Philip IV the Handsome and the Templars: A Curse Come True. Philip iv handsome, king of france French king philip 4 handsome

A. VENEDIKTOV - And indeed, everything is “wrong”, as always, with Natalia Basovskaya, a historian, we find out that everything was written wrong, in any case, by writers. Good afternoon

N. BASOVSKAYA - Good afternoon!

A. VENEDIKTOV - There are people who are slandered in fiction, there are people ... undeservedly, there are people exalted undeservedly in the same "heroic" books, right? And today, with Natalia Basovskaya, we have chosen a story, here, a strange story connected with Philip IV the Handsome, the French king, and as part of this topic, this is his story, his personal, personal story with the Knights Templar, whom he dispersed. There, he did something else with them - burned, hung, dispersed - it turns out that only 150 knights, not so many, by today's standards.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Then it was a lot.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes. Philip Handsome. How do we know about him? We know about him, of course, from the books of Druon "The Iron King" - that's what they called him, the Iron King. And the first acquaintance with the Templars - among normal people, among normal people - happened in Walter Scott's book "Ivanhoe": the templars are, in fact, the Templars. Burando Bualgiver. All are bad: Philip the Iron is bad, templars are bad. What kind of people were they, what was the conflict, where did such an iron king come from in France, and why did he do this to the order?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Historical science can clarify something here, but in the light of our broadcast, with an atypical result: so, something like this. At one time, being very carefully engaged in the events of this era - around the Hundred Years War, before it, during the Hundred Years War - I read a lot of sources of the XIV, XV, XII centuries. Well, in particular, today we are concerned about XIV. And I was convinced that Maurice Druon is surprisingly accurate, documentary. We had a very interesting situation in Soviet times - the so-called waste campaign was announced ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes! ..

N. BASOVSKAYA - My modern students do not understand what it is. With what amazement they hear that it was possible to hand over a mountain of waste paper - first of all, they handed over any party seal.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - To which we were forcibly subscribed, to get a ticket and buy a book by Maurice Druon, from the series "Damned Kings". There was a very funny effect: the then spontaneously anti-monarchist Soviet people called this series, reading it with enthusiasm, “Damned Kings”, putting some kind of class content into this completely different story, the history of damnation. And I gradually became convinced of how accurate Druon is. I will say modestly - I later met him in life, I have great respect for him - we read the same sources - chronicles, first of all, in which this story is written in the most detailed way, documents, for example, between the pope and the king correspondence, formidable correspondence, irritated, stories of different chroniclers - compared them. Druon is said to have been assisted by a group of young historians, probably.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, that's good. Who is against it?

N. BASOVSKAYA - But for me - in the Soviet tradition, a lonely Soviet woman, like turning sleepers on the railway, and with these hundreds, or even thousands of documents, I was one on one.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Is it really Philip, he had two nicknames - the French usually called their kings quite accurately. If Lazy, so Lazy, if Bald, then Bald for sure. So he really was Handsome and Iron?

N.BASOVSKAYA - It is believed that yes. In fact, beauty, the concept of beauty had its own ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, yes ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - It necessarily assumed physical strength, power, according to those standards. He had to be strong. But here is the Lazy of those times, a little earlier, the early Capetians - this is not necessarily lazy, not even always at all. This is the one who rules weakly, the one who does not succeed. From the time of the early Merovingians, the predecessors of the Capetians. Well, Philip IV, who ruled from 1285 to 1314, is remembered. It was bright. And in the literature it is reflected something like this, but science, of course, can explain more in it. From the point of view of science, the main thing in it was not just, here, a violent character, cruelty, energetic politics. The politician of the New Age appeared in it.

A. VENEDIKTOV - And you know, Natalya Ivanovna, in my personal life - when I was reading, preparing for the broadcast, I also read something there - it turns out that he was an absolutely outstanding king in the sense that he was an exemplary family man.

N.BASOVSKAYA - Loved.

A. VENEDIKTOV - They walked left and right, and he ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - He loved his children, loved his wife, and could not imagine the terrible fate that awaits his children, primarily in connection with this future curse. So that's what showed up. He is the grandson of Saint Louis IX, a classical medieval king. Well…

A. VENEDIKTOV - "All to Jerusalem, to Jerusalem, to Jerusalem."

N.BASOVSKAYA - Of course! He lived only with the idea of ​​the Crusades, apparently, his grandfather was sincerely religious. And in France there was an idea - the good laws of the time of Louis IX. This is the peak of the Middle Ages, this is the XIII century. And now the grandson, he just tramples on the classical Middle Ages. He is in eternal quarrel with the papacy, and in an irreconcilable, inadmissible quarrel...

A. VENEDIKTOV – Political?

N.BASOVSKAYA - ... desperate. This is a money fight.

A. VENEDIKTOV - For money? Those. not political?

N. BASOVSKAYA - No. It looks political: they argue about whose power is higher. But in fact, the most important thing for Pope Boniface VIII is that Philip IV suddenly banned the export of gold and silver from France. And what will flow into the papal treasury?

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, yes, money was minted from metal.

N.BASOVSKAYA - Well, what about the times of precious natural metal. And now, behind the words, whose power is higher, who is closer to God, who is more on behalf of God, there are real living financial interests. The quarrel deepens. And Philip is behaving really like not a classic medieval king. It is no coincidence that it was he who - at the same time, there is something classical - captures new lands, makes a trip to Flanders - it seems that now he will really conquer it, but he suffers a terrible defeat in 1302, in the battle of Courtrai, where the townspeople defeated knights. This is the age of transition, the dying of chivalry and the classical Middle Ages and the birth of something new. He surrounded himself with legalists, so-called.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Let's stop. What is it, who are these people, what is it?

N.BASOVSKAYA - Lawyers.

A. VENEDIKTOV - That is ...

N.BASOVSKAYA - Lawyers.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Lawyers. That is…

N.BASOVSKAYA - That time. Lawyers.

A. VENEDIKTOV - But not the nobles, not the knights?

N. BASOVSKAYA - From different ... basically, no. Basically, no.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Raznochintsy? Raznochintsy?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Of course.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Bourgeois? Philistines?

N.BASOVSKAYA - New time is coming. New time is coming.

A. VENEDIKTOV - That is. he lifts... he's like Peter, right? He... so that our listeners understand...

N. BASOVSKAYA - Of course, of course.

A. VENEDIKTOV - He raises ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - Not as purposefully as Peter ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Not catching up with anyone, but naturally following those state interests that he clearly sees. The royal treasury should be richer, it should be more independent of anyone. And then, they say, he will restore complete order in France. And a strict order. These legalists compose for him laws, orders, orders, which collide, in particular, with the interests of the papacy.

A. VENEDIKTOV - That is. after all, these are people of low origin, as a rule? Well, according to the concepts of the Middle Ages. Yes?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, of course.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Surrounded himself with the mob.

N.BASOVSKAYA - With not blue blood. With no blue blood.

A. VENEDIKTOV - I understand.

N.BASOVSKAYA - I.e. These are symptoms of an upcoming...

A. VENEDIKTOV - I understand. Important.

N.BASOVSKAYA - Once Huizinga, a remarkable Austrian culturologist, called this era the autumn of the Middle Ages. I don't know of a better name. After all, autumn can be beautiful in appearance - golden, bright, beautiful, the sky is still blue - but all the same, the main parameters of summer are gone. And here the main parameters of the Middle Ages leave. And he does something terrible for those times. He goes so far in his conflict with the pope - and he is imperious, Boniface VIII, elderly and convinced of the absolute priority of papal power, and not wanting to lose money - that Philip sends a delegation to him, led by a certain Nogaret - an impudent temporary worker, a powerful type.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Menshikov? Looking for types.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Well, yes, he is not from the bottom. And this Nogare, according to various stories - there are already legends, myths, sources, chroniclers themselves were not there, but they write - he did something terrible in the papal chambers. In the town of Anagni. Either he entered the papal chambers, opening the door, figuratively speaking, with his foot, or he simply spoke rudely, or - the highest point of this assumption - gave the pope a slap in the face.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Can you imagine that at that time?

N. BASOVSKAYA - You can.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Is it possible, yes?

N. BASOVSKAYA - The horror is that, realizing how religious people were, I am amazed at a number of facts. Well, for example, when, on the orders of Henry II Plantagenet in England, the Archbishop of Canterbury was killed in the altar.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N.BASOVSKAYA - At the request of the king. Well, how did the fear of God's judgment not stop them? So here. We admit - something like a slap in the face. And as it was written in one very touching pre-revolutionary book, "unable to bear the insults, the proud old man died a few days later." Really died.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, maybe they just stabbed and that's it?

N. BASOVSKAYA - No one is hinting at this. For an insult. And for him, this insult, the man sitting on the throne of St. Peter, was worse than a knife. Apparently, the effect was exactly the same. He was stabbed, only like this, morally. And the clash with the church became simply irreversible for Philip IV. He had nowhere else to go. Over time, he waited out another short-ruled Pope Boniface IX and then, in essence, put the popes in his service in Avignon - this is the so-called Avignon captivity of the popes. Here he won. And feeling that his hands are untied ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Wait, and these impudent barons of him, how did they look at all this? Great feudal lords...

N.BASOVSKAYA - Since they understood that this would increase the king's money, and the king is handouts ... Even in ancient Egypt, it was written on the wall of the pyramid "the king is food." And this formula has never been canceled and is not cancelled. The king is food. Philip will have more money - and they will not be so bad. And their religious feelings somehow fall silent. Somehow they shut up. And so, in the course of this already irreversible process of clash with the church, he swung at the famous Order of the Templars. Famous, but in literature, of course, it is presented one-sidedly - here it is “not like that”. You can not regard the Templars only as some kind of collection of villains. They ... firstly, the Order was created in 1119, after the First Crusade, very soon, and was called the Templars by the word "temple" - "temple". Not far from Solomon's Temple was this place, from the legendary site of Solomon's Temple. And at first they really pursued, first of all, spiritual goals - to protect the conquests of the Crusaders in the East, to resist the Crescent, to resist another religion, the infidels, as they called them - this was the main thing. But time passed. They got rich. They were surprisingly efficient. Here, the crusading movement was defeated. At the end of the 13th century, well, 1291, the Crusaders leave the Holy Land. And the Templars settled in France. First, what is there to protect from there? It's all already lost. It's all lost. Yes, they are involved in the preparation of new Crusades, already, in general, hopeless, but in parallel - the time has also changed since the XII century - and they become so businesslike. They become at that moment - in the XIII century - the first usurers of Western Europe. Probably the most ruthless, most cruel bankers, who extort money from their debtors, and had the imprudence among their debtors to have the Iron King himself. Philip IV owed them a lot. In essence, of course, a mistake. Such a person will not take care of the strict repayment of the debt, he will look for some other way to get away from this debt. And here you go...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Did you owe money?

N.BASOVSKAYA - A lot of money. Took, took from them, took, took loans, they gave. And here is the simplest thought, which also never died in any era: how you do not want to give! How good in his time Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky in his works, when he raised the topic of debt, “how you don’t want to give,” his characters say. “Maybe it will work out somehow.” But when you don’t want to give it to the king, and the king with a very tough, ferocious character and a powerful apparatus that he created around himself…

A. VENEDIKTOV - Did he create the device? He did not just collect, there ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - These same jurists, a rather strong army - although it suffered a defeat in Flanders, he strengthened it again. He is not a weak ruler. And I don't want to give up! This is one of the motives, of course, of the process against the Templars that he started.

A. VENEDIKTOV - I just want to tell our listeners a very interesting story: when I was preparing for the broadcast, I discovered a very interesting site. Fans of the Templars, the current Templars in Russia, have created a site where the history of the Order, the history of all masters, the history of armor ... I'll just tell the address now, for those who are interested. But these are not professional historians. Those. there is clearly there...

N. BASOVSKAYA - These are enthusiasts.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Enthusiasts, yes. www.templars.info Come in, take a look. I learned a lot of interesting things there.

N. BASOVSKAYA - I think. This is really interesting to many, because the Templars were a bright phenomenon. They wore a white cloak with a red cross, they were good warriors, no one ever reproached them for cowardice, although they suffered a major defeat in the East in a decisive battle. But in general they were warriors. But the rebirth by the XIV century went in the direction of this entrepreneurship. New age, new era, new times are coming. Money comes first compared to their spiritual slogans and priorities.

A. VENEDIKTOV - It always seemed that the Italians, now, at this time, as it were ...

N.BASOVSKAYA - In parallel. Undoubtedly. In northern Italy, in Lombardy...

A. VENEDIKTOV - In parallel, right? In Lombardy, yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Also very strong banking houses, and France also deals with them. But back in France...

A. VENEDIKTOV - That is. the Templars were, in practice, still competitors of the Lombard houses.

N. BASOVSKAYA - In general, yes. And Philip went there too. And he, too, will warm up Jewish bankers and financiers in France in order to oppose, for example, the Templars, then suddenly mass expulsions from there to confiscate money. His policy was, of course, cruel, frankly rude, but he explained all this in the interests of a strong France. In general, no one has yet formulated the ideas of absolutism, far from the Sun King, but the movements of the Iron King were in this direction. And with the trial of the Templars, which he started, he apparently still made a big human mistake. Well, science knows what a curse is, what mysticism is, how much fiction is doing this. No one will ever give a solid scientific answer. Here we are approaching this famous curse. General of the Order of the Templars under Philip, a certain Jacques de Molay, originally from Burgundy, Grand Master - he was called either General or Grand Master. Born at one time in Burgundy, a strong, significant, independent personality. In 1306, Cyprus was preparing for another war with the infidels, and at that time the “pocket” Pope Philip IV the Handsome Clement V ordered the entire leadership of the Order and Jacques de Molay himself to urgently arrive in France. He obeyed. Apparently, he didn’t have good intelligence, didn’t have ... either these plans hadn’t taken shape yet, or they hadn’t told him about them, he, in good faith, along with the entire leadership of the Order, arrived in France.

A. VENEDIKTOV - To him, to dad?

N.BASOVSKAYA – The Pope in Avignon…

A. VENEDIKTOV - The Pope was in Avignon.

N. BASOVSKAYA - ... he arrived in Paris.

A. VENEDIKTOV - To Paris, yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - He was ordered to Paris. At the call of the king. In one night, everyone, the entire top of the Order, was arrested by order of the king.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, such a major special operation!

N. BASOVSKAYA - Terrible.

A. VENEDIKTOV - They were sitting in castles, not only in Paris, they were sitting ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - They were taken by surprise. They weren't quite ready for this - that's no intelligence. And at first it seemed to them that it was even just some kind of misunderstanding. And the process began. It was quite lengthy. Well, at least it dragged on for a few years. Probably one of the most striking falsified trials in history.

A. VENEDIKTOV - What does falsified mean?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Numerous witnesses were gathered against them, who began to tell such things, well, that they personally saw. As for worship in the Order of the Templars, in their temples, Satan personally arrives. He was described in every detail, in those in which he was presented on the frescoes in the church, starting from the early Middle Ages - and with horns, and with hooves, and with the smell of sulfur, and a tail, and in wool - with all these heartbreaking details , which in the iconography of the Middle Ages gradually formed, polished ... And man already saw Satan ... he saw him, because he really saw him many times, without end, during some church events, worship. And now, in his mind, he really is already, and there is just such. And these witnesses tell how they saw him, exactly like this, each in detail, how he hovered around their temple, stayed at their worship. Why do we still assume, well, the grossest falsification, because further heartbreaking details that have become the standard of the Inquisition. Inquisitorial process. They saw, they say, that the Templars personally bow to him and even perform all sorts of indecent actions that we will not retell, emphasizing their devotion to Satan. They were accused of all the perversions that one can imagine, and this, first of all, speaks too much about the nature of the process. In addition, they were subjected, and this was not hidden, to the most terrible tortures.

A. VENEDIKTOV - What did you want?

N.BASOVSKAYA - Money.

A. VENEDIKTOV - And, “where is the money?”

N.BASOVSKAYA - Where is the money. Firstly, where, and secondly, the legal right to confiscate them. If the Order, as it turned out, serves Satan, then it is possible, on a completely legal basis, to confiscate any of their treasures and wealth.

A. VENEDIKTOV - We will break for a few minutes of news. I remind you that Natalya Basovskaya is in our studio. We are talking about the case of the Templars and about Philip IV the Handsome, the French king, he is also the Iron King.

NEWS

A. VENEDIKTOV - By the way, there are also "heroic" books - by the way, let me remind you that in our studio Natalya Basovskaya - "Everyday Life", there is a wonderful series that I always recommend in every possible way, there is just one good book about the Templars, writes Elena. And Nikolai writes: “You called this period the autumn of the Middle Ages, and you won’t tell me when it ended, in the sense of a century.”

N.BASOVSKAYA - In the middle of the 15th century, according to the majority. Of course, this is not some kind of rigid border, but basically the Middle Ages in these classical countries of Western Europe ends in the middle of the 15th century. Many of its attributes remain, but in essence, the New Age continues to come with the same imperious steps. England will be a little late, there the War of the Roses will last until the 80s of the XV century, but in general ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Nothing, then everything will be fine.

N. BASOVSKAYA - ... this is the dawn of the New Age. Cruel dawn.

A. VENEDIKTOV - You said, and I return to the pager, we will now talk ...

N.BASOVSKAYA - To the process.

A. VENEDIKTOV - To the process, yes, and to the pager. Well, the pager is in progress. Alla writes: “Was the accusation of sodomy of the Templars a political accusation in the process against them, or was it justified?”

N.BASOVSKAYA - What is it called today, "dirty technologies"?

A. VENEDIKTOV - Black PR.

N.BASOVSKAYA - Black PR. Well, no... it's not going to be a crude upgrade to say that it's essentially the same thing. Those. figuratively speaking, no one was interested in their moral character before, and suddenly, by decree of the king - and here it doesn’t matter, really, not really - our time has some kind of special, temporary, I hope, interest - that’s not the point case. It was a way to denigrate. All methods were good. And since it was somehow a priori believed that they were dealing, as it suddenly turned out, with the servants of the devil, they could be tortured as you like and even well: the most brutal torture, as it were, at the same time ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Skillfully.

N. BASOVSKAYA - ...maybe, yes, the devil will also be cast out. And they were subjected to, in the general opinion, the most cruel torture. And only this made Grand Master Jacques de Molay slander, confirm all these wild accusations. All. And come to this terrible moral defeat. In response, he received a sentence - life imprisonment-imprisonment. But as soon as ... apparently, his physical and spiritual strength returned to him to some extent, he retracted his testimony, declared that he despises himself for this, that God will never forgive him - he was more afraid of God's punishment in the other world than execution on the ground.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Philip was not afraid, but he was afraid?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Philip was not afraid, that's all. And who knows how their fates developed there.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - He recanted these testimonies, and then the verdict was reviewed. He was sentenced to death, at the stake, of course, as they were executed for heresy. And here I recently found one detail. It turns out that even here it was possible to show more - well, in general, this is known - more cruelty, less. It is known that when there was less cruelty, the executioner killed his victim in advance and the already dead body burned.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Strangled, yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, I choked. For separate money often. And here Philip ordered him to be executed, Jacques de Molay, but burn him on a slow fire. On slow fire. This detail, it speaks of some kind of level of atrocity, which, according to the expression of my favorite writers, the Strugatsky brothers, exceeds the normal level of medieval atrocity. And he came to see. And since it was on a slow fire, the dying Jacques de Molay had time to do what he did. From the flame of this slowly flaring fire, he cursed, first of all, himself, once again, before God he repeated that he curses himself for temporary weakness, but repents. And he cursed, right in the face of Philip said: "May you and your family be cursed." But, of course, rumor quotes differently ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Isn't it a myth?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Maybe. But there is always something behind every such myth. What is behind this? If he did not say these words, then he experienced these feelings, and could not help but experience them. And feelings are also quite material. And the unthinkable happened. The curse, of course, is just amazingly true in fact. I don’t want to instill any mystical moods, but it happened. The Capetian family, which was represented by Philip IV the Handsome, had been on the French throne since 987. Hugo Capet - the first ruler of the counts of Paris. And for a long time - with some difficulties, with some problems - but continuity was maintained, and they were all in power, the Capetians. Philip could not have been worried about this.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Why?

N.BASOVSKAYA - And he had three sons. Three sons! With a small interval in age. What is there to worry about?

A. VENEDIKTOV - Adults?

N.BASOVSKAYA - Adults, mature people. First of all, Philip dies. There is no such outward mystery in his death. And there is an underlying mystery. Because this completely iron man - it was not for nothing that he got his nickname - began to fall ill. It was attributed to a fall from a horse.

A. VENEDIKTOV - And this is in the same year, in my opinion.

N. BASOVSKAYA - In a few months.

A. VENEDIKTOV - In a few months. Here, it's important.

N. BASOVSKAYA - In a few months. Not a year has passed. He began to fall ill, fall ill, wither away, as did his sons later. And he died, for no clear, visible reason. He was succeeded by his eldest son Louis X, who went down in history with that naive nickname - you mentioned naive nicknames here already, there are fewer of them than before, but there were - Grumpy. Well, that's not very flattering for a king. Two years fate took him on the throne.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Was he old?

N. BASOVSKAYA - He was ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, was he old?

N. BASOVSKAYA - He died at 29, in my opinion.

A. VENEDIKTOV - A, i.e. he was at a normal age for the Middle Ages.

N.BASOVSKAYA - Absolutely, he died at the age of 29. They all died at 29-30, like that. All his sons. Solid failures. Two years of failure. 1314 - 1316. Here, solid failures. A trip to Flanders is a defeat, but what a defeat. Even more shameful. They called it the Mud Walk. They all drowned in the mud there, in the rains - worse than at Courtrai, where they were slaughtered by the townspeople in their time, the French knights. Wherever he rushes, nothing happens, he can’t collect money in any way, the treasury is devastated, he doesn’t rule very cleverly. There are strong rumors about his wife that she is cheating on him. He quickly imprisons her in a castle, orders her to be killed. This does not decorate him, he is in a very bad mood around him. The daughter of John remains.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Wait, and these legalists, who, here ... where are the king's guards?

N.BASOVSKAYA - Exterminated partially, the brothers continued. Those who were so close to Papa were suspicious of whether they would serve me. And the new ones have not grown yet, just as powerful. Those. what are you guilty of? It is very curious, here is such a helpless, nickname Grumpy, his character is not good. And so, he rushed about, mainly for money, for funds. But in the midst of these tossings, he performs a very curious act: he actively encourages the abolition of the personal dependence of the peasants. Fortress law. In his domains, and these are large royal lands, he simply resolutely canceled it. And he advised his subjects.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, maybe not him, maybe, what advisers?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Get the money.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Ah, money! Get money!

N. BASOVSKAYA - Money. Liberation for money.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Exemption for money. A! Well, there...

N. BASOVSKAYA - In their throwing, where is the money ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes, here, yes ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - After all, the sad humor lies in the fact that, as the rumor of that time firmly believes, up to this day, the huge treasures of the Templars, which his father, Philip IV the Handsome, counted on, were not discovered. There was something, of course. But there were legends about fabulous, about incredible. They were searched for, including the twentieth century, by people. In France, a whole group of such people, slightly moved on this topic, acquired castles several times, finding some old maps - just like in Treasure Island - which, supposedly, is indicated by a cross, where the treasures of the Templars are buried - they managed to, like to hide. So, people bought a castle in order to dismantle it for many years, completely ruin it, disassemble it, going to this place where the treasures lie, and never found the treasures. And so the sons were left without great material assistance. So, Louis X the Grumpy dies.

A. VENEDIKTOV - He has a daughter. He has a daughter.

N. BASOVSKAYA - He leaves a daughter, whose origin is doubtful due to the recognized betrayal of the mother, allegedly taking place. Dies, again in the same way, without pronounced reasons.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Maybe they poisoned you?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Anything is possible. But the curse is coming true.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - The next son. Philip V, Nicknamed the Long. Well, probably, this is also a tradition of translation. It can also be called High. After all, there are shades.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Long, yes, le long, yes, tall.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, of course. This is the tradition of the Russian translation. 1316 - 1322. Fate ordered him ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - 6 years - a lot.

N.BASOVSKAYA - ... 6 years. Compared to the reign of their predecessor, their ancestor Louis IX – there for almost 50 years – Philip IV himself…

A. VENEDIKTOV - 30 there, yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Well, by the age of 40. This is the perfect moment. Philip was clearly the smartest of them all. He tried to follow his father's policy, but all the time he wanted to do something creative. And what is the result? In the same 30 years, he dies, it is completely incomprehensible, there are no bright reasons. They assume... well, there is nothing to know about diseases at all. But this is expressive: he decided to do one specific thing, in the spirit of the time. Very correct. Firmly establish the monopoly of kings on the printing of coins and ensure its quality.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N.BASOVSKAYA - New time is knocking at the door again! And to settle the system of measures and weights. A thing necessary for the emergence in a high ... with a high rise in commodity-money relations, with the "ghost of capitalism." Nothing succeeded.

A. VENEDIKTOV - It didn't work out.

N. BASOVSKAYA - It didn't work out. Wild disappointment, chagrin that everything is not so. All forever in frustrated feelings, too, as they recall that he looks like his grumpy brother, an untimely death. One left.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Wait, children? Does Philip V have children?

N. BASOVSKAYA - No.

A. VENEDIKTOV - No children.

N.BASOVSKAYA - Charles IV Handsome. It is called either Handsome, or the French have such a shade, I think, very important - “handsome”.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Ah!

N. BASOVSKAYA - He is not like his father. He is handsome in the medieval sense - a knight, a fighter, a hero. This pretty, as they say now, handsome. Three wives, changing one after another - not a single son. One concern is to give birth to a son. In addition to that Joan, there is no one suspicious, there is no one to transfer the throne to. Oh, I'm sure how many times the people of that era remembered the curse of the tormented Templar. Still, even in villainy one must know some measure. No son. 34 years old - deceased. Well, isn't it a secret? Of course it's a secret. And a talented French writer...

A. VENEDIKTOV - I'll just remind you - I beg your pardon - I'll remind you that from the same fire - well, according to legend - Jacques de Molay cursed the pope.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, yes, yes.

A. VENEDIKTOV - And Guillaume Nogaret, and they died in the same year.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, in the same year.

A. VENEDIKTOV - In the same year.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, absolutely right. I just stopped at two opposite objects.

A. VENEDIKTOV - I understand, it's just that here ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - All of them, he named them all.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Well, how about some curses of the pharaohs - in history these mystical ideas always arise on the basis of certain facts. And so, we will not evaluate mystical ideas, but the facts are before us. The dynasty ended. It seemed to be impossible. There is no male heir. 1328. And in this situation - here is the source of the dynastic cause of the future war with England, the so-called Hundred Years War. Who will ascend the throne? The woman must be refused, Joanna is very suspicious. Claims his rights, clearly real, the grandson of Philip IV the Handsome Edward III of England. He is the son of Philip IV's daughter Isabella. Well, obviously legal. The future great commander, the most significant English king. But why should he refuse? Again New time is almost in the yard. The French are already French. They are still... we are not quite...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Already the French, right? Already everything?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Already the French. Since the 10th century it has been France, but by this time the upcoming events of the Hundred Years War will prove that they feel themselves French, and they do not need an Englishman to the throne. Because he is the son of King Edward II of England.

A. VENEDIKTOV – Even if he is the grandson… Even if he is the grandson of their Iron King?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Even the grandson of the great ... yes. Well, here, firstly, there is a national feeling that is being born - the war will strengthen it, and secondly, there is a direct, simple reason for the nobility. Well, as they say today: the boss comes with the team. The king will come with an entourage. He will come from England with an English environment.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Distribute land.

N.BASOVSKAYA - How many times it happened. And necessarily the distribution of land, and necessarily the distribution of positions ... And why do they need it? This makes them very restless. And the assembly of the French nobility is discussing who to give the throne. Edward III of England - well, he is young, he is a boy, it seems that he can be controlled; then it turned out that nothing would have worked out for them, a boy with character, or for the cousin of the last French king, Philippe of Valois. He will go down in history as a side branch of the Capetian house. They are relatives, he is a cousin, Philip VI of Valois. They decide in favor of Philip VI of Valois. Funny, of course, incredible. Thus, the legalists, hardened in legal battles, are given a task. It is approximately formulated in the same way today: find legal evidence ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Document. Document.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes, find the document.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Who will prove that it is impossible - not because he is from England - Edward III is not allowed - not because we are afraid of a new environment - but why it is impossible legally.

A. VENEDIKTOV - At least for some reason.

N. BASOVSKAYA - They dug in good faith. These were great digs. Because they got to the bottom of the document of the year 500 approximately - the turn of the 5th - 6th centuries ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - That is. 800 years ago.

N.BASOVSKAYA - Yes, the guys worked conscientiously, the legists have experience. This is Salic Truth, the first record of customary German law, which was made on the territory of France after the Franks settled there, during the great migration of peoples. Those. they turned, in fact, in a sense, to primitive times. There was an article “de allodis”, “about allods”, where it is written ... an allod is an arable allotment of a simple Frank plowman. It is not inherited through the female line, only through the male. The conclusion of the legists: if we consider France as one big allod, a large arable allotment of the king, then this large, figuratively speaking, arable allotment cannot be inherited through the female line. Pretty like this...

A. VENEDIKTOV - What a phrase - "it is not worth spinning lilies", here.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Very good, Druon's names are good. And this conclusion, this legal conclusion, it is contradictory...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well done.

N. BASOVSKAYA - In it, both naivety is still expressed, almost to primitive times, and the coming New Age. Still, we will not just say no, but we will find some incident, a reason that will prove that we are making an informed decision. Thus, the dynasty has changed ... the dynasty has not changed, but transformed. First side branch. The fate of Valois will also be very bad. And this kind will die out, also in the presence of ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - With three sons, by the way.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Yes, in the presence of three sons. The Bourbons will come to power, the Bourbons will have their terrible difficulties on the French throne. Those. in short, the question of personality, the character of the personality of the ruler, his family situation always matters. But in the Middle Ages, it has a meaning frankly politically formulated, expressed, legally formalized. And the Iron King Philip IV the Handsome, who was convinced that he was busy with only one thing - his beloved, strong France - put a certain moral mine under the very idea of ​​\u200b\u200bstrong, unshakable royal power. He probably didn't think about it... though, who knows. Here, to restore the thinking of a man of the past is the most attractive, most important task formulated by the great French historian Marc Blok, a historian of the twentieth century. If we want to understand something about the past, said Mark Blok, to really understand what happened in the past, we need to penetrate into the thoughts, thoughts of the people of the Middle Ages, which he studied. The hardest part is here. All our assumptions are hypothetical, it would be interesting to know what our radio listeners think about this ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, our radio listeners ... there are such versions ... “And how do you feel about the version,” Dmitry asks, “that part of this treasured Templar money ended up in Russia? Were there any contacts between the knights and ancient Russian statesmen?

N. BASOVSKAYA - I will say frankly that I do not know this - this does not mean that this did not happen. But…

A. VENEDIKTOV - But somehow I also did not meet the Templars in Russia.

N. BASOVSKAYA - But I know that, yes, especially recently, such near-historical thinkers are fascinated by an attempt to prove that Rus', in general, was in contact with the whole world and even, as you know, with Fomenko, with the Egyptian pharaohs. Therefore, I am to such ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Can you imagine if this is true?

N. BASOVSKAYA - I can't imagine. I can’t absolutely believe it, based on a scientific approach to history. But here is this enthusiasm, which may be based on a somehow dubiously understood patriotic idea that we are everywhere, we are always, we are from the very depths. Nobody needs this, no nation is humbled by the course of its history and the pace of its development, and is not exalted. Everyone has their own life, like every person, and every nation.

A. VENEDIKTOV - I think that Dmitry wants to look for this money in some place ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - I think this is speculation.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Some in the Baltics.

N. BASOVSKAYA - And I'm sure that they continue to look for them. This is such a powerful myth. So many popular books have been written about this, such half-funny, half-sad stories have happened, films are being made. Just a very juicy, colorful story. Druon reflected it best of all ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - But even he did not exhaust this topic.

A. VENEDIKTOV - I didn't draw a map. Olga asks: “Please ask Basovskaya, was there really this story with the daughters-in-law of the King of France?”

N. BASOVSKAYA - Of course, Druon wrote it in such a way that there is no doubt that it was. And my doubts remain. Because the sources I've read...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Doubts about what?

N. BASOVSKAYA - That there was treason.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Oh, that there was treason ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - That there was a betrayal ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - What was the conclusion, it was ...

N.BASOVSKAYA - That there was a real betrayal.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Yes.

N. BASOVSKAYA - I have huge doubts about this. The thing is, well, look for who benefits. And in fact, here it was, surrounded by kings, there were too many people interested, including this same Isabella, to pave the way for her son to the French throne. Of course, there was no evidence of this betrayal. Druon invented some wallets that these lovers naively, like children ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - They put it on in front of the king and walked around.

N.BASOVSKAYA - ... hung on a belt. It's cute, naive, but there's nothing scientific behind it. And the accusation of infidelity is so traditional for the Middle Ages, whether it was real or not, that we just have to take it as a cliché.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Well, that is. this is ... i.e. in this case it doesn't matter...

N. BASOVSKAYA - It was necessary to remove this one ... yes. We had to remove this queen.

A. VENEDIKTOV - This queen, to find a new one for him, for example, right?

N. BASOVSKAYA - Unlike, say, the Russian tsars - well, the same Peter, who to Evdoky Lopukhin ... well, simply, “get out, go to the monastery” and that’s it, you don’t even need to draw up anything here - they somehow preferred to give it , well, some semblance of validity.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Validity. Thank you very much, I remind you that Natalia Basovskaya, a historian, one of the leaders, is our guest ... what is your position at the RSUH called now?

N.BASOVSKAYA - Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Still? And will we grow?

N. BASOVSKAYA - We are growing ...

A. VENEDIKTOV - Administratively?

N.BASOVSKAYA - ... the whole university together.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Ah, you are together with the university. I would like to end this program in such a way, as it were, pleasant for you and for, of course, but especially for me, with a message from our listener Lily, who sent us the following review of your performance on a pager, I would say this: “What a high mind and clear spirit. When will we talk about modernity in this way?”

N.BASOVSKAYA - Thank you very much!

A. VENEDIKTOV - And about the present - well, 700-800 years will pass, as we are now talking ...

N. BASOVSKAYA - Serious historians believe that history begins no closer than half a century, here, from events.

A. VENEDIKTOV - Not closer.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Before that, it was politics and political science. Thank you!

A. VENEDIKTOV - Thank you very much! Natalya Basovskaya, Russian State University for the Humanities.

N. BASOVSKAYA - Goodbye!

A. VENEDIKTOV - Goodbye!

Philip IV got his nickname the Handsome for a reason. Correct facial features, large fixed eyes, wavy dark hair. He was like a magnificent sculpture, motionless and bewitchingly inaccessible in his majestic detachment. Melancholy, an eternal imprint on his face, made him a mysterious and unique personality in history ...

Philip was the second son of King Philip III and Isabella of Aragon. Unusual beauty was already visible in the angelic features of the baby, and it is unlikely that a happy father, looking at his offspring, could have imagined that he would become the last large-scale representative of the royal family of Capetians.

Philip III cannot be called a successful monarch. The feudal lords did not really obey him, the treasury was empty, and the papal legates dictated their will.

And when the almighty pope ordered the French king to lead a campaign in Aragon in order to punish the Aragonese king for taking Sicily from the pope's favorite (Charles of Anjou), Philip could not resist, and the French army went on a campaign. Fate was not on the side of Philip: the French suffered a heavy defeat, and the king himself died on the way back.

Philip IV the Handsome

His seventeen-year-old son, who fought alongside his father, learned one but very important lesson from this deplorable enterprise - a steady unwillingness to serve someone else's, even papal, interests. In 1285, the coronation of Philip IV took place and his era began, which in all respects could be called "new".

First of all, the young king had to deal with the legacy of his father, to solve the Aragonese problem. He solved it in the most beneficial way for France - he completely stopped hostilities, despite the urgent objections of the Holy See.

The real shock for medieval Europe was the refusal of a very inexperienced monarch from the services of his father's high-ranking advisers. Instead, he established a Royal Council, membership of which was provided by special merit, and by no means noble origin. For a feudal society, this was a real revolution.

Thus, not noble, but educated people got access to power. For their knowledge of the laws they were called legalists and hated very much. Three of his entourage played a special role at the court of Philip the Handsome: Chancellor Pierre Flott, keeper of the seal Guillaume Nogaret, and coadjutor Enguerrand Marigny. Raised to power by the king himself, they were extremely loyal to him and determined the course of the entire policy of the state.

And the whole policy of Philip IV was reduced to solving two problems: how to attach new lands to the state and where to get money for this.

Jeanne I of Navarre, Princess of the House of Champagne, reigning Queen of Navarre since 1274, daughter and heiress of Henry I of Navarre and Queen of France since 1285 - wife of Philip IV the Handsome.

Even Philip's marriage was subordinated to the great goal of expanding France: he married Joan I, Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne. This marriage gave him the opportunity to annex Champagne to his possessions, and also led to the first unification of France and Navarre.

But this was not the ultimate dream of the king. Abandoning complicity with papal interests, Philip focused his attention on the affairs of the English. The stumbling block was the desire of the monarch to get Flanders.

Having summoned Edward I to the court of the Parisian parliament, and using his refusal as a pretext for war, both sides, having acquired allies, began military operations with great pleasure. Upon learning of this, Pope Boniface VIII urged both monarchs to reconcile. And both ignored this call.

The matter was further complicated by the fact that Philip was in dire need of money to wage war, and therefore forbade the export of gold and silver from France to Rome. The pope lost one of his sources of income and the relationship between Philip and Boniface did not become warmer from this.

Philip IV the Handsome - King of France from 1285, King of Navarre 1284-1305, son of Philip III the Bold, from the Capetian dynasty.

The pope threatened to excommunicate Philip from the church. And then the legalists took up "arms", that is, feathers, and brought against the pope a whole series of accusations of both intrigues against France and heresy.

The agitation bore fruit: the French ceased to be afraid of papal wrath, and Nogaret, who went to Italy, concocted an extensive conspiracy against the pope. Soon, the rather elderly Boniface VIII died and the protege of France, Clement V, sat on the papal throne. The papal dispute was resolved.

Philip was always short of money. The policy of unification and accession, which he led, was costly. The first victim of the king's financial difficulties was the coin. Its weight was significantly lightened, and the output was increased, which led to an increase in inflation. The second point of the king's financial program was taxation. Taxes were constantly rising, which caused popular unrest. And finally - the case of the Templars.

The Knights Templar arose at the beginning of the 12th century in Jerusalem. He represented himself as knights guarding the Holy Sepulcher. In addition, the Knights Templar guarded their own, very considerable, wealth and the money of those who trusted them. The onset of the Muslims forced the Templars to leave the Holy Land, and over time, their main function was precisely financial. In practice, they became a bank that kept and invested money.

One of the debtors of the order was Philip the Handsome himself. As life has shown, the king really did not like to repay debts, and therefore in 1307, under the tacit consent of the pope, all the Templars throughout France were arrested on the same day. The trial of the order was clearly sewn with white thread, the charges were far-fetched, the interrogations were conducted with the use of torture, and the case ended in blazing bonfires throughout France. The Grand Master of the Order, Jean Molay, was also burned.

Jacques de Molay is the twenty-third and last Master of the Knights Templar.

As popular rumor testified, before the execution, the master cursed Clement V and Philip IV and predicted the death of the first in forty days, and the second in twelve months. The prediction surprisingly came true.

The pope died of dysentery thirty-three days after the execution of Molay, and the king then fell ill with some strange disease and died on November 29, 1314. The curse fell on the descendants of Philip. Three of his sons - "damned kings" - did not leave offspring on the throne, according to the curse of the Templars, and the Capetian family was soon interrupted.

Philip the Beautiful has remained a mysterious and controversial figure in history. Some call him a great reformer, others call him a cruel despot who fell under the influence of his advisers. The results of his reign were disappointing: the vertical of power was not fully formed, but in the end, finances were upset.

The zigzags of his politics, as well as frequent mood swings, as well as the manner of freezing, staring at one point without blinking, many modern researchers associate with the manic-depressive disorder of his consciousness.

According to eyewitnesses, at certain periods he was cheerful, talkative and even joked. But soon he became gloomy, withdrawn, silent and indifferently cruel.

Philip IV the Handsome

Well, the strong of this world also have weaknesses. And, nevertheless, King Philip the Handsome during his reign made France the most powerful country in the world and began a new era in the history of this state.

Philip IV (1268-1314) - King of France since 1285. Continuing the work of his ancestors, especially his grandfather, King Louis IX of the Saint, but in new conditions and by other means, he sought to strengthen royal power by weakening the political power of large feudal lords and eliminating the control of the papacy over the Church in France. These new conditions were the growth of cities, the strengthening of the third estate, that is, formally the entire urban population of the country, but in fact - the urban elite; development of French national consciousness. The new means of achieving the goals of centralization of the monarchy were the administrative apparatus subordinate only to the monarch from the people of the ignoble and obligated to him and the legal strengthening of royal power under the noticeable influence of Roman law (for example, the following provision was often used: "Whatever the sovereign has the force of law") . It was under Philip that the central authorities - the Parlement of Paris (supreme court) and the Accounts Chamber (treasury) - from more or less regular meetings of the highest nobility gradually turned into permanent institutions, in which the legists served mainly - experts in law, people from the environment of small knights or townspeople.

Standing guard over the interests of his country, the king tried to expand it. So, in 1294-1299. he fought with King Edward I of England for the duchy of Aquitaine (Guyenne) in southwestern France, which the English kings owned as vassals of the French kings. Due to clashes between English and French sailors in Aquitaine, Philip IV summoned Edward I to court, and he offered the French king the Duchy of Aquitaine as a pledge for forty days, during which an investigation was to be carried out. However, having occupied Guyenne, Philip refused to return it. Then Edward resorted to the help of the Count of Flanders, a vassal of the French crown, but an ally of England.

The war between France and Flanders began as early as 1297, when Philip defeated the Count of Flanders at the Battle of Furne. In 1299, the French king occupied almost all of Flanders, relying on the townspeople who were dissatisfied with their count, and in 1301 captured him himself. But soon the Flemings, disappointed with the French administration, rebelled against Philip. May 18, 1302 went down in history under the name "Bruges Matins" - on this day there was an uprising of the inhabitants of the city of Bruges, accompanied by the extermination of the French garrison and the French who were in Bruges. In response, Philip moved his army to Flanders. On July 11, 1302, at the Battle of Courtrai, for the first time in history, the foot militia of the Flemish cities utterly defeated the cavalry knightly army. The spurs taken from the slain knights were dumped in the city square of Courtrai; This battle was called the "Battle of the Golden Spurs". As a result of this defeat, in 1303, a peace was signed in Paris with England: the Duchy of Aquitaine was returned to Edward. On August 18, 1304, in the battle of Mont-en-Pevel, the French army took revenge for the defeat at Courtrai. The following year, the Flemings officially submitted to the French king.

During the war with England and Flanders, the conflict between France and the papacy escalated. The contradictions between them were identified even under Saint Louis, who resolutely rejected any interference of Rome in the affairs of the French state and the French Church. However, the deep piety of Louis did not allow these contradictions to turn into a sharp conflict. Relations between Philip and Pope Boniface VIII were initially friendly. But in 1296, the Pope issued a bull categorically forbidding the clergy to pay taxes to the secular authorities, and for those to demand such without special permission from the Roman curia. This resolution was only one of a number of similar ones adopted by the Popes during the 11th-13th centuries. and aimed at freeing the Church from state power, giving it a special supranational and supranational status. Philip, firstly, who needed money to wage war with England and Flanders, and, secondly, who believed that all estates, including the clergy, should help their country, banned in 1297 the export of gold and silver from the country , which deprived the Pope of all church fees and taxes coming from France. Then Boniface immediately canceled the bull and even, as a sign of special disposition towards France, canonized Louis IX. However, the peace did not last long. Philip IV demanded that all subjects of France be subject to a single royal court. Pope Boniface insisted on the special jurisdiction of the Church and was preparing to excommunicate the French king from her.

Philip, in the fight against such a powerful force as the papacy, decided to rely on the estates of France and convened in April 1302 the first General States in French history - a legislative assembly of representatives of the three estates of the country: the clergy, the nobility and representatives of the cities. At this meeting, Pierre Flott, the first lay keeper of the seal in the history of France, read out a sharply drafted reply to the Pope. The question of condemning the Pope as a heretic was put before the Estates General. Only a part of the nobles and townspeople expressed their full support for King Philip. The clergy, nobles and townspeople of the southern regions of France behaved more cautiously. The clergy only sent a petition to Boniface VIII to allow the French clergy not to participate in the council convened by the Pope to condemn Philip. Boniface did not agree, but the French clergy were still not represented at the cathedral that opened in the fall of 1302 in Rome. There, the Pope read out the bull "One Holy" (papal bulls were named after the first words), in which he declared that complete submission to the Pope in all matters, both spiritual and secular, is a condition for the salvation of the soul. In 1303, Boniface VIII excommunicated Philip from the Church and freed his subjects from their oath to the king. In response, Philip convened a meeting of the highest nobility and clergy, at which the new chancellor and keeper of the seal of the French kingdom, Guillaume de Nogaret, accused Pope Boniface of heresy and all sorts of atrocities. Philip, with the consent of this assembly, sent a small military detachment to Italy, led by Nogare and the enemy of the Pope, Chiara Colonna. The pope, having learned about this, fled from Rome to the city of Anagni. On September 7, 1303, Nogaret and Colonna entered Anagni under the French royal banner and, with the support of the inhabitants of the city, arrested the Pope. Boniface showed considerable courage in refusing to abdicate despite all the threats. Some chroniclers claimed that Ciara Colonna hit the Pope in the face with a hand wearing an iron plate glove. A few days later, the townspeople expelled the Nogare detachment and freed the Pope. However, upon returning to Rome, Boniface died from the shocks he had suffered, according to some versions, from hunger, as he refused to eat, fearing poisoning. Ten months later died after eating fresh figs, and his successor Benedict XI. Philip was accused of this death, allegedly ordering the poisoning of the new Pope.

In 1305, after several months of struggle, the Frenchman Bertrand de Gault was elevated to the papal throne, taking the name of Clement V. This Pope was obedient to Philip in everything. He fully justified his position in the conflict with Boniface and canceled the bull "The One Saint", but refused to fulfill Philip's demand to condemn the deceased for heresy and unnatural vices, and then execute him posthumously - to dig up the corpse and burn it. In 1309, Clement V moved his residence from Rome, which was not subject to the new Pope, to Avignon, which was then in the territory not directly subject to the French king, but which was in his sphere of influence. Thus began the "Avignon captivity of the Popes" (see Art. "Papacy"), when the Roman pontiffs were at the mercy of the French kings. With the help of the Pope, the king organized a trial of the Knights Templar (see Art. "Knightly Orders"). They were accused of heresy, unnatural vices, acquisitiveness and an alliance with Muslims, moreover, testimony was obtained through cruel torture, and evidence obtained by the same investigator from different and unfamiliar persons sometimes coincided verbatim.

In 1308, Philip again convened the States General, which approved the actions of the king against the Templars. A wave of trials swept through France. Pope Clement V timidly tried to protest, but in the end approved all the charges against the Templars, recognized their executions as legal, and in 1312 abolished the order.

Having dealt with the Templars, Philip again turned his gaze towards Flanders, where anti-French forces again became more active. The king decided on a new campaign and, due to lack of funds, convened the Estates General for the third time on August 1, 1314, this time to approve an emergency tax that would provide funds for waging war with Flanders. It was from this time that the States General began to influence the financial affairs of the country. However, the campaign did not take place - on November 29, 1314, Philip died, most likely from a stroke. But, since Pope Clement V and Chancellor Nogaret died shortly before the king, condemning the Templars to martyrdom, rumor explained the death of Philip by their curse or poisoning committed by the Templars, who were avenging their brothers.

Contemporaries did not like King Philip the Handsome, and the violence against Pope Boniface caused outrage throughout the Christian world. People close to the king were afraid of the cold, rational cruelty of this unusually beautiful and surprisingly impassive person. Large feudal lords could not forgive the king for strengthening the central administration, limiting their rights, including the right to mint their own coin, the preference given by the king to rootless officials. The taxable class resented the financial policy of the king. In an effort to fill the treasury, Philip sold and rented various positions, made violent loans from cities, reduced the amount of gold in the coin while maintaining its face value, which led to inflation and an increase in high cost; and coinage became the exclusive privilege of the sovereign. The population responded to the policy of the king with uprisings.

The family life of Philip the Handsome was happy. In 1284, he married Joan of Navarre (1270-1305), who brought her husband the kingdom of Navarre and the county of Champagne as a dowry. They had four children: Louis, King of Navarre (1289-1316), aka Louis X the Quarrelsome, King of France from 1314; Philip, Count of Poitiers (1291-1322), also known as Philip V the Long, King of France from 1317; Isabella (1292-1358), married in 1308 to Edward II (1281-1327), King of England from 1307; Charles, Comte de la Marche (1294-1328), aka Charles IV, King of France from 1322. After the death of Jeanne, Philip did not remarry, despite the most lucrative offers. Rumor claimed that he loved the queen so much that after her death he did not know women at all.

The married life of the children of Philip and Jeanne was not so happy. Isabella, who hated her husband, who paid much less attention to his wife than to his favorites, took part in the rebellion that broke out in 1327 and cost Edward II the crown and life. Shortly before the death of Philip, in 1314, a scandal broke out in which the wives of his sons were involved. Two of them were convicted of adultery, and the third - in complicity with them. The former were sentenced to life imprisonment, the latter to penance in a monastery. The pronouncement of the verdict on the adulterous princesses and the execution of their lovers were carried out in public. Contemporaries and descendants wondered: why did the king not try to hide the shame of his family? There is no answer to this day, because the thoughts and feelings of Philip the Handsome, this extremely closed and always imperturbable person, were not known even to his closest associates. Perhaps, being a devoted husband, he hated adultery; perhaps, possessing an extremely developed sense of royal dignity, he believed that princesses had no right to human weaknesses; perhaps considering the royal power responsible for the inviolability of the rule of law in the country, he strictly demanded compliance with the laws (and adultery was considered a crime in the Middle Ages) from everyone without exception, regardless of position. In any case, it is highly likely that this event hastened the death of Philip IV.

Philip IV the Handsome

philip handsome war duchy

Philip IV the Handsome (1268-1314)- King of France since 1285. Continuing the work of his ancestors, especially his grandfather, the king Louis IX Saint, he sought to strengthen royal power and free the country from the power of the Pope. To do this, it was necessary to develop cities and strengthen the influence of the third estate, that is, the townspeople. Philip took small knights and wealthy citizens as associates and created a government apparatus that would obey only him. They were humble and obligated to the king, so they faithfully served Philip and supported him in everything. The supreme authority was Parlement of Paris, Supreme Court and Court of Accounts (Treasury).If earlier people lived according to the laws of the church and customs, then under Philip they began to live according to the laws Roman law.

Taking care of France, Philip tried to expand the borders of the country. So in 1295-1299he fought with the king of england Edward I for the Duchy of Aquitainein southwestern France. This territory was owned by the English kings as vassals of the French. Philip found fault with the violation of the rights of the feudal lords and summoned Edward to court. He knew that at this time England was at war with Scotland, and the king of England could not be present at the trial. Failure to appear in court was a serious violation of the law. Edward offered Philip this duchy as a pledge for 40 days, and in return guaranteed his presence at the court. But Philip then refused to return it, but in 1299he still had to do it. The county threatened from the north of France Flanders. Which was vassal to the French crown. But an ally of England.

The war between France and Flanders began in 1297., when Philip defeated the Count of Flanders at the Battle of Furne.The townspeople were unhappy with their count and helped Philip capture Flanders. But the Flemings did not like both Philip's administration and May 18, 1302they rebelled. It went down in history as "Bruges Matins". A July 11in the battle of Courtraythe foot militia of the Flemings defeated the cavalry knightly army. The victors laid down the spurs of the knights in the main square, and this battle was called "battle of the golden spurs". August 18, 1304by winning the battle in Mont-en-Pevel, the French managed to conquer the Flemings.

During the war with England, the conflict with the Papacy escalated. More Saint Louisdid not want Rome to interfere in the state affairs of France. Louis was pious and did not allow conflict to break out. But his follower , Philip IVwas not so pious. First, his relationship with Pope Boniface VIIIwere friendly enough. But in 1296The pope forbade the clergy from paying taxes to the state. Philip needed money for the war with England and Flanders. In addition, he believed that all residents, regardless of class, should help their country. Philip forbade the export of gold and jewelry from France. The papacy no longer received church fees from France. Boniface canceled the decree. However, the peace did not last long. The king demanded that everyone in the kingdom submit to a single royal court, and the Pope insisted on obeying ecclesiastical laws.

In 1302year Philip for the first time in history convened Estates General- a legislative assembly of representatives of the three estates: the clergy, the nobility and the third estate (citizens). At this meeting, the first ever French Chancellor Pierre de Flotannounced France's disagreement with the Pope. The nobles and townspeople fully supported the king. Boniface at the Council announced that in all matters, both spiritual and secular, one must obey the Pope. This was the condition for the salvation of the soul. Philip was excommunicated and his subjects were released from the oath. In response to this new Chancellor and Privy Seal of the Kingdom of France Guillaume Nogaret de Saint-Felixcalled Boniface a heretic. He sent an army to Rome. Dad fled to the city Alanya. September 7, 1303the French army ran into Alanya and arrested the Pope. A few days later, the mood of the townspeople changed, they expelled the French and released the Pope. However, Bonniface, after so many upheavals, died. his successor Benedict XIable 10 months later. People said that Philip poisoned him.

In 1305 French Bertrand de Gobecame Pope and took the name Clement V. He canceled the excommunication of the king from the church and transferred the papacy from Rome to Avignonwhich was located in France. Roman pontiffs became French court bishops.

In 1308Philip called again Estates General, on which he accused the knights of the Knights Templar of heresy and executed. The king decided on a new campaign in Flanders, which wanted to fight France. August 1, 1314he called Estates Generalto approve a new tax for this war. But the trip did not take place. November 20, 1314 Philip IV died. Soon died Pope Clement V and Chancellor Nogaret. They were said to have been poisoned by Templar supporters to avenge the execution of their brethren.

The family life of Philip the Handsome was happy. IN 1284he married Zhanna Navarskayawhich brought the Kingdom of Navarre and the County of Champagne. They had four children: Louis, King of Navarre, who was King of France since 1314. They called him Louis X the Grumpy. Second son - Philipwas king with 1316. They called him Philip V the Long. His daughter Isabelmarried the King of England Edward II. Younger son - Charlesbecame king Charles VV 1322.

In the residence of the French kings, in June 1268, the royal couple, Philip III the Bold and Isabella of Aragon, had a son, who was named after his father - Philip. Already in the first days of little Philip's life, everyone noted his unprecedented angelic beauty and his huge brown eyes. No one then could have foreseen that the newly born second heir to the throne would be the last of the Capetian family to be an outstanding king of France.

Atmosphere of childhood and youth

During the childhood and youth of Philip, when his father Philip III ruled, France expanded its territory, annexing the province of Toulouse, the counties of Valois, Brie, Auvergne, Poitou and the pearl - the Kingdom of Navarre. Champagne was promised accession to the kingdom, thanks to an advance agreement on the marriage of Philip to the heiress of the county, Princess Joan I of Navarre. The annexed lands, of course, bore fruit, but France, torn apart by large feudal lords and papal legates, with an empty treasury, was on the verge of disaster.

Failures began to haunt Philip III. His heir to the throne, the first son Louis, on whom he had high hopes, dies. The king, being weak-willed and led by his advisers, gets involved in adventures that ended in failure. So in March 1282, Philip III was defeated in the Sicilian national liberation uprising, where the Sicilians exterminated and expelled all the French who were there. Philip III's next and final setback was a military campaign against the king of Aragon, Pedro III the Great. This company was attended by the seventeen-year-old Philip IV, who, along with the reigning father, participated in the battles. Despite intensified advances, the royal army and navy were defeated and held under the walls of the fortress of Girona, in northeastern Spain. The ensuing retreat undermined the health of the king, he was overcome by illnesses and fevers, which he could not bear. So, in the fortieth year, the life of King Philip III, nicknamed the Bold, ended, and the hour of the reign of Philip IV came.

Long live the king!

The coronation was scheduled for October 1285, immediately after the funeral of his father, in the abbey of Saint-Denis.

After the coronation, the wedding of Philip IV with the Queen of Navarre Joan I of Navarre took place, which served to annex the lands of the county of Champagne and strengthened the power of France.

Taught by the bitter experience of his father, Philip understood one rule for himself, which he followed all his life - sole rule, the pursuit of only his own interests and the interests of France.

The young king's first intended business was to resolve conflicts related to the failure of the Aragonese company. The king went against the will of Pope Martin IV and the passionate desire of his brother Charles of Valois to become king of Aragon, and withdrew French troops from Aragonese land, thereby ending the military conflict.

The next action, which shocked the entire French and European high society, was the removal from the affairs of all the advisers of the late father and the appointment of people who distinguished themselves by their services to the king. Philip was a very attentive person, he always noted in people the qualities he needed, therefore, not noticing managerial notes in the nobility who became lazy from a well-fed life, he opted for intelligent people of not noble origin. So they were appointed Catholic titular bishop Angerrand Marigny, chancellor Pierre Flotte and custodian of the royal seal Guillaume Nogaret.

Large feudal lords were outraged by such actions of the young king, which threatened a bloody revolution. To prevent the emergence of a rebellion and weaken the powerful feudal society, the king is carrying out a serious reform that concerned the administration of the state. He limits the influence of ordinary and ecclesiastical rights on royal power, relying on the codes of Roman law, and appoints the Treasury (Accounts), the Paris Parliament and the Supreme Court as the acting supreme democratic authority. Weekly discussions were held in these institutions, in which respectable citizens and minor knights (legists) with knowledge of Roman law participated and served.

Opposition to Rome

Being a solid and purposeful person, Philip IV continued to expand the borders of his state, and this required constant replenishment of the royal treasury. At that time, the church had a separate treasury, from which the funds were distributed for subsidies for the townspeople, for the needs of the church and for contributions to Rome. It was this treasury that the king planned to use.

By coincidence for Philip IV, at the end of 1296, Pope Boniface VIII decided to be the first to take possession of church savings and issues a document (bull) that prohibits granting citizens subsidies from the church treasury. Until that time, being in very warm and friendly relations with Boniface VIII, Philip still decides to take open and harsh actions for the Pope. Philip believed that the church was obliged not only to participate in the life of the country, but to allocate funds for its needs. And he issues a decree forbidding the export of the church treasury to Rome, thereby depriving the Papacy of the permanent financial income that the French church provided them. The quarrel that occurred for this reason between the king and Baniface was hushed up by the publication of a new bull, canceling the first, but for a short time.

Having made concessions, the French king Philip the Handsome allowed the export of funds to Rome and continued the harassment of churches, which led to complaints from church ministers against the king to the Pope. Because of these complaints, which pointed to violations of subordination, disrespect, disobedience and insult by vassals, Boniface VIII sends the Bishop of Pameres to France to the king. He was supposed to oblige the king to fulfill his earlier promises to participate in the Aragonese crusade and release the captive Count of Flanders from prison. Sending a bishop, who was not restrained in character, very sharp and quick-tempered, in the role of ambassador and allowing him to decide such delicate issues was the greatest mistake of Banifacius. Failing to meet Philip's understanding and having been refused, the bishop allowed himself to speak in harsh and elevated tones, threatening the king with a ban on all church services. Despite all his natural restraint and calmness, Philip the Handsome could not restrain himself, and he orders the arrogant bishop to be arrested and imprisoned in Sanli.

Meanwhile, the French king Philip 4 the Beautiful took care of collecting information about the unlucky ambassador and found out that he spoke negatively about the power of the king, offended his honor and pushed the flock to revolt. This information was enough for Philip to demand in a letter from the Pope the urgent deposition of the Bishop of Pamiers and committing him to a secular court. To which Banifacius responded by threatening to excommunicate Philip from the church and ordering the presence of the royal person at his own court. The king was angry and promised the high priest to burn his decree on the unlimited power of the Roman Church over secular power.

The disagreements that arose prompted Philip to take more decisive action. He convenes for the first time in the history of France the Estates General, which was attended by all the prosecutors of the cities of France, nobles, barons and high clergy. To increase indignation and exacerbate the situation, those present at the council were provided with a forged papal bull in advance. At the council, after some hesitation of the representatives of the church, it was decided to support the king.

The conflict flared up, the opponents exchanged blows: on the part of Banifacius, the excommunication of the king from the church, the capture of seven provinces and the release from vassal control followed, and Philip publicly declared the pope a warlock, a false pope and a heretic, organized a conspiracy and entered into an agreement with the enemies of the Pope.

The conspirators, led by Nogare, captured Banifacius VIII, who at that time was in the city of Anagni. Dignified, the Pope endures the attacks of his enemies, and awaits the release of the inhabitants of Anagni. But the experiences he endured caused irreparable damage to his mind, and Baniface goes mad and dies.

The next Pope Benedict XI stopped the attacks and persecution of the king, but his faithful servant Nogare was excommunicated for participating in the arrest of Banifacius VIII. The Pope did not serve long, he died in 1304, and Clement V took his place.

The new Pope treated King Philip with obedience and never challenged his demands. By order of the royal person, Clement transferred the papal throne and residence from Rome to the city of Avignon, which was under the strong influence of Philip. Another significant favor in 1307 for the king was the agreement of Clement V to accuse the knights of the Templars (Templars). Thus, under the reign of Philip IV, the papacy became obedient bishops.

Declaration of war

During the intensifying conflict with Boniface VIII, King of France Philip IV the Handsome was engaged in strengthening the country and expanding its territories. He was most interested in Flanders, which at that time was a self-sufficient handicraft and agricultural state with an anti-French direction. Since the vassal Flanders was not in the mood to obey the French king, she was more satisfied with good relations with the English house, Philip did not fail to take advantage of this set of circumstances and summoned the English king Edward I to trial in the Paris Parliament.

The English king, focused on a military campaign with Scotland, refuses his presence at the court, which was opportune for Philip IV. He declares war. Torn apart by two military companies, Edward I is looking for allies and finds them in the Count of Brabant, Guelders, Savoy, Emperor Adolf and the King of Castile. Philip also enlists the support of the allies. He was joined by the Counts of Luxembourg and Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine and the Scots.

At the beginning of 1297, fierce battles unfolded for the territory of Flanders, where in Fürn, Count Robert d'Artois defeated the troops of Count Guy de Dampierre of Flanders, and captured him along with his family and the remaining soldiers. In 1300, troops under the command of Charles de Valois captured the city of Douai, passed through the city of Bruges and entered the city of Ghent in the spring. The king, meanwhile, was engaged in the siege of the fortress of Lille, which, after nine weeks of confrontation, capitulated. In 1301 part of Flanders surrendered to the mercy of the king.

Recalcitrant Flanders

King Philip the Handsome did not fail to take advantage of the obedience of the newly minted subordinates, and decided to take advantage of this by imposing exorbitant taxes on the Flemings. To control the country, Jacques of Châtillon was placed, who, with his harsh administration, increased the discontent and hatred of the inhabitants of the country towards the French. And without that, the Flemings, who have not yet calmed down from the conquest, do not stand up and arrange a rebellion, which was quickly suppressed, and the participants in the rebellion were heavily fined. Then, in the city of Bruges, Jacques of Châtillon orders the inhabitants to demolish the city wall and begins the construction of the citadel.

Exhausted by taxes, the people decided on a new, more organized rebellion, and in the spring of 1302, the French garrison clashed with the Flemings. During the day, the embittered Flemings destroyed three thousand two hundred French soldiers. The army that approached to pacify the rebellion was destroyed along with the commander Robert d'Artois. Then about six thousand mounted knights perished, whose spurs were removed as trophies and placed at the altar of the church.

Insulted by the defeat and death of a relative, King Philip the Handsome makes another attempt, and leading a large army enters the battle in Flanders at Mons-en-Pevel and defeats the Flemings. Again he successfully besieges Lille, but the Flemings no longer submit to the king of France.

After numerous bloody battles that did not bring due success, Philip decides to conclude a peace treaty with Count of Flanders Robert III of Bethune with full preservation of privileges, restoration of rights and return of Flanders.

Only the release of captured soldiers and counts meant the payment of legal indemnity. As a pledge, Philip attached to his territory the cities of Orches, Bethune, Douai and Lille.

The case of the Templars

The brotherhood of the Knights Templar was founded in the 11th century, and in the 12th century it was officially approved as the Order of the Knights Templar by Pope Honorius II. Over the centuries of its existence, the society has established itself as the protectors of the faithful and excellent economists. For two centuries the Templars regularly participated in the crusades, but after the loss of Jerusalem, unsuccessful battles for the Holy Land and numerous losses in Acre, they had to move their headquarters to Cyprus.

At the end of the 13th century, the Knights Templar were not so numerous, but remained still a well-formed paramilitary structure, and the last 23rd leader of the Order was Grand Master Jacques de Molay. In the last years of the reign of Philip IV, the Order was engaged in financial affairs, intervening in the secular affairs of the state and protecting its treasures.

The impoverished treasury from constant spending on military needs needed urgent replenishment. As a personal debtor to the Templars, Philip was puzzled by the question of how to get rid of accumulated debts and get to their treasury. In addition, he considered the Knights Templar dangerous for royal power.

Therefore, supported by the non-intervention of the tamed Popes, Philip in 1307 begins a case against the religious Order of the Templars, arresting every single templar in France.

The case against the Templars was clearly falsified, terrible torture was used during interrogations, far-fetched accusations of links with Muslims, witchcraft and devil worship. But no one dared to argue with the king and act as the protector of the Templars. For seven years, the investigation into the case of the Templars continued, who, exhausted by long imprisonment and torture, confessed to all the charges, but renounced them during a public trial. During the trials, the Templar treasury completely passed into royal hands.

In 1312, the destruction of the order was announced, and the next year, in the spring, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and some of his associates were sentenced to death by burning.

The execution was attended by the King of France, Philip the Handsome (you can see the portrait in the article) with his sons and Chancellor Nogaret. Jacques de Molay, engulfed in flames, cursed the entire Capetian family and predicted the imminent death of Pope Clement V and the Chancellor.

death of the king

Having good health, Philip did not pay attention to de Molay's curse, but in the very near future, in the same spring after the execution, the Pope died suddenly. The predictions began to come true. In 1314, Philip the Handsome goes hunting and falls from his horse, after which he suddenly falls ill with an unknown debilitating disease, which is accompanied by delirium. In the autumn of the same year, the forty-six-year-old king dies.

What was the king of France, Philip the Handsome

Why "Beautiful"? Was he really like that? The French king Philip IV the Handsome remains a controversial and mysterious figure in the history of Europe. Many of his contemporaries called the king cruel and despotic, led by his advisors. If you look at the policy pursued by Philip, you will involuntarily think - in order to carry out such serious reforms and achieve the desired goals, you must have rare energy, iron, unbending will and perseverance. Many who were close to the king and did not support his policies, decades after his death, will remember his reign with tears in their eyes, as a time of justice and great deeds.

People who knew the king personally spoke of him as a modest and meek person who attended services accurately and regularly, observed all fasts while wearing a sackcloth, and always avoided obscene and immodest conversations. Philip was distinguished by kindness and condescension, often trusting people who did not deserve his trust. Often the king was reserved and imperturbable, sometimes frightening his subjects with a sudden stupor and a piercing gaze.

All the courtiers whispered softly as the king walked around the castle grounds, “God forbid the king should look at us. From his gaze, the heart stops, and the blood runs cold in the veins.

The nickname "Beautiful" King Philip 4 deserved rightly, since the addition of his body was perfect and bewitching, like a superbly cast sculpture. His facial features were distinguished by their regularity and symmetry, large intelligent and beautiful eyes, black wavy hair framed his melancholy forehead, all this made his image unique and mysterious for people.

The heirs of Philip the Handsome

The marriage of Philip IV with Joan I of Navarre can rightly be called a happy marriage. The royal couple loved each other and were faithful to the marital bed. This confirms the fact that after the death of his wife, Philip rejected lucrative proposals for remarriage.

In this union they gave birth to four children:

• Louis X the Quarrelsome, future King of Navarre from 1307 and King of France from 1314
• Philip V the Long, future King of France and Navarre from 1316
• Handsome (Handsome), the future king of France and Navarre since 1322
• Isabella, future wife of King Edward II of England and mother of King Edward III.

King Philip the Handsome and his daughters-in-law

King Philip never worried about the future of the crown. He had three heirs who were happily married. It remained only to wait for the appearance of the heirs. But alas, the wishes of the king were not to come true. The king, being a believing man and a strong family man, having learned about the adultery of his daughters-in-law with the courtiers, imprisoned them in a tower and inflicted judgment on them.

Until the very death, the unfaithful wives of the royal sons languished in prison casemates and hoped that the untimely death of the king that had happened would rescue them from imprisonment. But they never deserved forgiveness from their husbands.

The traitors were destined for a different fate:

• wife of Louis X, gave birth to a daughter, Jeanne. After her husband's coronation, she was strangled in captivity.
• Blanca, wife of Charles IV. A divorce followed and the replacement of prison confinement with a monastic cell.
• Jeanne de Chalon, wife of Philip V. After her husband's coronation, she was forgiven and released from prison. She gave birth to three daughters.

Second wives of heirs to the throne:

• Clementia of Hungary became the last wife of the king. In this marriage, the heir John I the Posthumous was born, who lived for several days.
• Mary of Luxembourg, second wife of King Charles.

Despite the opinions of disgruntled contemporaries, Philip IV the Handsome created a powerful French kingdom. During his reign, the population increased to 14 million, many buildings and fortifications were built. France reached the peak of economic prosperity, arable land expanded, fairs appeared, and trade flourished. The descendants of Philip the Handsome got a renewed, strong and modern country with a new way of life and system.