Person1268 – 1314

Philip IV of France

Also called: Philip the Fair, Philippe le Bel

King of France from 1285 to 1314 (“the Fair”) who summoned the Estates General against Pope Boniface VIII and had the papacy moved to Avignon

Called “the Fair” for his good looks, he showed so little emotion that he was said to be “neither man nor beast, but a statue”. He extended royal power through officials trained in Roman law. Short of money, he expelled the Jews and seized their property, debased the coinage and in 1307 had the Knights Templar arrested en masse and took their wealth. His three sons reigned one after another but none left a male heir, ending the direct Capetian line.

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2 related events

1
1302Philip IV Summons the Estates Generalmonarch
In 1302 King Philip IV of France, to stand against Pope Boniface VIII, gathered representatives of the clergy, nobility and commons in the first Estates General.
2
1309 – 1377Avignon Papacyrelated figure
From 1309 to 1377 the papacy left Rome and resided at Avignon in southern France under the influence of the French king — likened to the Babylonian captivity of the ancient Jews.

People who appear alongside

Boniface VIII1303
Pope from 1294 to 1303 who claimed supremacy over secular rulers and was seized at Anagni by agents of Philip IV of France

Themes this person appears in

Late Medieval Europe and the Renaissance1077 – 1517
From Canossa to the eve of the Reformation — papal power at its height and in decline, towns and parliaments, royal power growing through the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death, and the Renaissance and printing