Philip VI of France

Philip VI of Valois (French: Philippe VI de Valois; 1293 – August 22, 1350) was the King of France from 1328 to his death, and Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois 1325–1328. He was the son of Charles of Valois and founded the Valois Dynasty.

Ascension to the Throne

In 1328, King Charles IV of France died without a direct male descendant, however leaving his wife pregnant. Philippe was one of the two chief claimants to the throne, along with King Edward III of England whose mother, Isabella of France, was the late King Charles' sister. Philip ascended to the crown by applying Salic law, which forbade females and those descended in the female line to succeed to the throne. After the queen, Jeanne d'Evreux, gave birth to a girl, Philip was crowned on May 27, 1328 at the Cathedral in Reims.

Related Topics:
1328 - Charles IV of France - Edward III of England - Isabella of France - Salic law - Jeanne d'Evreux - May 27 - Cathedral in Reims

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Philip VI was not a heir nor a descendant of Joan I of Navarre, whose inheritance (the kingdom of Navarre, as well as the counties of Champagne, Troyes, Meaux and Brie) had been in personal union with the crown of France almost fifty years at that time, and already long administered by the same royal machinery (established by Philip IV, the father of French bureaucracy), which resource was inherited by Philip VI. Particularly these counties were at that time already closely entrenched in the economic and administrative entity of the Royal Domain of France, being located adjacent to Ile-de-France. Philip was however not at all entitled to that inheritance: the rightful heiress was Louis X's surviving daughter, the future Joan II of Navarre, the eldest granddaughter of Joan I of Navarre. Philip ceded Navarre to Joan II, but regarding the counties in Champagne, they struck a deal: Joan II received vast lands in Normandy (adjacent to her husbands fief in Evreux) in compensation, and Philip got to keep Champagne as part of the Royal Domain.

Related Topics:
Joan I of Navarre - Joan II of Navarre

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