbade the export of gold and silver from France; The pope thus lost a prominent source of income. Circumstances were in favor of the French king - and the Pope relented: he issued a new bull, nullifying the previous one, and even, as a sign of special favor, canonized the late grandfather of the king, Louis IX.
This compliance did not lead, however, to a lasting peace with Philip, who wanted further quarrels: he was tempted by the wealth of the French church. The legalists who surrounded the king - especially Nogaret and Pierre Dubois - advised the king to remove entire categories of criminal cases from the jurisdiction of church justice. In 1300, relations between Rome and France became extremely tense. Bishop Bernard Sesseti of Pamere, sent by Boniface to Philip as a special legate, behaved extremely impudently: he was the representative of that party in Languedoc, which especially hated the northern French. The king brought a lawsuit against him and demanded that the Pope defrock him; the bishop was accused not only of insulting the king, but also of treason and other crimes.
The pope (in December 1301) answered the king by accusing him of infringing on spiritual authority and demanded him to his court. At the same time, he sent a bull (Ausculta fili) to the king, in which he emphasized the fullness of papal power and its superiority over any (without exception) secular power. In April 1302, the king (according to legend, having burned the bull beforehand) convened the Estates General (the first in French history). The nobles and representatives of the cities expressed their unconditional sympathy with the royal policy, and the clergy decided to ask the Pope to allow them not to go to Rome, where he called them to the council that was being prepared against Philip. Boniface did not agree, but the clergy still did not go to Rome, because the king categorically forbade them to do so.
At the council, which took place in the autumn of 1302, in the bull Unam sanctam, Boniface again confirmed his opinion about the supremacy of spiritual power over secular, "spiritual sword" over "worldly". In 1303, Boniface resolved part of the lands subject to Philip from the vassal oath, and the king, in response, convened a meeting of senior clerics and secular barons, before which Nogaret accused Boniface of all kinds of atrocities.
Shortly thereafter, Nogaret, with a small retinue, went to Italy to arrest the Pope, who had mortal enemies there, which greatly facilitated the task of the French agent. The pope left for Anagni, not knowing that the inhabitants of this city were ready to betray him. Nogare and his companions freely entered the city, entered the palace and behaved here with the greatest rudeness, almost even violence (there is even a version of a slap given to the Pope). Two days later, the mood of the inhabitants of Anagni changed and they released the Pope. A few days later, Boniface VIII died, and 10 months later, his successor, Boniface IX, also died. Since this death came in handy for the French king, rumor attributed it to poison.
The new pope (French) Clement V, elected in 1304 (after a nine-month election struggle), moved his residence to Avignon, which was not in power, but under the direct influence of the French government. Having done away with the papacy, making it an instrument in his hands, Philip began to fulfill his cherished dream.
Defeat of the Knights Templar
The beginning of this confrontation, which claimed many lives, as contemporaries noted, was caused by chance. King Philip the Handsome was informed that a certain man awaiting his death sentence was seeking his audience. This man claimed to have information of national importance, but he could only communicate it personally to the king. This person was eventually admitted. He said that while sitting on death row together with a certain condemned man, he heard the following from his confession (at that time in Europe there was a judicial measure not to allow people who had committed especially serious crimes to church communion, so such criminals often confessed their sins to each other before execution ). This someone was a member of the Knights Templar and told about the grandiose conspiracy of this order against secular monarchies. Possessing gigantic financial capabilities, the Order gradually, with the help of loans, as well as bribes and bribes, actually took control of almost half of the nobility and noble families of France, Italy and Spain. Also, this man claimed that, founded at first as a Christian, this Order had long since departed from Christianity. At their meetings, members of the order (including the witness himself) were engaged in spiritualism and divination. Members of the order, upon joining it, spat on the cross, loudly renounced the power of the church over themselves. After listening to the scammer, Philip ordered to pardon him, and "to reward him with a purse of coins for valuable information."
Having communicated with Rome, Philip, in secret even from the closest with several people entrusted to him, developed an operation to arrest members of the order. It should be said that the war with the Order lasted for many years and claimed a large number of lives. The population as a whole had a negative attitude towards the order, the estates and castles of its members were traditionally notorious. For example, the peasants of the southern provinces accused the Templars of stealing girls and young boys to participate in orgies, which were supposedly held by the knights of the order.
Numerous trials that took place after the arrest revealed "details" that stirred public opinion in Europe. In addition to open disobedience to state power in the person of the king on the part of the heads of the order and, above all, his master, Jacques de Molay, numerous facts of tax evasion (royal taxes), financial fraud with real estate (primarily with land in the southern provinces ), usury (it was forbidden at that time), facts of giving bribes, speculative inflation of food prices in lean years, buying up stolen goods and many other crimes, the bulk of the "evidence" for which was fabricated by the royal legalists.
The order was liquidated and banned, property was confiscated and nationalized. However, many researchers believe that not all of the Templars' finances were traced and seized. It is believed that a significant part of the funds was evacuated outside of France (primarily to Spain and Italy). Given the short period in which the order managed to be restored in Spain, this version can be considered not without plausibility.
The position of Rome in this confrontation is very curious from a historical point of view. The Pope rather weakly insisted on the accusation (given the severity of the offenses from the point of view of Catholic dogma), many Templars shied away from responsibility in the provinces where the Pope or the Italian nobility had great influence. Researchers of the issue quite reasonably believe that the Italian nobility owed huge sums to the Templars, it is possible that the Pope himself was their borrower.
Financial activities
The main nerve of all Philip's activities was the constant desire to fill the empty royal treasury. For this, the States General and separately city representatives were convened several times; for the same purpose, various positions were sold and leased, forced loans were made from cities, goods were subject to high taxes (for example, Gabel was introduced in 1286, which existed until 1790), and estates, low-grade coins were minted, and the population, especially non-commercial suffered heavy losses.
In 1306, Philip was even forced to flee Paris for a while, until the popular fury had passed over the consequences of the ordinance he issued in 1304 on the maximum price.
The administration was highly centralized; this was especially felt in the provinces, where feudal traditions were still strong. The rights of feudal lords were significantly limited (for example, in the matter of minting coins). The king was not loved not so much for his nature, ready for any crime, but for his too greedy fiscal policy.
The extremely active foreign policy of Philip regarding England, Germany, Savoy and all the border possessions, which sometimes led to the rounding of the French possessions, was the only side of the king's rule that both his contemporaries and the next generations liked.
Death
Philip IV the Handsome died on November 29, 1314, at the age of 47, at the place of his birth - Fontainebleau, probably the cause of his death was a massive stroke. Many associated his death with the curse of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, who, before his execution on March 18, 1314 in Paris, predicted the death of the king, his adviser Guillaume de Nogaret and Pope Clement V in less than a year - all three really died in the same year. He was buried in the Basilica of the Abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris. He was succeeded by his son Louis X the Grumpy
Family and Children
He was married from August 16, 1284 to Jeanne I (January 11, 1272-April 4, 1305), Queen of Navarre, and Countess of Champagne from 1274. This marriage made it possible to attach Champagne to the royal domain, and also led to the first unification of France and Navarre within the personal unions (until 1328).
In this marriage were born:
- Charles IV(June 18, 1294 - February 1, 1328), King of France and Navarre (since 1322)
- Isabel(1292-August 27, 1358), wife from January 25, 1308 of the English King Edward II and mother of Edward III. From Isabella come the Plantagenet claims to the French crown, which served as a pretext for the beginning of the Hundred Years War.
- Philip V(November 17, 1291 - January 3, 1322), King of France and Navarre (since 1316)
- Louis X(October 4, 1289 - June 5, 1316), King of France (from 1314) and Navarre (from 1307)
- Robert(1297-August 1308)
- margarita(1288-December 6, 1312)
- Blanca (1290-1294)
Philip IV (Philippe IV le Bel) remains somewhat of an enigmatic figure for historians. On the one hand, all the policies pursued by him make us think that he was a man of iron will and rare energy, accustomed to go towards his goal with unshakable perseverance. Meanwhile, the testimonies of people who personally knew the king are in a strange contradiction with this opinion. The chronicler William the Scot wrote about Philip that the king had a handsome and noble appearance, graceful manners and behaved very impressively. With all this, he was distinguished by unusual meekness and modesty, with disgust avoided obscene conversations, carefully attended the service, performed the fasts with accuracy and wore a hair shirt. He was kind, condescending, and willingly placed his full trust in people who did not deserve it. They, according to Wilhelm, were the culprits of all those troubles and abuses that marked his reign, the introduction of oppressive taxes, extraordinary exactions and systematic damage to 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 the care of government affairs. Geoffroy also reports that the king was easily subject to bad advice. Thus, we have to admit that his close associates played a big role in Philip's politics: Chancellor Pierre Flotte, Guillaume Nogaret, the keeper of the seal, and Enguerrand Marigny, the coadjutor of the kingdom. All these were people of no nobility, raised to the heights of power by the king himself.
Philip IV the Handsome was born at Fontainebleau in 1268 to Philip III and Isabella of Aragon. Philip came to the throne at the age of seventeen and, first of all, took up the resolution of the Sicilian and Aragonese issues, which he had inherited from his father.
He immediately stopped hostilities and did nothing to support the claims of his brother Charles of Valois, who dreamed of becoming the Aragonese (or, in the worst case, Sicilian) king. The negotiations, however, dragged on for another ten years and ended with the fact that Sicily remained with the Aragonese dynasty. In relations with the English king Edward I, Philip's policy was more energetic. There were frequent clashes between subjects of the two states. Taking advantage of one of them, Philip in 1295 called the English king, as his vassal, to the court of the Parisian parliament. Edward refused to submit, and war was declared on him. Both opponents were looking for allies. Edward's supporters were Emperor Adolf, the counts of Holland, Guelders, 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 the Count of Flanders, Guy Dampierre, had a real impact on events. Edward himself, busy with a difficult war in Scotland, concluded a truce with Philip in 1297, and in 1303 a peace, according to which Guyenne was left to the English king. The entire burden of the war fell on the shoulders of the Flemings. In 1297 the French army invaded Flanders. Philip himself laid siege to Lille, and Count Robert of Artois won a victory at Fournes (largely due to the betrayal of the nobility, among which there were many adherents of the French party). After that, Lille surrendered. In 1299, Charles of Valois captured Douai, passed through Bruges, and in May 1300 entered Ghent.
He met no resistance anywhere. Count Guy surrendered, along with his two sons and 51 knights. The king deprived him of his possessions as a rebel and annexed Flanders to his kingdom. In 1301, Philip traveled around his new possessions and everywhere was met with expressions of humility. But he immediately tried to extract the maximum benefit from his new acquisition and imposed heavy taxes on the country. This caused discontent, and the harsh administration of Jacques of Châtillon further increased the hatred of the French. When riots broke out in Bruges in 1301, Jacques sentenced those responsible to huge fines, ordered the city wall to be broken down 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, a French army led by Robert Artois approached. But in a stubborn battle at Courtrai, she was utterly defeated. Together with their commander, up to 6,000 French knights fell. Thousands of spurs taken from the dead were piled in the Mastricht church as trophies of victory. Philip could not leave such a disgrace unavenged. In 1304, at the head of an army of 60,000, the king approached the borders of Flanders. In August, in a stubborn battle at Mons-en-Nullet, the Flemings were defeated, but retreated in good order to Lille. After several attacks, Philip made peace with the son of Guy Dampierre, Robert of Bethune, who was in his 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, the cities had to pay a large indemnity. As a pledge to pay the ransom, the king took lands on the right bank of the Lys with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orsha. He was supposed to return them after receiving the money, but treacherously violated the contract and left them forever with France.
These events unfolded against the backdrop of growing contradictions with the pope every year. At first, nothing seemed to foreshadow this conflict. None of the European kings was so loved by Pope Boniface VIII as Philip the Handsome. As early as 1290, when the pope was only Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani and came to France as a papal legate, he admired the piety of the young king. Having ascended the throne in 1294, Boniface zealously supported the policy of the French king in Spain and Italy. The first signs of mutual distrust appeared in 1296. In August, the pope promulgated 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 forbade the export of gold and silver from France: by doing so he destroyed one of the main sources of papal income, because the French church could no longer send any money to Rome. Even then a quarrel could have 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 yielded to them.
In 1297, a bull was promulgated, which actually canceled the previous one. Apparently, the pope expected the king to make concessions too. Philip allowed the income of the pope, which he received from the French clergy, to be exported to Rome, 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 had taken away from him his fief power over some of the vassals of his see and in general caused him various insults. The Pope sent the Bishop of Pamières, Bernard Sesse, as a legate to Paris on this matter. At the same time, he was instructed to demand the release from captivity of the Count of Flanders and the fulfillment of the previously given promise to participate in the crusade. Bernard, known for his arrogance and irascibility, was absolutely not the kind of person who could be entrusted with such a delicate assignment. Unable to achieve concessions, he began to threaten Philip with an interdict and generally spoke so harshly that he brought the usually cold-blooded Philip out of himself. The king sent two members of his council to Pamiers and to the county of Toulouse to collect evidence to accuse Bernard of insubordination. During the investigation, it turned out that the bishop often used inappropriate expressions during his sermons and set his flock against royal power. Philip ordered the legate to be arrested and taken into custody at Sanli. He also demanded from the pope that he deposed Bernard and allowed him to be brought to a secular court. The pope responded to 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, Philip ordered this bull to be solemnly burned on the porch of Notre Dame Cathedral.
In April 1302, he convened in Paris the first Estates-General in history. 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 were read a false papal bull, in which the claims of the pope were strengthened and sharpened. After that, 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 to save the French church from violating its rights? The nobles and deputies of the cities answered that they were ready to support the king. The clergy, after a brief hesitation, also joined the opinion of the other two classes. After that, during the year, the opponents hesitated to take decisive measures, but the hostility between them grew. Finally, in April 1303, Boniface excommunicated the king and released the seven ecclesiastical provinces in the Rhone basin from vassalage 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 at the same time he said that the pope should be at this council as a prisoner and accused. He moved from words to deeds. In the summer, Nogare, loyal to him, went to Italy with a large sum of money. Soon he entered into relations with the enemies of Boniface and made an extensive conspiracy against him. The Pope at that time was in Anagni, where on September 8 he wanted to betray Philip to a public curse.
Best of the day
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 resignation. Nogaret threatened that he would put him in chains and, as a criminal, he would take him to the cathedral in Lyon to be sentenced. The Pope withstood these attacks with dignity. For three days he was in the hands of his enemies. Finally, the people of Anagni freed him. But from the humiliation endured, Boniface fell into such a disorder that he went mad and died on October 11. His humiliation and death had grave consequences for the papacy. The new pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogaret, but stopped the persecution of Philip himself. In the summer of 1304 he died. In his place was elected the 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 the accusations against the Knights Templar. In October, 140 French knights of this order were arrested and put on trial for heresy. In 1312, the pope declared the order destroyed. Philip, who owed the Templars huge sums, took possession of all their wealth. In March 1313, the grand master of the order, Jacques Molay, was burned. Before his death, he cursed the entire family of Capetians and predicted his imminent degeneration.
In 1314, Philip conceived a new campaign against Flanders, where anti-French forces became more active. On August 1, he convened the Estates General, which agreed to the introduction of an emergency tax on war, the first act of taxation in history with the sanction of a 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 Fontainebleau, the king died, apparently from a stroke, although rumor attributed his death to the curse of Jacques de Molay or poisoning by the Templars.
Contemporaries did not like Philip the Handsome, people close to him were afraid of the rational cruelty of this unusually beautiful and surprisingly impassive person. Violence against the pope caused outrage throughout the Christian world. Large feudal lords were dissatisfied with the infringement of their rights and the strengthening of the central administration, which consisted of people without roots. The tax-paying class was outraged by the increase in taxes, the so-called "spoilage" of the coin, i.e., the reduction of its gold content while forcibly maintaining its face value, which led to inflation. Philip's heirs were forced to soften their policy of centralization.
The reign of Philip IV the Handsome, who ascended the French throne at the age of seventeen after the death of his father Philip III on October 5, 1285, is regarded by historians not only as one of the most important periods in the history of France, but also as one of the most controversial.
This reign is important because the French kingdom reaches the pinnacle of its power: the largest state in terms of population in the Christian Western world (13-15 million or a third of the entire Catholic world), real economic prosperity (it is enough to cite as an example the increase in arable land or the heyday of the fair in Champagne). In addition, the power of the monarch is so strengthened that Philip is seen as the first ruler of a new type in Europe: the state is more powerful and centralized than ever, the king's entourage - legalists - well-mannered and educated people, real experts in the field of jurisprudence.
However, this rosy picture is not consistent with other facts. Thus, the seeming economic prosperity only masks the slow-moving crisis, as evidenced by numerous shocks in the financial market (under Philippe, monetary policy was extremely, as they say now, voluntaristic). And at the end of his reign, the fairs in Champagne could not compete with the sea trade of the Italians at all, and in addition, literally the next day after the death of the king, a devastating famine of 1315-1317 broke out. Moreover, if you look closely, you can see that the king did not know his kingdom well: he did not even imagine how far his borders stretched, he could not establish direct taxes, and effective and accurate government remained elusive. It is unlikely that the king was added to popularity by a chain of dubious, semi-political, semi-secular scandals, in particular, the trial of the bishop of Troyes, Guichard, who was accused of killing the queen through witchcraft, or the trial of the bishop of Pamières, Bernard Sesse, a trial that complicated the already difficult relationship between the king and dad. What about the Templar trial? What about the imprisonment of the king's daughters-in-law and the execution of their lovers? In general, the identity of King Philip the Handsome remains mysterious. Who was he? The core of French politics or a mere tool in the hands of their advisers? The authors of the chronicles - contemporaries of the king - tend mainly to the second option - they, in particular, reproach the king for inept monetary and tax policies, explaining this by the fact that the king was given worthless advice by mediocre advisers. But, despite such uncertainty in assessments, the king is still seen as a "non-classical" monarch of the Middle Ages. Although chroniclers insist that France treated him with respect, to which, however, he allegedly owes the authority of his grandfather, Philip Augustus, who undertook economic and political reforms aimed at strengthening the central power.
The leitmotif of historians contemporary with Philip the Handsome is the regret of the era of "His Majesty Saint Louis", which is considered almost like a golden age, while Philip IV is characterized only as "the antipode of Saint Louis". But, despite all this, historians agree on one thing: with this king, a new era began. However, it is hardly worth exaggerating the "modernity" of Philip the Handsome and France of his time.
Nevertheless, the reign of Philip IV the Handsome was a turning point in the history of medieval France: he expanded the kingdom by annexing new lands (shortly before his death, he annexed Lyon with its district 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 covered all aspects of society: cities, the feudal nobility, the clergy - all fell under her control. His reign seemed to his 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 advantage of every opportunity to establish royal courts everywhere and introduce Roman law. By the end of his life, all judicial power in the country passed exclusively to the crown, and public life took on a completely different character than under his predecessors.
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ranto 13.06.2006 06:53:22
There are LITTLE articles of this quality on the Internet - thank you!
Extraordinary personality, no matter what.
Jeanne 17.07.2008 01:23:03
For the first time I learned about the personality of Philip the Handsome from the series of books by Maurice Druon "Cursed Kings", read by Anna when I was 15 years old. Contradictory, extraordinary personality and something immensely attractive. Now I'm re-reading books and I wanted to find information on the net.
PHILIP IV THE BEAUTIFUL(Philippe IV le Bel) (1268, Fontainebleau - November 29, 1314, ibid.), King of France from 1285.
The purpose of the reign of Philip the Beautiful was the creation of a powerful state and strong royal power; one way to achieve this was by rounding the borders of France. In 1295, Philip began a war with England over Guienne, whose dukes were English kings; finding fault with formal violations of the suzerain rights of the French crown, he captured Guyenne, but in 1299 he had to leave it and concentrate on the war with Flanders. In 1297-1301, Philip captured all of Flanders, supported by the Flemish townspeople who were in conflict with their count, but the French rule soon became hated by the Flemings, and in 1302, as a result of a general uprising, the so-called "Bruges Matins", the French were expelled from the country. Philip moved his army to Flanders, but on July 2, 1302, at the Battle of Courtrai, for the first time in history, the foot militia of the Flemish cities utterly defeated the French knightly cavalry. On August 18, 1304, the French army took revenge at the town of Mont-en-Peleve, and the next year Flanders submitted to Philip the Handsome.
In 1297, a conflict broke out between France and the papacy, caused by the fact that Pope Boniface VIII, a supporter of the universal dominance of the Church, issued a bull forbidding secular authorities to demand taxes from clerics, and those to pay, which was always in need of money and intolerant of interference in the prerogatives of the royal Philip could not allow power. When in 1300 the king arrested a papal legate who had made insulting remarks about Philip, the pope declared the clergy beyond the jurisdiction of the royal court. The king, in the fight against a supranational force - the church - decided to rely on the emerging nation and in April 1302 convened the first States General in the history of France, which supported their monarch. Boniface VIII responded by issuing a bull declaring submission to the papal throne not only in matters of faith, but also in politics as an indispensable condition for the salvation of the soul, and excommunicated the king from the church. Philip sent a military detachment to Italy, which arrested the pope, who could not stand the humiliation, went crazy and soon died. Philip achieved the subordination of the papal throne to his power and the transfer of the residence of the curia from Rome to formally independent, but surrounded on all sides by the possessions of France, Avignon (1308).
In 1307, Philip attacked the Templars, a rich and independent from the crown spiritual and chivalric order. They were arrested throughout France and tried on apparently falsified charges of heresy, unnatural vices and alliance with Muslims. The States General, convened in 1308, approved the actions of the king, and the pope in 1311, under pressure from France, banned the order, most of whose wealth went to the treasury. In March 1314, the highest dignitaries of the order were burned, including Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who before his death cursed the king and promised him a speedy death.
In the same 1314, Philip conceived a new campaign against Flanders, where anti-French forces became more active. On August 1, he convened the Estates General, which agreed to the imposition of an emergency tax on war - the first act of taxation in history with the authorization of the popular representation. But the campaign did not take place, because in November the king died, apparently from a stroke, although rumor attributed his death to the curse of Jacques de Molay or poisoning by the Templars.
Contemporaries did not like Philip the Handsome, people close to him were afraid of the rational cruelty of this unusually beautiful and surprisingly impassive person. Violence against the pope caused outrage throughout the Christian world. Large feudal lords were dissatisfied with the infringement of their rights and the strengthening of the central administration, which consisted of people without roots. The tax-paying estate was outraged by the increase in taxes, the so-called "damage" of the coin, i.e., the reduction of its gold content while forcibly maintaining its face value, which led to inflation. Philip's heirs were forced to soften their policy of centralization.
D. E. Kharitonovich
Philip IV (1268-1314) - King of France since 1285. Continuing the work of his ancestors, especially his grandfather, King Louis IX of the Saint, but in new conditions and by other means, he sought to strengthen royal power by weakening the political power of large feudal lords and eliminating the power of the popes over France. These new conditions were the growth of cities, the strengthening of the third estate, that is, formally the entire unprivileged population of the country, but in fact - the urban elite; development of French national identity. The new means of achieving the goals of the centralization of the monarchy, Philip IV, made the administrative apparatus subordinate only to him, from the people of the humble and indebted to him, and the legal strengthening of royal power on the basis of Roman law, as opposed to ecclesiastical and customary law, which in one way or another limited the omnipotence of the crown with biblical commandments or tradition. It was under Philip that the highest authorities - the Parlement of Paris, the Supreme Court and the Accounts Chamber (treasury) - from more or less regular meetings of the highest nobility gradually turned into permanent institutions, in which the legists served mainly - experts in Roman law, people from the environment of small knights or wealthy citizens.
Standing guard over the interests of his country, the king tried to expand it. So, in 1295-1299. he fought with King Edward I of England for the duchy of Aquitaine (Guillain) in southwestern France, which the English kings owned as vassals of the French kings. Finding fault with formal violations of vague feudal rights, Philip summoned Edward I to court, knowing that he, busy at war with Scotland, would not be able to appear, and this was considered a serious violation of the laws. Edward, fearing a clash with France, offered Philip IV the duchy of Aquitaine as a pledge for 40 days as a guarantee of appearance. However, having occupied Guillain, Philip refused to return it. In 1299, he still had to do this, because the county of Flanders, also vassal to the French crown, but allied to England, threatened from the north of France.
The war between France and Flanders began as early as 1297, when Philip defeated the Count of Flanders at the Battle of Furne. In 1299, the French king occupied almost all of Flanders, relying on the townspeople who were dissatisfied with their count, and in 1301 captured him himself. But soon the Flemings, disappointed with the French administration, rebelled against Philip. May 18, 1302 went down in history under the name "Bruges Matins" - on this day there was an uprising of the inhabitants of the city of Bruges, accompanied by the extermination of the French garrison and the French who were in Bruges. In response, Philip moved his army to Flanders. On July 11, 1302, at the Battle of Courtrai, for the first time in history, the foot militia of the Flemish cities utterly defeated the cavalry knightly army. The spurs taken from the slain knights were dumped in the city square of Courtrai; This battle was called the "Battle of the Golden Spurs". On August 18, 1304, in the battle of Mont-en-Pevel, the French army took revenge for the defeat at Courtrai. The following year, the Flemings officially submitted to the French king.
During the war with England and Flanders, the conflict between France and the papacy escalated. The contradictions between them were identified even under Saint Louis, who resolutely rejected any interference of Rome in the affairs of the French state and the French church. However, the deep piety of Louis did not allow these contradictions to turn into a sharp conflict. Relations between Philip and Pope Boniface VIII were initially friendly. But in 1296, the Pope issued a bull categorically forbidding the clergy to pay taxes to the secular authorities, and for those to demand such without special permission from the Roman curia. This resolution was only one of a number of similar ones adopted by the Popes during the 11th-13th centuries. and aimed at freeing the church from state power and giving it a special supranational and supranational status. Philip, firstly, who needed money to wage war with England and Flanders, and, secondly, who believed that all estates, including the clergy, should help their country, banned in 1297 the export of gold and silver from the country, than deprived the Pope of all church fees and taxes coming from France. Boniface backed down, canceled the bull, and even as a sign of special disposition towards France, he canonized St. Louis. However, the peace did not last long. The king demanded that all subjects of the kingdom be subject to a single royal court, while the pope insisted on the special jurisdiction of the church.
Philip, in the fight against such a powerful force as the papacy, decided to rely on the nation and convened in April 1302 the first in French history the Estates General - a legislative assembly of representatives of the three estates of the country: the clergy, the nobility and the third estate. At this meeting, Pierre de Flotte, the first lay chancellor and keeper of the seals in the history of France, read out a harsh reply to the Pope. The nobles and townspeople expressed their full support for the king. The clergy behaved more cautiously: they only sent a petition to Boniface to allow the French clergy not to participate in the Council, convened by the Pope to condemn Philip. Boniface did not agree, but the French clergy were still not represented at the Council that opened in the fall of 1302. There, the Pope read out the bull "One Holy" (papal bulls were named after the first words), in which he declared that complete submission to the Pope in all matters, both spiritual and secular, is a condition for the salvation of the soul. In 1303, Boniface VIII excommunicated Philip from the church and released his subjects from the oath. In response, the king convened a meeting of the highest nobility and clergy, at which the new chancellor and keeper of the seal of the French kingdom, Guillaume Nogaret de Saint-Felix, accused Boniface of heresy and all kinds of atrocities. Philip, with the consent of this assembly, sent a small military detachment to Italy, led by Nogare and the enemy of the Pope, Chiara Colonna. The pope, having learned about this, fled from Rome to the city of Alanya (now - Anagni). On September 7, 1303, Nogaret and Colonna entered Alanya under the French royal banner and, with the support of the inhabitants of the city, arrested the Pope. Boniface showed considerable courage in refusing to abdicate despite all the threats. Some chroniclers claimed that Ciara Colonna hit the Pope in the face with a hand wearing an iron plate glove. A few days later, the mood of the townspeople changed, they expelled the Nogare detachment and freed the Pope. However, Boniface went crazy from the shocks he had suffered and died, according to some versions, from starvation, because he refused to eat, fearing poisoning. 10 months later, his successor Benedict XI also died. Philip was accused of this death, allegedly ordering the poisoning of the new Pope.
In 1305, after several months of struggle, the Frenchman Bertrand de Gault was elevated to the papal throne, taking the name of Clement V. This Pope was obedient to Philip in everything. He fully justified his position in the conflict with Boniface, removed the excommunication from the king, but refused to fulfill Philip's demand to condemn the deceased for heresy and unnatural vices and execute him posthumously - dig up the corpse and burn it. At the request of Philip in 1308, Clement V transferred the papal throne from Rome to Avignon, which was then in the territory not directly subject to the French king, but which was in his sphere of influence. Thus began the "Avignon Captivity of the Popes", when the Roman pontiffs turned into French court bishops. The power of the French crown over the Catholic Church became almost absolute, which was manifested, in particular, in the trial of the Knights Templar. They were accused of heresy, unnatural vices, acquisitiveness and an alliance with Muslims, moreover, testimony was obtained through cruel torture, and evidence obtained by the same investigator from different and unfamiliar persons sometimes coincided verbatim.
In 1308, Philip again convened the States General, which approved the king's actions against the templars. A wave of trials swept through France; Pope Clement V timidly tried to protest, but in the end approved all the charges against the Templars, recognized their executions as legal, and in 1311 abolished the order.
Having dealt with the Templars, Philip again turned his gaze towards Flanders, where anti-French forces again became more active. The king decided on a new campaign and, due to lack of funds, convened for the third time on August 1, 1314, the Estates General, this time to approve an emergency tax that would provide funds for waging war with Flanders. It was from this time that the States General began to influence the financial affairs of the country. However, the campaign did not take place - on November 20, 1314, Philip died, most likely from a stroke. But, since Pope Clement V and Chancellor Nogaret died shortly before the king, condemning the Templars to martyrdom, rumor explained Philip's death by their curse or poisoning committed by the Templars, who were avenging their brothers.
King Philip the Handsome was not loved by his contemporaries, and the violence against the Pope caused outrage throughout the Christian world. People close to the king were afraid of the cold, rational cruelty of this unusually beautiful and surprisingly impassive person. Large feudal lords could not forgive the king for strengthening the central administration, limiting their rights, including the right to mint their own coin, the preference given by the king to rootless officials. The taxable class resented the financial policy of the king. In an effort to fill the treasury, Philip sold and rented various positions, made violent loans from cities, reduced the amount of gold in the coin while maintaining its face value, which led to inflation and an increase in high cost; and coinage became the exclusive privilege of the sovereign. The population responded to the policy of the king with uprisings.
The family life of Philip the Handsome was happy. In 1284, he married Joan of Navarre (1270-1305), who brought her husband the kingdom of Navarre and the county of Champagne as a dowry. They had four children: Louis, King of Navarre (1289-1316), aka Louis X the Quarrelsome, King of France from 1314; Philip, Count of Poitiers (1291-1322), also known as Philip V the Long, King of France from 1316; Isabella (1292-1358), married in 1308 to Edward II (1281-1327), King of England from 1307; Charles, Comte de la Marche (1294-1328), aka Charles IV, King of France from 1322. After the death of Jeanne, Philip did not remarry, despite the most lucrative offers. Rumor claimed that he loved the queen so much that after her death he did not know women at all.
The married life of the children of Philip and Jeanne was not so happy. Isabella, who hated her husband, who paid much less attention to his wife than to his favorites, took part in the rebellion that broke out in 1327 and cost Edward II the crown and life. Shortly before the death of Philip, in 1314, a scandal broke out in which the wives of his sons were involved. Two of them were convicted of adultery, and the third - in complicity with them. The former were sentenced to life imprisonment, the latter to penance in a monastery. The pronouncement of the verdict on the adulterous princesses and the execution of their lovers were carried out in public. Contemporaries and descendants wondered: why did the king not try to hide the shame of his family? There is no answer to this day, because the thoughts and feelings of Philip the Handsome, this extremely closed and always imperturbable person, were not known even to his closest associates. Perhaps, being a devoted husband, he hated adultery; perhaps, possessing an extremely developed sense of royal dignity, he believed that princesses had no right to human weaknesses; perhaps, considering the royal power responsible for the inviolability of the rule of law in the country, he strictly demanded compliance with the laws (and adultery was considered a crime in the Middle Ages) from everyone without exception, regardless of position. In any case, it is highly probable that this event hastened Philip's demise.
