Pyramids and their pharaohs. The mystery of the Egyptian pyramids

In the residence of the French kings, in June 1268, a son was born to the royal couple, Philip III the Bold and Isabella of Aragon, 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 predicted that the newly born second heir to the throne would be the last outstanding king of France from the Capetian family.

The atmosphere of childhood and adolescence

During the childhood and adolescence of Philip, when his father Philip III ruled, France expanded its territory, annexing the Toulouse province, the Valois, Brie, Auvergne, Poitou counties and the pearl - the Kingdom of Navarre. Champagne was promised to join the kingdom, thanks to the advance agreement on the marriage of Philip to the heiress of the county, Princess Jeanne 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. The heir to the throne, the first son Louis, on whom he had high hopes, dies. The king, being weak of character 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. The next and last failure of Philip III was a military campaign against the king of Aragon, Pedro III the Great. Seventeen-year-old Philip IV took part in this company, who, along with the reigning father, participated in the battles. Despite the intensified offensives, 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 seized by illness and fever, which he did not endure. So, in the fortieth year, the life of King Philip III, nicknamed the Bold, was cut short, and the hour of the reign of Philip IV came.

Long live the king!

The coronation was scheduled for October 1285, immediately after his father's funeral, at the Abbey of Saint-Denis.

After the coronation, the wedding of Philip IV with the Queen of Navarre, Jeanne I of Navarre, took place, which served as the annexation of the lands of the County of Champagne and strengthened the power of France.

Taught by his father's bitter experience, Philip learned one rule for himself, which he followed all his life - one-man rule, pursuing only his own interests and the interests of France.

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

The next action, which shocked the entire high society French and European society, was the removal from affairs of all the advisers of the late father and the appointment to their posts of people who distinguished themselves for their services to the king. Philip was a very attentive person, he always noted the qualities necessary for him in people, therefore, not noticing the managerial notes in the nobility, who were lazy from the well-fed life, he opted for intelligent people of no noble origin. So they were appointed to the post of the Catholic titular bishop of Angerrand Marigny, Chancellor Pierre Flotte and guardian 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 outbreak of revolt and weaken the powerful feudal society, the king is carrying out a serious reform that related to the government. He restricts the influence of customary and ecclesiastical rights on royal power, relying on the codes of Roman law, and appoints the Treasury (Chamber of Accounts), the Paris Parliament and the Supreme Court as the current highest democratic power. In these institutions, weekly discussions were held, in which respectable citizens and minor knights (legists) with knowledge of Roman law participated and served.

Confrontation with Rome

A solid and purposeful man, 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 funds were distributed to 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), which prohibits granting subsidies to citizens from the church treasury. Until this time in very warm and friendly relations with Boniface VIII, Philip nevertheless decides to take open and harsh actions for the Pope. Philip believed that the church is obliged not only to participate in the life of the country, but to allocate funds for its needs. And he issues a decree prohibiting the export of the church treasury to Rome, thereby depriving the Papacy of the constant financial income that the French church provided them. For this reason, the quarrel 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 Fair allowed the export of funds to Rome and continued the oppression of the churches, which led to the complaints of the church officials against the king to the Pope. Because of these complaints, which indicated violations of chain of command, disrespect, disobedience and insult by the vassals, Boniface VIII sent the bishop of Pamieres to France to the king. He had to oblige the king to fulfill the earlier promises of participation in the Aragonese crusade and release from prison the captured Count of Flanders. The sending of a bishop, who was not restrained in character, very harsh and hot-tempered, in the role of an ambassador and allowing him to decide such delicate issues was Baniface's greatest mistake. Not meeting with Philip's understanding and receiving a refusal, the bishop allowed himself to speak in harsh and raised tones, threatening the king with a ban on all church services. Despite all his natural self-control and calmness, Philip the Handsome could not restrain himself, and he orders the arrogant bishop to be arrested and taken into custody in Sanli.

Meanwhile, the French king Philip 4 Handsome took care of collecting information about the unlucky ambassador and found out that he spoke negatively about the king's power, offended his honor and pushed the flock to rebellion. This information was enough for Philip to demand in a letter from the Pope the urgent deposition of the Bishop of Pamier and his surrender to the secular court. To which Baniface 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 resulting disagreements prompted Philip to take more decisive action. For the first time in the history of France, he convenes the States General, which was attended by all the prosecutors of the cities of France, nobles, barons and higher clergy. To intensify the resentment and exacerbate the situation, those present at the council were provided with a previously forged papal bull. At the council, after a short hesitation of the representatives of the church, it was decided to support the king.

The conflict flared up, opponents exchanged blows: from Baniface, the king was excommunicated from the church, the seizure of seven provinces and the release from vassal control, and Philip publicly declared the Pope a warlock, false dad and a heretic, began organizing a conspiracy and entered into a conspiracy with the Pope's enemies.

The conspirators, led by Nogare, captured Baniface VIII, who at that time was in the city of Anagni. The dignified Pope withstands the attacks of his enemies, and awaits the release of the inhabitants of Ananya. But the experiences he had 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 loyal servant Nogare was excommunicated for participating in the arrest. The Pope did not serve for long, he died in 1304, and Clement V came in his place.

The new Pope treated King Philip with obedience, and never contradicted his demands. By order of the royal personage, Clement transferred the papal throne and residence from Rome to the city of Avignon, which was heavily influenced by Philip. Another significant favor in 1307 for the king was the agreement of Clement V of charges against the Templar Knights. Thus, under the reign of Philip IV, the papacy became obedient bishops.

Declaration of war

During the growing conflict with Boniface VIII, King Philip IV of France was busy strengthening the country and expanding its territories. Most of all he was interested in Flanders, which at that time was a self-sufficient craft and agricultural state with an anti-French direction. Since the vassal Flanders was not inclined to obey the French king, she was more satisfied with a good relationship with the English house, Philip did not fail to take advantage of this coincidence, and summoned the English king Edward I to the Paris Parliament for trial.

The English king, focused on a military campaign with Scotland, refuses to be present at the trial, which was useful for Philip IV. He declares war. Torn apart by two military companies, Edward I seeks allies and finds them in the Count of Brabant, Geldern, Savoy, Emperor Adolf and 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 Furne 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 led by 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 king.

Defiant Flanders

King Philip the Handsome did not fail to take advantage of the obedience of the newly minted subordinates, and decided to benefit greatly from this, imposing exorbitant taxes on the Flemings. To control the country, Jacques Chatillonsky was put in place, who, with his harsh management, increased the discontent and hatred of the inhabitants of the country towards the French. The Flemings, who had not yet calmed down from the conquest, could not stand it and started a revolt, which was quickly suppressed, and the participants in the revolt were imposed with huge fines. At the same time, in the city of Bruges, Jacques Chatillonsky ordered the residents to demolish the city wall and began building a citadel.

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

Offended by the defeat and death of a relative, King Philip the Fair makes another attempt, and leading a large army, he enters the battle in Flanders at Mons-en-Pevel and defeats the Flemings. Lille was successfully besieged again, but the Flemings no longer submitted to the king of France.

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

Only the release of the captured soldiers and counts implied the payment of a legal indemnity. As collateral, Philip annexed the cities of Orsh, Bethune, Douai and Lille to his territory.

Templar case

The Brotherhood of Knights Templar was founded in the 11th century, and in the 12th century it was officially approved as the Order of the Templars by Pope Honorius II. Throughout the centuries of its existence, the society has established itself as protectors of believers 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 Order of the Knights Templar was not so numerous, but remained still a well-formed militarized structure, and the last 23rd leader of the Order was the Grand Master Jacques de Molay. V last years reign of Philip IV, the Order was engaged in financial affairs, interference in the secular affairs of the state and the protection of their treasures.

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

Therefore, supported by the non-interference 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 interrogation, trumped-up accusations of links with Muslims, witchcraft and devil worship. But no one dared to contradict 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 the long imprisonment and torture, confessed to all the charges brought against them, but dropped them during a public trial. During the trial, the Templars' treasury completely passed into royal hands.

In 1312, the destruction of the order was announced, and the following 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. In flames, Jacques de Molay pronounced a curse on 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 went hunting and fell from his horse, after which he suddenly fell ill with an unknown debilitating disease, which was accompanied by delirium. In the fall of the same year, the forty-six-year-old king dies.

What was the king of France Philip the Handsome

Why "Handsome"? 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 described the king as cruel and oppressive, led by his advisers. 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 need to have rare energy, iron, unbending will and perseverance. Many who were close to the king and did not support his policy, 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 man who neatly and regularly attended services, observed all fasts wearing a hair shirt, and always avoided obscene and immodest conversations. Philip was distinguished by kindness and condescension, he often trusted people who did not deserve his trust. Often the king was withdrawn and unperturbed, sometimes frightening his subjects with a sudden numbness and piercing gaze.

All the courtiers quietly whispered as the king walked through the castle grounds: “God forbid, the king to look at us. From his gaze, the heart stops, and the blood runs cold in my veins. "

The nickname "Handsome" King Philip 4 rightly deserved, as the constitution of his body was perfect and mesmerizing, similar to a magnificently cast sculpture. Facial features were distinguished by their regularity and symmetry, large intelligent and beautiful eyes, black wavy hair framed his melancholic brow, all this made his image unique and mysterious for people.

The heirs of Philip the Fair

The marriage of Philip IV to Jeanne 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 offers of remarriage.

In this union, they gave birth to four children:

• Louis X the Grumpy, future King of Navarre from 1307 and King of France from 1314.
• Philip V Long, future king of France and Navarre from 1316
• Handsome (Handsome), the future king of France and Navarre from 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 successfully married. It only remained to wait for the appearance of the heirs. But alas, the king's wishes were not supposed to come true. The king, being a believer and a strong family man, having learned about adultery of his daughters-in-law with the courtiers, imprisoned them in a tower and brought them to justice.

Until their death, the unfaithful wives of the royal sons languished in prison casemates and hoped that the sudden death of the king would free them from captivity. But they did not deserve forgiveness from their husbands.

The traitors had a different fate:

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

Second wives of the heirs to the throne:

• Clementia of Hungary became the king's last wife. In this marriage, the heir John I the Posthumous was born, who lived for several days.
• Maria 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 a peak of economic prosperity, arable land expanded, fairs appeared, and trade flourished. The descendants of Philip the Handsome inherited a renewed, strong and modern country with a new way of life and order.

R.A. Zakharov (Moscow)

Rice. 1. Turnoza, 1305, silver (4.1 grams, 958 standart, diameter 25 mm). On the obverse there is a symbol of the city of Tours (a chapel or city gate) with the inscription turonis civis and twelve lilies around, on the reverse there is a cross with an internal circular inscription - the name of the ruler PHILIPPVS REX + and an external circular inscription Benedictum sit nomen domini nostri Jesu Christi.

In 1266, the French king Louis IX, the grandfather of Charles IV the Handsome, began to mint in Tours much larger than denarii silver coins grossi Turonenses (pennies of Tours), they are also pennies of the tournois. In the numismatic literature, the name of the thornose stuck to them. The weight of the coin averaged about 4.20 g at the 958th test. The turnoza was equal to 12 denarii, which is why 12 lilies are depicted on the coin. This denomination was widely developed in Western and Central Europe in connection with the strong growth of trade and economy that began in the 13-14 centuries, which in turn required the introduction of a larger denomination into the money circulation than the denarius that reigned in Europe before that period.

Philip IV the Handsome was born in Fontainebleau in 1268 to Philip III and Isabella of Aragon. He came to the throne very young, at the age of 17. He ruled for a long time and he succeeded a lot. It was the king-politician, the king, who managed to create his own team, with the help of which he was able to solve the most difficult problems. It would be fair to list Philip's closest associates: Chancellor Pierre Flotte, Seal Guardian Guillaume Nogaret and Coadjutor of the Kingdom of Angerrand Marigny. All these were ordinary people, ascended to the heights of power by the king himself.

The beginning of the reign of Philip the Handsome unfolded against the backdrop of aggravated contradictions with the Pope every year. At first, nothing foreshadowed this conflict. None of the European kings was loved by Pope Boniface VIII as much as Philip the Fair. As early as 1290, when the Pope was only Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani and came to France as a papal legate, he admired the piety of the young king. Having ascended the throne in 1294, Boniface zealously supported the policy of the French king in Spain and Italy.

Boniface VIII was the first pope to begin the tradition of celebrating the so-called “anniversaries” (from 1300) or “holy years”, which were originally established as the centenary of the church. The pilgrims who visited Rome during the Jubilee years were granted complete absolution. The income from the influx of pilgrims was so great that the successors of Boniface VIII repeatedly shortened the periods between the Jubilee years to replenish the papal treasury and to popularize the ideas of Catholicism. For example, since 1475, the period between anniversary years has been reduced to 25 years. In the church itself, the pope pursued a balanced policy towards mendicant orders, limiting their freedom. In addition, this pope is the author of the well-known aphorism "Silence is a sign of consent."

The first signs of mutual distrust between the Pope and Philip the Fair were discovered in 1296. In August, the Pope promulgated a bull in which he forbade the laity to demand and receive subsidies from the clergy. By "strange coincidence" Philip at the same time banned the export of gold and silver from France. By doing so, he cut off one of the main sources of papal income, because the French Church could no longer send any money to Rome. Even then, a quarrel could have arisen, but the position of Boniface VIII on the papal throne was still fragile, and he yielded to the king.

After that, for several years, the opponents hesitated to take decisive measures, but the hostility between them was growing. Finally, in response to the demarche of Philip IV in April 1303, Boniface excommunicated the king, and in turn Philip declared Boniface a false pope (indeed, there were some doubts about the legality of his election), a heretic and even a warlock. He demanded to convene an ecumenical council to hear these accusations, but at the same time he said that the pope should be at this council as a prisoner and accused.

From words he turned to deeds. Nogare, with a large sum of money, went to Italy, where he entered into relations with the enemies of Boniface and conspired against him. The Pope was at that time in Anagni, where he wanted to bring Philip to a public curse. Then the conspirators from the Colonna family, led by Nogare, broke into the papal palace, surrounded Boniface, showered him with all sorts of insults and demanded his abdication. Nogare threatened that he would put him in chains and, like a criminal, would take him to the cathedral in Lyon to pass judgment on him, and then he took and gave the Holy Pope a couple of slaps in the face in public. When, three days later, the inhabitants of Anagni freed the pope, from the humiliation he had endured, he fell into such a nervous breakdown that he went mad and died. 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." The new Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogare, but ended the persecution of Philip himself. In the summer of 1304 he also died. In his place was elected the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand du Gotte, who took the name Clement V. He did not go to Italy, but was ordained in Lyon. In 1309 he settled in Avignon and turned this city into papal residence... Until his death, he remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king. The period of the so-called "Avignon captivity of the popes" began.

Contemporaries did not like Philip the Handsome, people close to him were afraid of the rational cruelty of this unusually beautiful and surprisingly dispassionate person. The violence against the pope caused outrage throughout the Christian world. Large feudal lords were dissatisfied with the infringement of their rights and the strengthening of the central administration, which consisted of rootless people. The taxation class was outraged by the increase in taxes, the so-called "spoilage" of the coin, that is, the decrease in its gold content with the forced preservation of its denomination, which led to inflation. Meanwhile, France under Philip IV the Handsome reaches the pinnacle of its power. It is the largest state in terms of population in the Western Christian world (13-15 million, or a third of the entire Catholic world). The kingdom's economy is thriving, with more arable land or trade at the Champagne fair.

The presented coin from French catalogs dates back to 1305. It was in this year that Clement V, obedient to the will of Philip IV, became pope. Philip the Handsome was in dire need of money and owed HALF MILLION LIVROWS to the Templars. How not to repay the debt and get some more money?

There were only two ways for this: to lead the order of the Templars and make it royal, or to destroy it. In addition, the Templars were also the most powerful political force of the time. And if Philip wanted, and he wanted and rigidly built the vertical of power, autocracy in France, then a clash with the Templars was inevitable. We must pay tribute to the courage of Philip the Handsome and his organizational skills. Not every king could decide to defeat such a richest order with a huge number of experienced warriors, moreover, very popular in European public opinion at that time. He went all-in, prepared for a long time and carefully ... It turned out to be easier to deal with the Pope, at the right moment he simply took advantage of the old Guelph-Ghibelline struggle between the oldest Roman patrician families Orsini and Colonna, financed the Ghibellinian Colonna and sent his resident Nogare to correct the situation on the spot in Italy.

With the Templars, he first tried to "negotiate in a good way," especially since most of the members of the order were French. It was in the same 1305 that Philip the Fair wanted to join the Order of the Temple himself. However, the Chapter of the Order answered him that there could be no crowned lords among the brothers. Then Philip made a new proposal. Since the war in Palestine has come to an end and the knightly orders were outside the Holy Land, it is necessary to unite two of them - the Order of the Temple and the Order of John of Jerusalem. At the head of the united Order, so as not to belittle the honor of either the Templars or the Hospitallers, should be the son of the most Christian king of France, a descendant of the famous crusader Louis Saint, that is, he himself. However, this plan also failed.

And then Philip the Fair chose the second path - the path of destroying the order, which for the last 150 years has absorbed the main passionary part of European chivalry. The King's confessor and Grand Inquisitor of France, Doctor of Theology Guillaume of Paris, began to collect witnesses from among the exiled from the Order of the Knights. There were very few such exiles, but they had to start somewhere. By 1307, the charges were prepared, and throughout France, royal messengers carried secret letters with instructions to the royal officials. On September 14, 1307, the royal troops at the same time at the "X" hour, without resistance, captured the castles of the Templars throughout France. Philip IV first entered the Temple of the Temple, towering in the center of Paris, not as a guest and debtor of the order, but as the lord of the conquered enemy fortress. The Templars did not put up resistance - the charter of the order did not allow the knights to take up arms against Christians. Although the charter is a charter, but the leadership of the order, who knew in advance about Philip's intentions, simply hid all their relics, documents and gold and ... went like lambs to the slaughter. Why? This question has long worried most historians, but there is still no obvious explanation for everyone. One thing is clear, the Templars knew about this through their perfectly oiled spy network, but decided not to resist, although if they wanted they could have done it then, who knows - Philip the Handsome would have saved his crown and life itself.

Shortly before the start of the arrests, Jacques-de Molay managed to burn many documents and send a special letter to all order houses, in which he ordered not to provide even minimal information about the customs and rituals of the Templars. According to one of the nights, on the eve of the start of the campaign against the Order, the Templars' treasures were taken out of Paris on carts under the guise of hay (who carries hay from the city to the village with a whole caravan of carts with an armed escort, and even at night ???). This cargo was delivered to the largest naval base Knights Templar, the port of La Rochelle, where he was loaded onto 18 galleys of the Order, who departed in an unknown direction. There is a hypothesis that then the flotilla split into two parts and went to Portugal and Scotland. Where were the relics and gold of the Order taken? Where exactly have these 18 galleys with crews and cargo gone? The Templars' treasures were never found, just as afterwards no one found either the gold of the Third Reich or the gold of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The arrested Templars were brought to trial, many were tortured. The process was long and bloody. In dungeons, not just the accused, but the knights, hitherto without fear, went on the attack on the infidels, perished or slandered themselves. By the way, according to the charter of the order, the Templar could retreat before the infidels only with their threefold advantage! But let's not forget that, for example, in 1937, in the dungeons of the NKVD, many courageous people also signed monstrous, absurdly incredible confessions .... Under torture, the prosecutors obtained terrible confessions over the course of several years! The Templars were accused of not recognizing Christ, the Holy Virgin and the saints, spitting on the cross and trampling on it with their feet. They blamed those, thanks to whose courage Christian states existed in the Holy Land for more than 170 years! They declared that they worship in a dark cave an idol depicting a human figure covered with human skin and with shiny carbuncles instead of eyes, while they smeared it with the fat of fried little children and looked at him as their god. They were accused of worshiping the devil in the form of a cat, burning the bodies of the dead Templars and giving the ashes to their younger brothers, mixing them with their food. They were accused of various crimes, of terrible debauchery and superstitious abominations, of which only madmen can be guilty. Just medieval 1937!

The boredom of the dragging false court was revived from time to time by the execution of the knights, who did not want to confess to the crimes of which they were not guilty. 59 knights were once taken out into the field behind the monastery of St. Anthony. They were offered forgiveness if they confessed, but they refused and were burned over a slow fire. In the city of Sanli, nine knights were burned and many more throughout France. Since the order was founded by an ecclesiastical council, a council also had to be convened for the trial of the Templars. However, the Vienna Council of 1312, convened for this purpose, did not want to bring any charges against the Order. Then the pocket pope Clement V dissolved the order on the basis of his bull "Vox clamantis", in which all the property of the order was transferred to the knightly order of the Johannites. However, in fact, the property was divided between the French king and dukes.

Church commissions were created for the trial of the Templars. They included the bishop of the city and mendicant monks: 2 Carmelites, 2 Franciscans and 2 Dominicans. The Benedictines and Zintercians, who participated in the creation of the Order of the Temple, were removed from the investigation. Clement V demanded that the highest dignitaries of the order be transferred to the papal court, but the leaders were not brought to the Pope, it was announced that they had caught a contagious disease on the way and therefore would be temporarily held in France. The Pope swallowed this, too, but the papal commissions were nevertheless admitted to the arrested and interrogated. During these interrogations, the Templars flatly denied most of the charges.

The knights unanimously denied the accusation of Sodomous sin - homosexuality encouraged by the authorities. However, they did not deny that at the initiation ceremony, the newly adopted was kissed on the navel, tailbone and lips. Moreover, no one could explain the meaning of these kisses: those of them that were admitted to secret knowledge, were in no hurry to tell, and those who simply copied the ritual did not understand its meaning. Just imagine some illiterate seventh son of an impoverished count who, from his youth, having fallen into the order, served in remote border castles somewhere in Syria. Prayer and fighting exercises interspersed with clashes with Muslims. Every day carry metal armor and weapons on yourself under 40 kg of weight at 30-40 degrees of heat there ... What kind of homosexuality is there ??? Those of the readers who served in the army in combat units will understand the absurdity of all these accusations.

The charter of the order required the knights to sleep half-dressed so that in the event of a sudden attack by the Muslims, they could quickly prepare for battle.

On March 18, 1314, already at the farce-trial of 4 leaders of the Knights Templar held in Paris, two of them - the Grand Master of the Order of Jacques de Molay himself and the commander of Normandy Geoffroy-de Charnet SUDDENLY retracted their testimonies, which were knocked out of them under torture in exchange for the promise of life imprisonment. “We are guilty before the Lord, but we do not plead guilty to the crimes named by the judges. We are guilty that our spirit was weaker than the flesh and under torture we slandered the Order of the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. " At the trials of 1937, none of the defendants dared to make such a demarche, but these two knights could ... After a short consultation, he and his closest associates were quickly sentenced to be burned at the stake. It is known that often before being burned at the stake, the executioner killed his victim in advance, and the already dead body burned. And here, enraged by the failed court with "frank confessions" of the Templars, Philippe ordered to burn Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnet alive over a slow fire. This detail speaks of some special level of the king's hatred for the executed, which, in the words of the Strugatsky brothers, exceeds the normal level of medieval atrocities.

The Grand Master, who went to the fire, cursed Pope Clement, King Philip and Chancellor Nogare, stating that they would all be called to the judgment of God within a year and, in addition, cursed the entire royal French family. The crowd, which had come to see the execution of the proud Templars as an amusing spectacle, fell silent after hearing the curse of Jacques de Molay. The show fell through ...

The king did not attach much importance to this curse, attributing this curse to the anger and despair of the dying de Molay. Philip could not have any worries about the succession of power to the Capetian dynasty, which had been on the French throne since 987, in principle, because he had three sons. Three already grown sons! With a small age interval. What is there to worry about?

BUT!!! The predictions of Jacques de Molay, who was dying at the stake, came true exactly. On April 20, in agony, Pope Clement departed to God. He had a stomach ache and doctors prescribed to drink crushed emeralds, which tore the high priest's intestines. In November, King Philip IV of France fell from his horse while hunting. The paralyzed man was picked up and brought to the palace by the courtiers. There Philip the Handsome died, stiff and unable to move. A year later, Angerrand de Marigny, who was preparing a trial against the Templars, ended his life on the gallows. Guillaume de Nogaret, who was in charge of the investigation, died in agony. The sons of Philip the Fair could not pass on the throne to their children; they all died prematurely, leaving no male heirs.

Their nephew Edward III of England went to war against France, claiming his rights to the French throne as his legal inheritance. Like, the heir is the closest male relative. Remember the book by Maurice Druon "It Is Worthless for Lilies to Spin"? This war went down in history as Hundred Years War... France, the country that robbed and killed the Order of the Temple, was itself plundered and humiliated.

When in 1793 the blade of the guillotine fell on the neck of Louis XVI, a man jumped onto the scaffold, dipped his hand in the blood of the dead monarch and shouted loudly: - Jacques de Molay, you are avenged! The unfortunate Louis was the thirteenth descendant of King Philip the Fair.

Before the execution, Louis XVI was kept in the former residence of the Templars, the Temple, which was turned into a prison in those years, and then during the revolution, the Temple was destroyed to the ground so that it would not become a place of worship for the royalists.

The whole world perished with the Templars: chivalry, crusades ended with them.

But not everywhere the Templars were persecuted brutally. Scotland has provided them with asylum. They were acquitted in Lorraine. In Germany, the process fell apart altogether when the Templars summoned for trial in Frankfurt appeared in full military attire and with spears in hand. The court did not sit for long, and all charges were dropped. Many Germanic Knights of the Temple joined the Teutonic Order, strengthening and strengthening it. In Castile and Aragon, the knights of the Order of the Temple entered the order of Calatrava in full force and with all their property and continued their struggle against the Muslims, but already in the Pyrenees. In Portugal, the Templars were acquitted by the court and changed their name in 1318 to become Knights of Christ. The Order existed under this name until the 16th century. Vasco da Gama was a knight of the Order of Christ, and Prince Heinrich the Navigator was its Grand Master. At the expense of the Order, the prince founded an observatory and a nautical school, and contributed to the development of shipbuilding in Portugal. He equipped ocean expeditions, discovering new lands and ships sailed under the eight-pointed Templar crosses. Under the same symbols, the caravels of Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic. The great discoverer of America himself was married to the daughter of an associate, Enrique the Navigator, a knight of the Order of Christ, who gave him his nautical and pilotage charts. This is a hypothesis. I looked for the original source of this information on Columbus, but did not find it. Was his father-in-law really a member of the order of Christ or not? Maybe he was looking badly?

The Templars ...

So who were they really? For hundreds of years people have been occupied with the question: are these servants of the Lord or malicious heretics who have received what they deserve?

My first acquaintance with the Templars happened in school, when I read "Ivanhoe" by Walter Scott. There, the templars are the personification of evil, the templars are actually the Templars. Briand de Boileguillebert, for example, is a dishonorable villain. After reading a lot of literature about the Crusades and about the Templars, in particular, I realized that everything was not so simple in black and white and I want to give some facts that will allow the reader to draw their own conclusions on this issue. The brothers chose the Holy Mother of God as the patroness of the Order. Saint Bernard, who created the Charter of the Templars, emphasized that the vow of poverty is the main one for the Templars. The second paragraph of the Rite, for example, even ordered two brothers - the templars to eat from the same bowl. Any social entertainment was forbidden - visiting shows, falconry, dice and other joys of life. Laughter, singing, and quibbling rose up. The list of prohibitions consisted of more than 40 items. The free time of these "monks in spirit and fighters in arms" was to be filled with prayers, the singing of sacred psalms and military exercises.

A white cloak, worn over the rest of the clothes of the same color, became a kind of symbol of the templars. The knight is a monk who took three obligatory vows: poverty, chastity and obedience, with white robes symbolized the pure holy life, which he led, devoting his soul to the Lord.

Simple brothers - novices, wore black cloaks and camisoles, and therefore, when the Templar warriors rushed into the attack, their first line was made up of horsemen in white, and the second - horsemen in black. The order also adopted a banner made of striped linen, white and black, called "Bosean" and this word became the battle cry of the knights. On the banner was a cross with an inscription addressed to the Lord in Latin: "Not to us, not to us, but to your name." In this regard, the ruble of our Emperor Paul immediately comes to mind with exactly the same motto.

The Templars never ran and always proved themselves worthy of their reputation - proud to the point of arrogance, brave to the point of recklessness, and at the same time surprisingly disciplined, unmatched among all the armies of the Mediterranean of that era. The charter demanded from the knights complete and unconditional heroism. Not one Crusade, starting from the Second, did not do without their active participation. More than 20,000 knights of the order died in the Holy Land, including 6 of the 23 Grand Masters. They were always in the most difficult areas, something like a crusader special forces. So in the famous battle in the mountains near Laodicea in 1148 during the Second Crusade, 200 knights (mostly Templars), who made up the retinue of King Louis VII, managed to hold back the violent attacks of about 20,000 Muslims. It is known that the Muslims were especially afraid of the Templars and Hospitallers. The famous Sultan Saladin hated knights - monks so much for their fearlessness that he said "I will cleanse the land of these filthy orders." Indeed, together with the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, the Templars formed a standing army of the Christian states of the East. Without these orders, all the crusader states would have been destroyed within a few decades, and they held out for about two centuries. During the battle, the Templar had no right to retreat, even when fighting against three opponents. Anyone who was captured by the Saracens had no right either to offer a ransom for himself, or to renounce his faith in order to save his life. The Muslims who were captured by the Templars, as later in our days in Afghanistan or in Chechnya, offered our soldiers to renounce Christ, otherwise death. For 170 years of fighting with Muslims, only a few Templars agreed, the rest chose to be martyred. Somehow it does not fit at all with the accusation of their deviation from Christianity. Who would go to death for something that he himself did not believe in? But there were also negative aspects. Excessive pride in belonging to the Order of the Temple. Aloofness. For example, meeting a caravan of pilgrims, whom they were supposed to accompany, the Templars did not utter a single superfluous word, as well as their vow never to touch a woman, which is not characteristic of the spirit of medieval chivalry with its cult of worshiping a beautiful lady - all this gradually served to isolate them and gossip about homosexuality.

From the very beginning, the Order of the Temple was dual: on the one hand, knightly, and on the other, monastic. In the Order, there were monastic brothers, knight brothers (they did not take monastic vows), sergeants (just soldiers in the service of the Temple) and monastic and artisan brothers (people under the auspices of the Temple). Most of the knight brothers were in Palestine and fought with the infidels. They said about the knight brothers: "he drinks like a Templar" and "swears like a Templar." They were proud and arrogant. So there was something to be proud of! Today, sailors, paratroopers, border guards, Afghans are proud of their service; they have actually proved their devotion to Christianity in the Holy Land. In contrast, the monastic brothers organized a network of commanderships throughout Europe, in which the riches of the Order were kept. Once, during a poor harvest, 10,000 people were fed by the Commandership alone in a week.

The Templars also minted their own coin, or rather, it was not a coin, but rather one of the first European tokens, made not even from bilon, but from bronze. The rarest thing, I saw this denarius only in the book about the minting of the Crusaders and in the auction catalog eight years ago. It depicts a cross with a legend, and on the obverse - the Cross of the Lord on Calvary. This coin was used for calculation among the pilgrims, when they were transported to the Holy Land on the Templar galleys and they were guarded already in the Holy Land by the same Templars.

In 1291, the crusaders were finally expelled from Palestine and the Templars moved first to Cyprus and then to Europe, where they created a powerful organization for which there were no national borders. The Grand Masters of the order spoke with the kings as equals. In those years, the Templars numbered more than 30,000 people. They owned hundreds of castles and a huge amount of land throughout Europe. The order, created as a symbol of poverty and simplicity, has become the richest organization. They "reinvented" the promissory note and became the largest usurers of their era, and the House of Paris became the center of European finance.

Because of their constant contact with Muslim and Jewish cultures, the Templars possessed the most advanced techniques of their time. The order was generous, allocated funds for the development of geodesy, cartography and navigation. It had its own ports, shipyards, as well as its own fleet, the ships of which were equipped with a curiosity unprecedented in those days - a magnetic compass.

Such interesting events are associated with this turnose, which found a turning point in the history of medieval Europe - the end of the era of the Crusades and the omnipotence of the popes.

A resounding slap in the face to Pope Boniface VIII, preliminarily weighed down by Guyom Nogaret, the curse of Jacques de Molay on a fire under a cloudy Parisian sky, Philip the Handsome, paralyzed on a hunt, carried to the castle by his frightened servants ... Here it is - the scent of medieval history!

Used sources.

1. M. Melville. History of the Knights Templar. M, 2000.

2. J. Duby. Europe in the Middle Ages. Smolensk, 1994.

3. Ch. Heckerthorn. Secret societies of all ages and all countries. M, 1993

4. L. Charpentier. Templars. M, 2003.

5.R.Yu Wipper. History of the Middle Ages. Kiev, 1996.

6. N.A. Osokin. The history of the Albigensians and their time. M, 2003.

7. K. Ryzhov. All the monarchs of the world. M, 1999.

8.R. Ernest, T. Dupuis. The World History wars. M, 1997.

9. Magazine "Clio"

10.P.P. Reed. Templars. M, 2005.

11. Gergely E. History of the papacy. M, 1996.

Philip IV the Handsome

philip the handsome war dukedom

Philip IV the Handsome (1268-1314)- King of France since 1285. Continuing the work of their ancestors, especially his grandfather, the king Louis IX Saint, he sought to strengthen the 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 townspeople as his companions and created a government apparatus that would obey only him. They were ignorant and indebted to the king, therefore they faithfully served Philip and supported him in everything. The supreme authority was Paris Parliament, Supreme Court and Court of Auditors (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 the southwest of 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 bail for 40 days, and in return guaranteed his presence at the trial. But Philip later refused to return it, but in 1299 yearhe still had to do it. From the north of France the county was threatened Flanders... Which was the vassal of the French crown. But an ally of England.

The war between France and Flanders began in 1297 g. when Philip defeated the Count of Flanders in the battle of Furne.The townspeople were unhappy with their count and helped Philip to capture Flanders. But the Flemings did not like the management of Philip, and May 18, 1302they revolted. It went down in history as "Bruges Matins"... A 11 julyin the battle of Courtraythe foot militia of the Flemings defeated the cavalry army of knights. The winners laid down the spurs of the knights on main square and this battle was named "Battle of the golden spurs". August 18, 1304having won the battle in Mont-en-Pevel, the French managed to subdue the Flemings.

During the war with England, the conflict with the Papacy intensified. Yet Louis the Saintdid not want Rome to interfere in the affairs of state of France. Louis was pious and did not allow the conflict to erupt. But his follower , Philip IVwas not that godly. First, his relationship with Pope Boniface VIIIwere friendly enough. But in 1296 yearThe pope forbade the clergy to pay 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. Church fees from France were no longer received by the Papacy. Boniface canceled the decree. However, the peace did not last long. The king demanded that everyone in the kingdom obey a single royal court, and the Pope insisted on obeying church laws.

B 1302year Philip for the first time in history convened States general- a legislative meeting of representatives of three estates: the clergy, the nobility and the third estate (townspeople). At this meeting, the first ever French Chancellor Pierre de Flotdeclared 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 Seal Curator of the Kingdom of France Guillaume Nogaret de Saint - Felixcalled Boniface a heretic. He sent an army to Rome. Daddy fled to town Alanya. September 7, 1303the French army rushed into Alanya and arrested the Pope. A few days later, the mood of the townspeople changed, they drove out the French and freed the Pope. However, Bonniface died after so many shocks. His successor Benedict XIwill know 10 months later. People said that Philip poisoned him.

In 1305 Frenchman Bertrand de Gaultbecame Pope and took a name Clement V... He canceled the excommunication of the king from the church and moved the papal throne from Rome to Avignon, which was located in France. Roman high priests became French court bishops.

In 1308Philip called again States 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 with France. August 1, 1314he convened States generalto approve a new tax for this war. But the campaign did not take place. November 20, 1314 Philip IV died... Died soon after Pope Clement V and Chancellor Nogare... It was said that they were poisoned by supporters of the Templars in order to avenge the execution of their brethren.

The family life of Philip the Fair was happy. V 1284 yearhe married Zhanna Navarskoywhich 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 year... He was nicknamed Louis X the Grumpy... Second son - Philipwas king since 1316 year... He was nicknamed By Philip V Long... His daughter Isabelmarried the king of England Edward II... Younger son - Charlesbecame king Charles Vv 1322 year.

People-legends. Middle Ages

Philippe IV (Philippe IV le Bel) remains a somewhat mysterious figure for historians.

On the one hand, his entire policy makes one think that he was a man of iron will and rare energy, accustomed to pursuing his goal with unshakable persistence. Meanwhile, the testimonies of people who personally knew the king are in a strange contradiction with this opinion. The chronicler William of Scots, wrote about Philip that the king had a beautiful and noble appearance, graceful manners and behaved very impressively. With all this, he was distinguished by extraordinary meekness and modesty, with disgust he avoided obscene conversations, carefully attended the divine services, faithfully performed the posts and wore a hair shirt. He was kind, condescending, and willingly put complete trust in people who did not deserve it. It was they, according to Wilhelm, who were responsible for all the troubles and abuses that marked his reign, the imposition of oppressive taxes, extraordinary extortions and systematic damage to the coin. Another chronicler, Giovanni Vilani, wrote that Philip was very handsome, gifted with a serious mind, but he did a lot of hunting and liked to entrust others with the affairs of management. Geoffroy also reports that the king easily obeyed bad advice. Thus, we have to admit that a large role in Philip's politics was played by his associates: Chancellor Pierre Flotte, Seal Guardian Guillaume Nogaret and Coadjutor of the Kingdom of Angerrand Marigny. All these were ordinary people, ascended to the heights of power by the king himself.

Philip IV the Handsome was born in Fontainebleau in 1268, to Philip III and Isabella of Aragon. Philip ascended the throne at the age of seventeen and first of all took up the solution of the Sicilian and Aragonese issues, inherited from his father.

Coronation of Philip III - Father of Philip IV the Fair

He immediately ceased hostilities and did nothing to support the claims of his brother Charles of Valois, who dreamed of becoming the Aragonese (or, at worst, Sicilian) king. The negotiations, however, dragged on for another ten years and ended with the fact that Sicily remained with the Aragonese dynasty. In a relationship with English king By Edward I, Philip's policies were more energetic. Clashes often occurred between the subjects of the two states. Taking advantage of one of them, Philip in 1295 called the king of England, as his vassal, to the court of the Parisian parliament. Edward refused to obey, and war was declared on him. Both opponents were looking for allies. Edward's supporters were the Emperor Adolf, the Counts of Holland, Geldern, Brabant and Savoy, as well as the King of Castile. Philip's allies were the Earl of Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine, the Earl of Luxembourg and the Scots. However, of these, only the Scots and Count of Flanders Guy Dampierre had a real impact on events. Edward himself, busy with a difficult war in Scotland, concluded an armistice with Philip in 1297, and in 1303 - a peace, according to which Guienne was left to the English king. The entire burden of the war fell on the shoulders of the Flemings. In 1297 the French army invaded Flanders. Philippe himself laid siege to Lille, and Count Robert Artois won a victory at Fourne (largely due to the betrayal of the nobility, among which there were many adherents of the French party). After that, Lille gave up. In 1299 Karl Valois captured Douai, passed through Bruges and in May 1300 entered Ghent.

He met no resistance anywhere. Count Guy surrendered together with his two sons and 51 knights. The king stripped him of his possessions as a rebel and annexed Flanders to his kingdom. In 1301, Philip traveled around his new domains and was greeted everywhere with expressions of obedience. But he immediately tried to make the most of his new acquisition and imposed heavy taxes on the country. This caused discontent, and the harsh management of Jacques Chatillon further increased the hatred of the French. When riots broke out in Bruges in 1301, Jacques sentenced the perpetrators to huge fines, ordered the city wall to be broken down and a citadel built in the city. Then in May 1302 a second, much more powerful uprising broke out. In one day, the people killed 1200 French knights and 2000 soldiers in the city. After that, all Flanders took up arms. In June, a French army approached, led by Robert Artois. But in a stubborn battle at Courtras, she was utterly defeated. Up to 6,000 French knights perished with their commander.

Battle of Courtras

Thousands of spurs taken from the slain were piled up in the Mastricht church as trophies of victory. Philip could not leave such a shame not to avenged. In 1304, at the head of an army of 60,000, the king approached the borders of Flanders. In August, in a stubborn battle at Mons-en-Nylle, the Flemings were defeated, but retreated in good order to Lille. After several attacks, Philip made peace with the son of Guy Dampier, Robert Bethune, who was in his captivity. Philip agreed to return the country to him, while the Flemings retained all their rights and privileges.

Battle of Mons-en-Nylle

However, the cities had to pay a large indemnity for the release of their count and other prisoners. As a pledge of the payment of the ransom, the king took the lands on the right bank of the Lis with the cities of Lille, Douai, Bethune and Orsha. He was supposed to return them after receiving the money, but treacherously violated the agreement and left them forever with France.

These events unfolded against the background of the contradictions with the pope that intensified every year. At first, nothing seemed to foreshadow this conflict. None of the European kings was loved by Pope Boniface VIII as much as Philip the Fair. As early as 1290, when the Pope was only Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani and came to France as a papal legate, he admired the piety of the young king. Having ascended the throne in 1294, Boniface zealously supported the policy of the French king in Spain and Italy. The first signs of mutual distrust were discovered in 1296. In August, the Pope issued a bull in which he forbade the laity to demand and receive subsidies from the clergy. By a strange coincidence, and perhaps in response to the bull, Philip at the same time forbade the export of gold and silver from France: by this he destroyed one of the main sources of papal income, because the French Church could no longer send any money to Rome. Even then, a quarrel could arise, but Boniface's position on the papal throne was still fragile, the cardinals begged him to stop the scandals caused by the bull, and he yielded to them.

Boniface VIII - Pope

In 1297, the bull was promulgated, effectively canceling the previous one. As you can see, the pope expected the king to make concessions too. Philip allowed the pope's income, which he received from the French clergy, to be taken to Rome, but he continued to oppress the church, and soon there were new clashes with the pope. The Archbishop of Narbonne complained to Boniface that the royal dignitaries had taken away from him his fief over some of the vassals of his chair and, in general, caused him various offenses. The Pope sent Bishop Bernard Sesse to Paris as legate on this matter. At the same time, he was instructed to demand the release from captivity of the Count of Flanders and the fulfillment of the previously given promise to participate in the crusade. Bernard, known for his arrogance and irascibility, was absolutely not the kind of person who could be entrusted with such a delicate assignment. Having failed to achieve concessions, he began to threaten Philip with an interdict and, in general, spoke so harshly that he pissed off the usually cold-blooded Philip from himself. The king sent two members of his council to Pamier and to the County of Toulouse to gather evidence to accuse Bernard of disobedience. During the investigation, it turned out that the bishop during his sermons often used inappropriate expressions and turned his flock against the royal power. Philip ordered the legate to be arrested and taken into custody at Sanli. He also demanded from the pope that he deposed Bernard and allowed him to be brought to the secular court. The Pope answered the king with an angry letter, demanded the immediate release of his legate, threatened Philip with excommunication and ordered him to appear at his court in order to justify himself from charges of tyranny, Philip ordered to solemnly burn this bull on the porch of Notre Dame Cathedral.

In April 1302, he convened the first States General in history in Paris. They were attended by representatives of the clergy, barons and prosecutors of the main northern and southern cities. To arouse the indignation of the deputies, they read out a forged papal bull, in which the pope's claims were strengthened and sharpened. After that, Chancellor Flott turned to them with a question: can the king count on the support of the estates if he takes measures to protect the honor and independence of the state, as well as to save the French church from violating its rights? The nobles and city deputies replied that they were ready to support the king. The clergy, after a short hesitation, also joined the opinion of the other two estates. After that, for a year, the opponents hesitated to take decisive measures, but the hostility between them was growing. Finally, in April 1303, Boniface excommunicated the king and freed seven ecclesiastical provinces in the Rhone basin from vassalage and from the oath of allegiance to the king. This measure, however, had no effect. Philip declared Boniface a false pope (indeed, there were some doubts about the legality of his election), a heretic and even a warlock. He demanded to convene an ecumenical council to hear these accusations, but at the same time he said that the pope should be at this council as a prisoner and accused. From words he turned to deeds. In the summer, Nogare, faithful to him, went to Italy with a large amount of money. Soon he entered into relations with the enemies of Boniface and conspired against him on a large scale. At that time, the Pope was in Anagni, where on September 8 he wanted to bring Philip to a public curse.

On the eve of this day, the conspirators broke into the papal palace, surrounded Boniface, showered him with all sorts of insults and demanded his abdication. Nogare threatened to put him in chains and take him to the cathedral in Lyons as a criminal to be sentenced over him. The Pope withstood these attacks with dignity. For three days he was in the hands of his enemies. Finally, the people of Ananya freed him. But from the humiliation he had endured, Boniface fell into such frustration that he went mad and died on October 11. His humiliation and death had dire consequences for the papacy. The new Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Nogare, but ended the persecution of Philip himself. In the summer of 1304 he died. In his place was elected Archbishop of Bordeaux Bertrand du Gotha, who took the name of Clement V.

Clement V - Pope

He did not go to Italy, but was ordained in Lyon. In 1309 he settled in Avignon and turned this city into a papal residence. Until his death, he remained an obedient executor of the will of the French king. In addition to many other concessions to Philip, Clement agreed in 1307 with the charges against the Knights Templar.

Burning of the Templars

In October, 140 French knights of this order were arrested, and a trial began against them on charges of heresy. In 1312 the Pope declared the order destroyed. Philip, who owed the Templars huge sums, took possession of all their wealth. In March 1313, the Grand Master of the Order, Jacques Molay, was burned. Before his death, he cursed the entire Capetian family and predicted its imminent degeneration.

Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar

In 1314, Philip planned a new campaign against Flanders, where anti-French forces intensified. On August 1, he convened the States General, which agreed to the imposition of an emergency tax on war, the first ever taxation act mandated by the popular representation. Soon after the execution, Philip began to suffer from a debilitating disease that doctors could not recognize.

And the campaign did not take place, for on November 29, 1314, at the 46th year of his life in Fonteblo, the king died, apparently from a stroke, although rumor attributed his death to the curse of Jacques de Molay or to poisoning by the Templars.

Contemporaries did not like Philip the Handsome, people close to him were afraid of the rational cruelty of this unusually beautiful and surprisingly dispassionate person. The violence against the pope caused outrage throughout the Christian world. Large feudal lords were dissatisfied with the infringement of their rights and the strengthening of the central administration, which consisted of rootless people. The taxation class was outraged by the increase in taxes, the so-called "spoilage" of the coin, that is, the decrease in its gold content with the forced preservation of its denomination, which led to inflation. Philip's successors were forced to soften his policy of centralization.

The reign of Philip IV the Fair, who ascended the French throne at the age of seventeen, after the death of his father Philip III, on October 5, 1285, is considered by historians not only as one of the most important periods in French history, but also as one of the most controversial.

Reconciliation of Philip IV the Fair with the English king Edward I

This reign seems to be important because the French kingdom reaches the pinnacle of its power: the largest state in terms of population in the Christian Western world (13-15 million, or a third of the entire Catholic world), real economic prosperity (suffice it to cite an increase in the area of ​​arable land or the flourishing of the fair in Champagne). In addition, the power of the monarch is so strengthened that Philip is seen as the first ruler of a new type in Europe: the state is powerful and centralized as never before, the king's entourage is the Legists - well-mannered and educated people, real specialists in the field of jurisprudence.

However, this rosy picture is not consistent with other facts. Thus, the apparent economic boom only masks a sluggish crisis, as evidenced by the numerous shocks in the financial market (under Philip, monetary policy was extremely, as they say now, voluntaristic). And at the end of his reign, the fairs in Champagne could not compete with the Italians' sea trade at all, and in addition, literally the next day after the death of the king, a devastating famine broke out in 1315-1317. Moreover, if you look closely, you can see that the king did not know his kingdom well: he had no idea how far his borders stretched, he could not establish direct taxes, and effective and efficient government remained unattainable. It is unlikely that a chain of dubious, semi-political, semi-secular scandals added to the popularity of the king, in particular, the trial of the bishop of the city of Troyes, Guichard, who was accused of killing the queen by means of witchcraft, or the trial of the bishop of Pamier, Bernard Sesse, a process that complicated the already difficult relationship between the king and dad. And the Templar trial? And the imprisonment of the king's daughters-in-law and the execution of their lovers? In general, the identity of King Philip the Fair remains mysterious. Who was he? A core of French politics or a simple instrument in the hands of our advisers? The authors of the chronicles - the king's contemporaries - are inclined mainly to the second option - they, in particular, reproach the king for inept monetary and tax policies, explaining this by the fact that the king was given useless advice by incompetent advisers. But, despite such uncertainty in assessments, the king is still seen as a "non-classical" monarch of the Middle Ages. Although the chroniclers insist that France treated him with respect, to which, however, he allegedly owes the authority of his grandfather, Philip Augustus, who undertook economic and political reforms aimed at strengthening the central government.

The leitmotif of historians contemporary to Philip the Fair is the regret of the era of "His Majesty Saint Louis", which is considered almost as a golden age, while Philip IV is characterized only as "the antipode of Saint Louis". But, despite all this, historians agree on one thing: a new era began with this king. However, it is hardly worth exaggerating the "modernity" of Philip the Fair and France of his time.

Philip IV the Handsome - King of France from 1285 to 1314

And yet, the reign of Philip IV the Handsome constituted a turning point in history. medieval France: he expanded the kingdom by the annexation of new lands (shortly before his death, he annexed Lyon and its district to France), forced the church and feudal rulers to obey the orders of the king and suppressed any power independent of himself in his state. Under him, the royal administration embraced all aspects of society: cities, feudal nobility, clergy - all fell under her control. His reign seemed to his contemporaries a time of brutal oppression and despotism. But behind all this, a new era was already visible. With the help of a large corporation of lawyers, the king took every opportunity to establish royal courts everywhere and to introduce Roman law. By the end of his life, all judicial power in the country passed exclusively to the crown, and state life acquired a completely different character than under his predecessors.

When compiling the article, the material provided specifically for the project by Vadim Anatolyevich Strunov was used.

Philip IV (1268-1314) - King of France since 1285. Continuing the work of his ancestors, especially his grandfather, King Louis IX 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 the national consciousness of the French. The new means of achieving the goals of centralization of the monarchy were the apparatus of government, subordinate only to the monarch, of people of the ignorant and obliged to all of him, and the legal strengthening of royal power under the noticeable influence of Roman law (for example, the following statement was often used: "Whatever the sovereign wants has the force of law") ... It was under Philippe that the central authorities - the Paris Parliament (supreme court) and the Audit Chamber (treasury) - gradually turned from more or less regular meetings of the highest nobility into permanent institutions, in which mainly legists served - experts in law, who came from the midst 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 against King Edward I of England for the Duchy of Aquitaine (Guienne) in southwestern France, which the English kings ruled as vassals of the French kings. Because of the 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 bail for forty days, during which an investigation was to be carried out. However, after taking 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 he captured him. But soon the Flemings, disenchanted with French rule, 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 in Bruges. In response, Philip moved his army to Flanders. On July 11, 1302, at the Battle of Courtras, for the first time in history, the foot militia of the Flemish cities utterly defeated the cavalry army of knights. The spurs taken from the slain knights were dumped in the town square of Courtray; this battle was called "the battle of the golden spurs". As a result of this defeat in 1303, peace was signed in Paris with England: the Duchy of Aquitaine was returned to Edward. On August 18, 1304, at the battle of Mont-en-Pevel, the French army took revenge for the defeat at Courtras. 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 intensified. The contradictions between them became apparent even under Louis Saint, 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 those - to demand such without the special permission of the Roman curia. This decree was only one of a number of similar ones adopted by the popes during the XI-XIII 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 the export of gold and silver from the country in 1297 than deprived the Pope of all church fees and taxes received from France. Then Boniface immediately canceled the bull and even, as a sign of his special affection for France, canonized Louis IX. However, the peace did not last long. Philip IV demanded that all French subjects 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 French history The states-general are a legislative assembly of representatives of the three estates of the country: the clergy, nobility and representatives of cities. At this meeting, Pierre Flotte, the first lay keeper of the seal in the history of France, read out a sharp reply to the Pope. The Estates-General was asked to condemn the Pope as a heretic. Only a part of the nobles and townspeople expressed their full support for King Philip. Clergy, nobles and townspeople southern regions France was more careful. The clergy only sent a petition to Boniface VIII to allow French clergy not to participate in the council convened by the Pope to condemn Philip. Boniface did not agree, but the French clergy was still not represented at the cathedral in Rome, which opened in the fall of 1302. There the Pope announced the "One Holy" bull (the papal bulls were named after the first words), in which he announced 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 the oath to the king. In response, Philip called a meeting of the high nobility and clergy, at which the new chancellor and guardian of the seal of the French kingdom, Guillaume de Nogaret, accused Pope Boniface of heresy and all kinds of atrocities. Philip, with the consent of the said meeting, sent a small military detachment to Italy led by Nogare and the Pope's enemy Chyara Colonna. The Pope, learning about this, fled from Rome to the city of Anagni. On September 7, 1303, Nogare and Colonna entered Anagny 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 renounce his dignity, despite all the threats. Some chroniclers asserted that Chyara Colonna struck the Pope in the face with his hand wearing an iron gauntlet. A few days later, the townspeople drove out the Nogare detachment and freed the Pope. However, returning to Rome, Boniface died from the shocks he had endured, according to some versions, of hunger, since he refused to eat, fearing poisoning. Ten months later, he died after eating fresh figs, and his successor Benedict XI. In this death, rumor blamed Philip, who allegedly ordered the poisoning of the new Pope.

In 1305, after several months of struggle, the Frenchman Bertrand de Gault was elevated to the papal throne, who took the name Clement V. This Pope was obedient to Philip in everything. He fully justified his position in the conflict with Boniface and canceled the "One Saint" bull, but refused to fulfill Philip's demand to condemn the deceased for heresy and unnatural vices, and then to execute posthumously - to dig the corpse and burn it. In 1309, Clement V transferred his residence from Rome, which was not subject to the new Pope, to Avignon, which was then on the territory not directly subject to the French king, but being in his sphere of influence. This is how the "Avignon Captivity of the Popes" began (see article "Papacy"), when the Roman high priests were in the power of the French kings. With the help of the Pope, the king organized the trial of the Order of the Knights Templar (see article "Orders of Knighthood"). They were accused of heresy, unnatural vices, money-grubbing and alliance with Muslims, and the testimony was obtained by means of cruel torture, and the testimonies obtained by the same investigator from different and unfamiliar persons sometimes coincided literally.

In 1308, Philip again convened the States General, which approved the king's actions against the Templars. A wave of processes swept across France. Pope Clement V timidly tried to protest, but in the end he confirmed 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 the anti-French forces again intensified. The king decided on a new campaign and due to lack of funds for the third time convened the States General on August 1, 1314, this time to approve an emergency tax that would provide funds for the 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 of a stroke. But, since Pope Clement V and Chancellor Nogare, who condemned the Templars to a martyr's death, died shortly before the king, rumor attributed the death of Philip to their curse or poisoning committed by the Templars who avenged their brothers.

King Philip the Handsome was not loved by his contemporaries, 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 dispassionate person. Large feudal lords could not forgive the king for strengthening the central administration, restricting their rights, including the right to mint their own coins, the preferences given by the king to rootless officials. The taxation class was outraged by the financial policy of the king. In an effort to fill the treasury, Philip sold and rented various positions, made forced loans from cities, reduced the amount of gold in the coin while maintaining its denomination, which led to inflation and increased cost; and coinage became the exclusive privilege of the sovereign. The population responded to the king's policy with uprisings.

The family life of Philip the Fair was happy. In 1284 he married Jeanne 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 Grumpy, King of France since 1314; Philip, Count of Poitiers (1291-1322), aka 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 Marsh (1294-1328), aka Charles IV, King of France since 1322. After Jeanne's death, Philip did not remarry, despite the most advantageous offers. Rumor has it 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 her favorites, took part in the rebellion that broke out in 1327 and cost Edward II the crown and his 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 repentance in a monastery. The sentencing of 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, as a devoted husband, he hated adultery; perhaps with a highly developed sense of royal dignity, he believed that princesses had no right to human weakness; Perhaps, considering the royal power to be responsible for the inviolability of the rule of law in the country, he strictly demanded the observance of the laws (and adultery was considered a crime in the Middle Ages) from everyone without exception, regardless of the situation. In any case, it is highly likely that this event hastened the demise of Philip IV.