Philip VI

Philip VI (born 1293—died Aug. 22, 1350, near Paris) was the first French king of the Valois dynasty. Reigning at the outbreak of the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), he had no means of imposing on his country the measures necessary for the maintenance of his monarchical power, though he continued the efforts of the 13th-century Capetians toward the centralization of the administration in Paris. To raise taxes for war, he was obliged to make concessions to the nobility, the clergy, and the bourgeoisie; hence his reign witnessed the important development of the political power of the estates. The bourgeoisie, profiting from the king’s power, proved grateful and loyal; among the clergy and nobility, however, a movement for reform of finances took root.

The elder son of Charles of Valois, Philip was first cousin to the brothers Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV, the last Capetian kings of the direct line. On the death of Charles IV in 1328, Philip, in the face of opposition from the partisans of the claim of Edward III of England, assumed the regency until the end of the pregnancy of Charles IV’s widow. When the widow produced a daughter, who therefore could not succeed to the throne, Philip became king and was crowned at Reims in May 1328.

After the outbreak of a revolt in Flanders in August of that year, the count of Flanders appealed to Philip, whose knights butchered thousands of rebellious Flemings at the Battle of Cassel. When shortly thereafter Robert of Artois, who had helped Philip to win the crown, claimed the countship of Artois against a member of the royal family, Philip was forced to institute judicial proceedings against Robert, who became his bitter enemy. In 1334 Robert went to England and began to foment trouble between Edward III and Philip, hastening the deterioration of Anglo-French relations, which in 1337 led to the outbreak of the Hundred Years’ War. Military operations were at first restricted. In 1340, however, France suffered a grave defeat in the naval Battle of Sluys. Meanwhile, the internal situation had worsened, as a result of resentment over the preponderant influence of the nominees of the powerful Duke of Burgundy in the king’s council. A serious crisis resulted in 1343 and forced Philip to summon to Paris the estates of the kingdom, which took some measures to appease public opinion and to relieve the burdens of administration. France’s devastating defeat by the English at Crécy (1346) gave rise to another crisis. To conciliate opponents, the government was obliged to entrust finances to three abbots. A new meeting of the estates in November 1347 again forced the King to recast his council. The spread of the Black Death in 1348 and 1349, however, overshadowed all political questions. When Philip died, he left France divided by war and plague, although by purchase he had made some important additions to the territory of the kingdom.

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