Europe in 1300

France

The king in 1300 was Philip IV, called the Fair. Like Edward in England, Philip was one of the great medieval kings and we'll hear from him again. As indicated on the previous page, the France over which he ruled in theory was larger than that over which he ruled effectively. Speaking broadly, the north and central France was more firmly under royal control than was the south.

Philip was an ambitious king, determined to exert his authority wherever he could. In 1300 he was just over a war with England and a bitter dispute with the papacy. Very soon he would take on the papacy a second time, this time with drastic consequences (the popes resided in Avignon). He also dissolved the Templars and scooped up their wealth in France.

Philip was the last great king of the Capetian line that had ruled France since the 10th century, the longest continuously ruling royal house in Europe. He left three sons, which one would think would have been sufficient, but they each died relatively young, and by the 1330s France was in a succession crisis that would have profound implications for the period covered in our course. We'll leave that for other essays.