King Philip V of France

Today is the seventh centenary of the death of King Philip V of France, who also reigned as King Philip II of Navarre, in 1322. He is often known from his height as Philip le longue, the Tall. Born in 1291-3 he had been created Count of Poitiers by his father and became King in 1316.

The son of King Philip IV, brother of King Louis X and King Charles IV, and of Queen Isabella, wife of King Edward II, and uncle of King John I, King Edward III and Queen Joan II of Navarre he was fully engaged in the network of dynastic politics and connections that made up his life and that of the later Capetians.

King Philip IV and his family

Flanking the King on the left are his sons, the future Kings Charles and Philip, whose height seems to be indicated, his daughter Queen Isabella, snd on the right his eldest son King Louis as King of Navarre from 1305, and his brother, Charles Count of Valois, father of King Philip VI.

Image: historic-uk.com

Probably the most important legacy of his short reign was the way in which his arguments for taking the throne in 1316 were later expounded and rationalised into the Salic Law, a process which took until late in the fourteenth century to fully accomplish. This excluded females from the succession to the French crown on the basis of customary law. Ironically, like his brother, he left only daughters and the succession passed on his death in 1322 to the youngest of King Philip IV’s sons, who became King Charles IV,  When, in turn, he died six years later, again only leaving daughters, the succession was secured by his Valois cousin, King Philip VI, in 1328. This was, of course, to eventually be disputed with King Edward III, who claimed the throne of France for a variety of reasons, both dynastic and pragmatic. His claim was through the female line represented by his mother Queen Isabella, but by-passing her. Some of the consequences for individuals and institutions of the accession of the King in 1316 under the Salic Law are set out in Philip V of France

His reign was in many ways a troubled one, set against the background of the widespread European famine, and the further disruption of popularist religio-political revolts. As a monarch he is often considered the most able of the three sons of King Philip IV, and perhaps closest to his father’s model of governance - the reaction against that under King Louis X having waned, or perhaps a new political balance having been achieved. He himself appears to have been a capable and determined young man, exemplified in the events of 1316, as well as his determination to stand by his wife, Jeanne ( Joan ) of Burgundy, after her implication in the affair of the Tour du Nesle in 1314. There is an online life of her, with relevant links, at Joan II, Countess of Burgundy

His life and reign are recounted in a better than usual Wikipedia biography at Philip V of France

There are similarly useful biographies of his father and of his elder brother at Philip IV,

and  Louis X, which provide background to his own life. The life of his brother and successor can be read at Charles IV of France

The seal of King Philip V.

Image: Hubert-herald.nl 

Seated on a throne with lion supporters, which is draped in a cloth semeé with fleur de lys, the King is shown robed and crowned, and holding the royal sceptre and the main de justice. 

The lion throne was a motif in the seals of the Kings of France from at least the reign of King Philip II ( 1180-1223 ), but the draped cloth of estate is an innovation by King Philip V, and used again by King Philip VI. For more illustrations of these see FranPortraits2

Unfortunately I cannot find on the internet a good close-up of his effigy at St Denis. There is an excellent one, as there are of other late Capetian effigies, in John Barton and Joy Law’s readable summaries of French monarchs    in Fleur de Lys.

Effigies of King Philip V, dated to 1327, on the left, his brother and successor King Charles IV, dated to 1329, on the right and between them that of Queen Jeanne of Evreux, third wife of King Charles IV.

The effigies, disassociated from their original locations, are still in the Basilica of St Denis.

Image: Gazeteer of Church Monuments: St Denis

A surviving link with the King and his Queen, Jeanne of Burgundy, is this small but precious portable statue of the Virgin and Child made, it is thought, in or around Paris between 1317 and 1322, and which was given to the treasury of Seville Cathedral in 1701 by the then Archbishop:

Image: Wikimedia Commons