Philip VI (born 1293)

Known as "the Fortunate" and "of Valois", Philip was also Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois from 1325 to 1328. A member of the Capetian dynasty, he was the son of Charles of Valois (who was the brother of Philip IV) and the first King of France from the House of Valois.

In 1328, King Charles IV died without a direct male descendant; however, at the time of his death his wife was pregnant. Philip, as Charles' cousin, was one of the two chief claimants to the throne along with the demands of Dowager Queen Isabella of England, the late King Charles' sister, who claimed the French throne for her young son King Edward III of England. Philip rose to the regency with support of French magnates, following the pattern set up by Philip V's succession over his niece Joan II of Navarre, and Charles IV's succession over all his nieces, including daughters of Philip V. After Charles' queen, Jeanne d'Évreux, gave birth to a girl, Philip was crowned as King on May 29, 1328 at the Cathedral in Reims. Philip VI, though a descendant of Garcia VI of Navarre, was not an 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 and had long been administered by the same royal machinery (established by Philip IV, the father of French bureaucracy), which administrative resource was inherited by Philip VI. These counties were closely entrenched in the economic and administrative entity of the Royal Domain of France, being located adjacent to Ile-de-France. Philip, however, was not entitled to that inheritance; the rightful heiress was Louis X's surviving daughter, the future Joan II of Navarre, the genealogically senior 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 husband's fief in Evreux) in compensation, and Philip got to keep Champagne as part of the Royal Domain.

Philip's reign was punctuated with crises. It began with military success in Flanders at the Battle of Cassel (August 1328), where Philip's forces reseated Louis I of Flanders, who had been unseated by a popular revolution. The able Jeanne gave the first of many demonstrations of her competence as regent in his absence.

Philip initially enjoyed relatively amicable relations with Edward III, and they planned a crusade together in 1332, which was never executed. However, the status of the Duchy of Aquitaine remained a sore point, and tension increased. Philip provided refuge for David II of Scotland in 1334 and declared himself champion of his interests, which enraged Edward. By 1336, they were enemies, although not yet openly at war.

Philip successfully prevented an arrangement between the papacy in Avignon and Emperor Louis IV although, in July 1337, Louis concluded an alliance with Edward III.

The final breach with England came when Edward offered refuge to Robert III of Artois, formerly one of Philip's trusted advisers. However, after he committed forgery to try to obtain an inheritance, he barely escaped France with his life, and was hounded by Philip throughout Europe. Edward made him Earl of Richmond and honored him; in retaliation, Philip declared on May 24, 1337 that Edward had forfeited Aquitaine for rebellion and disobedience. Thus began the Hundred Years' War.

Philip entered the Hundred Years' War in a position of comparative strength. France was richer and more populous than England, and was then in the height of her medieval glory. The opening stages of the war, accordingly, were largely successful for the French.

At sea, French privateers raided and burned towns and shipping all along the southern and southeastern coasts of England. The English made some retaliatory raids, including the burning of a fleet in the harbor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, but the French largely had the upper hand. With his sea power established, Philip gave orders in 1339 to prepare an invasion of England, and began assembling a fleet off the Zeeland coast at Sluys. However, in June 1340, in the bitterly-fought Battle of Sluys ("l'Ecluse"), the English attacked the port and captured or destroyed the ships there, ending the threat of an invasion.

On land, Edward III largely concentrated upon Flanders and the Low Countries, where he had gained allies by diplomacy and bribery. A raid in 1339 (the first chevauchée) into Picardy ended ignominiously when Philip wisely refused to give battle. Edward's slender finances would not permit him to play a waiting game, and he was forced to withdraw into Flanders and return to England to raise more money. In July 1340, Edward returned and besieged Tournai; again, Philip brought up a relieving army which harassed the besiegers but did not offer open battle, and Edward was again forced to return home, fleeing the Low Countries secretly to escape his creditors.

So far, the war had gone quite well for Philip and the French. While often stereotyped as chivalry-besotten idiots, Philip and his men had in fact carried out a successful Fabian strategy against the debt-plagued Edward, and resisted the chivalric blandishments of single combat or a combat of two hundred knights that he offered. In 1341, the War of the Breton Succession allowed the English to place permanent garrisons in Brittany. However, Philip was still in a commanding position: during Papally-arbitrated negotiations in 1343, he refused Edward's offer to end the war in exchange for the Duchy of Aquitaine in full sovereignty.

In July, 1313, Philip married Joan the Lame, daughter of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy, and princess Agnes of France, the youngest daughter of Louis IX. In an ironic twist to his "male" ascendancy to the throne, the intelligent, strong-willed Joan, an able regent of France during the King's long military campaigns, was said to be the brains behind the throne and the real ruler of France.

Their children are:
John, Duke of Normandy (b.1319)
Marie (1326–1333), who married John of Brabant, the son and heir of John III, Duke of Brabant, but died shortly afterwards.
Philip of Valois, Duke of Orleans (b.1336)