Philip VI of France

Philip VI de Valois (French: Philippe VI de Valois), called the "king found" (Fontainebleau, November 17, 1293-Nogent-le-Roi, August 22, 1350), King of France (1328-1350), grandson of Philip III the Bold, nephew of Philip IV the Fair, and son of Count Charles of Valois and of Marguerite of Anjou and Maine. First king of France from the Valois branch of the Capetian dynasty.

Biography

He gained control over various territories, including the Valois, when he became regent of France after the death in 1328 of his first cousin Charles IV of France, the last king of the Capetian dynasty.

Philip was crowned that same year in Reims, despite the fact that his nephew Edward III of England (grandson of Philip IV the Fair) also claimed the French throne. He became the first monarch of the House of Valois.

That same year, too, he crushed a popular rebellion in Flanders.

In 1349, he bought the lordship of Montpellier from Jaime III of Majorca, putting an end to Aragonese and Majorcan rule in the city.

Genealogical considerations

He was the son of Charles of Valois (1270-1325), younger brother of Philip IV the Fair, and, therefore, cousin of his three sons who succeeded each other on the throne of France. On the death of his cousin Carlos IV the Fair, in 1328 and in the absence of a male heir, he was recognized as King of France. This succession, questioned by Edward III of England, grandson of Felipe IV the Fair by his mother Elizabeth, the Wolf of France, was the main cause of the Hundred Years' War.

On Sunday, May 29, 1328, Philippe of Valois was consecrated in Reims by Archbishop William of Trie. As Duke of Aquitaine, Edward III, however, a peer of France and the new king's second nephew, did not attend the ceremony.

Not being a descendant and heir of the kings of Navarre like his predecessors, Felipe VI restored the kingdom of Navarre to his legitimate heir, Juana II of Navarre (1311-1349), daughter of Louis X the Obstinate, in compensation for Relinquishing the crown of France, King Philip VI incorporated the counties of Champagne and Brie into French royal domain and granted the counties of Angoulême and Mortain in return to the kings of Navarre.

The Hundred Years War

Genealogy of succession to the Throne of France of Philip III.

Edward III of England was the grandson of Philip IV the Fair on his mother's side. Therefore, when all the children without descendants of King Philip died, the crown could pass to the English kings as descendants of Elizabeth, daughter of Philip IV and wife of Edward II. To avoid this, the Vincennes Assembly of 1328 declared the elimination of female succession and inheritance through women. Consequently, King Edward III of England would not be able to claim the French crown.

The crown passed, then, to Felipe de Valois as Felipe VI. Felipe VI wanted to recover the duchy of Guyenne, which was part of the kingdom of France, but which was a possession of the king of England. Edward III claims the crown of France, sparking the Hundred Years' War in 1337.

Then the King of France confiscates Guyenne and implements a maritime blockade strategy to force Edward III to withdraw (England depended mainly on the wine trade from the south of France, salt imports from Brittany and Poitou, as well as wool exports to Flanders). The French and their Genoese mercenaries lose maritime control at the Battle of the Lock in 1340, in Sluys (The Netherlands).

On the death of Duke John III of Brittany in April 1341, the War of the Breton Succession broke out between John of Montfort and Charles of Blois over the government of the duchy. Felipe VI arbitrated in favor of his nephew, Carlos de Blois, while Juan de Montfort sought support in England. English troops landed at Brest in 1342 and occupied eastern Brittany until 1397.

The English became a threat, prompting David II of Scotland to invade England from the north, which should have been lightly defended as Edward III was preparing an invasion of France from the south. David II was defeated at the Battle of Neville's Cross in October 1346.

Crécy Battle.

Edward III landed on the continent in 1346. His navy was numerically much inferior to that of Felipe VI, who could count on his powerful cavalry. Eduardo opted for the looting strategy that characterizes English cavalcades, and Felipe VI pursued him and caught up with him in Crécy-en-Ponthieu. The frontal charges of the French cavalry are broken up by the hail of arrows fired by the Welsh archers protected by a curtain of stakes (the horses were not protected at that time). It was a crushing English victory that called into question the supposed halo of invincibility of the French nobility (the nobility had to justify the divine origin of their power by their heroic victories achieved in hand-to-hand frontal combat).

After winning at Crécy, Edward III besieged Calais without Philip daring to confront him directly, abandoning the city, which would remain English until 1558. Philip VI finally signed a truce with Edward III that would last until Philip's death.

Philip VI devalued the currency, went into debt and established onerous taxes, particularly the tax on salt, to meet the high costs of the war.

Balance

Philip VI died in 1350, and the balance of his reign was characterized by a series of resounding failures.

The appearance of the Black Death in 1348 forced both contenders to a long truce, but the kingdom of France, highly destabilized, entered a phase of revolts that led to civil war at the beginning of the year 1358.

Marriages

In July 1313, Philippe of Valois married Joan of Burgundy (1293-1348), daughter of Robert II of Burgundy (1248-1306), Duke of Burgundy and Titular King of Thessalonica, and Agnes. of France (1260-1325). From this union eight children were born:

1. Juan the Good (1319-1364), who became king of France with the name of John II (1350-1364)
2. Mary (1326-1333), dead at seven years, but married to John of Brabant, son of the heir of John III of Brabant.
3. Luis (17 January 1328 - id.)
4. Luis (8 June 1330 - 23 June 1330)
5. Juan (1333 - id.)
6. Felipe (1336-1375), count of Valois and first Duke of Orleans (1344-1375)
7. Juana (1337 - id.)
8. N... (1343 - id.).

He was widowed by Joan of Burgundy on September 12, 1348 and married in Brie-Comte-Robert for the second time, on January 19 or January 29, 1349 (depending on the sources), with Blanca de Navarra (1333- 1398), called Blanque de Évreux. Daughter of Felipe III (1301-1343) and Juana II (1311-1349), kings of Navarre. From this union a posthumous daughter was born:

1. Juana Blanca (1351-1371), was promised in marriage to John I of Aragon (1350-1395), then Duke of Gerona, and later king of Aragon, but died during the journey.

Ancestry