- King of France from the Capetian Dynasty -
( 1268 - 1314 )
* List of the stories
he appears in :
- D 2001-024 : "The Crown of the Crusader Kings", from 2001, by Don Rosa. |
* His biography :
Philip IV, also
known as Philip le Bel ("the Fair") because of his handsome appearance,
was born at the Royal Palace of Fontainebleau, France, in 1268, son of
King
Philippe III "Le Hardi" and Isabelle d'Aragon, member
of the Capetian dinasty.
In 1284, he married Jeanne of
Navarre, daughter of Henry I, King of Navarre, Count of Champagne
and Brie, which united these territories to the royal domain.
In 1285, after the death of his
father, he became king and was consecrated at Reims in 1286, with his wife.
The policies of his reign greatly strengthened the French
monarchy and increased the royal revenues.
He asserted his right to tax the clergy, making permanent
a special tax permitted by the popes for support of crusades. Pope Boniface
VIII
opposed this measure but when threatened by excommunication, he
capitulated.
In 1296, Philip overran Guienne, the duchy of King
Edward I of England, but Guienne was conceeded to Edward in 1303.
Then, Philip turned his attention toward Flanders, but
the French army was defeated in 1302, at the disastrous battle of Courtrai.
But Philip was victorious from the following battle, the one of Mons-en-Pévèle,
in 1304. Although he won, he was forced by treaties to reduce his demands
on the Flemish.
The Monarchy and the Church reconciliated when the arcbishop
Clement
V became Pope, in 1305. Clement cooperated with Philip in his persecution
of the Knights Templars, whose wealth the king appropriated to finance
his wars, after a process in 1307 and the supression of their orders in
1312. Other wealthy groups persecuted by him were the Jews
and the
Lombards, some Italian bankers. He also debased the coinage.
In 1314, he had Grand Master Jacques
de Molay of the Templars burned for heresy and sodomy, and de Molay
sent him a malediction which told he'd dye within one year.
He died on November 27, 1314, from a cerebral ictus, and
was succeeded by his son Louis X.
* His place in the Barks/Rosa stories universe
:
In "The Crown of the Crusader Kings", M.
Molay explains that the King of France Philippe le Bel had a
lot of debt towards the Templars, and ordered their arrestation
and the seize of their goods on October 13, 1307. That'd be the real reason
why he arrested them (anyway, I don't think Don Rosa would have been allowed
to tell in a Disney comic story that it was in fact for blasphem and sodomy
that the Templar had been arrested). On a panel, we can even see the kings'
hand and also the silhouette of Jacques de Molay,
Grand Master of the Templars.
Philippe le Bel's hand
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