👑 Philip V the Tall: Monarchical Consolidation and Contested Succession (1316–1322)

The accession of Philip V, called the Tall, in 1316, occurred within a context of unprecedented dynastic crisis for the Capetian monarchy. At the death of Louis X the Quarrelsome, and then of his posthumous son John I, the succession to the throne of France raised a major question: that of the transmission of the crown in the absence of a durable male heir. Philip’s accession, brother of Louis X, thus marked a decisive step in the affirmation of the principle that the crown could not be transmitted by women or through them.

The new king inherited a kingdom still powerfully structured by the work of Philip the Fair, but weakened by tensions accumulated during the preceding reigns. Fiscal difficulties, noble discontent, the Flemish question, the aftereffects of the Templar affair, and uncertainties over succession weighed on the kingdom’s balance. In this context, Philip V had to both strengthen the legitimacy of his power and restore a form of political stability.

Surnamed “the Tall,” Philip generally appears as a more methodical and more political sovereign than his elder brother. His reign, though relatively brief, was marked by a desire for administrative reorganization, rationalization of government, and consolidation of royal authority. Less dramatic than that of Louis X, less outwardly conflictual than that of Philip the Fair, it nonetheless played an essential role in the evolution of Capetian institutions.

Accession of King Philip V: Unknown 14th-c. French artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Philip V’s reign was thus characterized by a search for order and efficiency. The king endeavored to restore the finances, better regulate officials, strengthen the functioning of royal administration, and stabilize the kingdom after several years of uncertainty. His government continued the administrative monarchy built by his father, while seeking to correct some of its most acute tensions.

The reign of Philip the Tall thus occupies an important place in the final years of the direct Capetian dynasty. It confirms the solidity of royal institutions, but it also shows that the succession question has now become central to the kingdom’s political balance. Through him, the slow transformation of the Capetian monarchy into a more ordered, more legal, and more tightly controlled state from the center continued.

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I. 1316–1318: Regency, Accession to the Throne, and First Reforms of Philip V

The accession of Philip V the Tall took place in a context of extreme dynastic uncertainty. At the death of Louis X the Quarrelsome, the count of Poitiers, brother of the deceased king, returned quickly to Paris in order to exercise the regency while awaiting the birth of the posthumous child of queen Clemence of Hungary. His return to the capital in July 1316 allowed him to take control of the kingdom’s government at the moment when the future of Capetian succession was at stake.

During this same time, Philip also intervened in Church affairs. In June 1316, while staying in Lyon, he pressured the conclave assembled for the election of the new pope, to the point of having the access points of the meeting place walled up in order to accelerate the designation of the pontiff. On August 7, 1316, the cardinals finally elected Jacques Duèse, who took the name of John XXII. Permanently installed in Avignon, he developed a more centralized curia and strengthened pontifical taxation, giving new scope to the Avignon papacy.

During the regency, Philip also had to face noble tensions. On October 30, 1316, he took the oriflamme at Saint-Denis and marched against Robert of Artois, engaged in a new conflict against his aunt Mahaut of Artois. This demonstration of authority resulted in the count’s submission, who surrendered himself as prisoner. The episode revealed the future king’s desire to restore order after the troubles at the end of the previous reign.

The succession crisis reached its height in autumn. On November 15, 1316, the queen gave birth to a son, John I, later called John the Posthumous, who immediately became king. However, the child died on November 19. Philip of Poitiers was then proclaimed king under the name of Philip V. This succession was subsequently consolidated by an assembly of notables convened at the beginning of 1317, which affirmed the principle that women do not inherit the crown of France. This decision excluded Joan of Navarre, daughter of Louis X, and constituted a decisive step in the formulation of the principle of male succession, later reinterpreted as concerning the “Salic law.”

The new sovereign was crowned at Reims on January 9, 1317, at the same time as his wife Joan of Burgundy. His reign thus opened under the sign of dynastic legitimation and institutional consolidation. The attachment of the county of Burgundy to the Capetian sphere through the royal marriage contributed to further strengthen the dynasty’s territorial and political weight.

The first years of the reign were marked by a desire to reorganize the kingdom. In 1317, Pope John XXII, by the bull Sane considerante of June 25, elevated Toulouse to an archbishopric and created several new bishoprics in the South. This ecclesiastical reorganization accompanied the tighter control of a region long at the heart of monarchical affirmation and the struggle against heresy.

In 1318, Philip V continued this rationalization policy. On January 23, the Grand Council pronounced the enfranchisement of serfs of the royal domain, extending in another context the measures taken under Louis X in favor of personal freedom. On February 25, a royal ordinance explicitly mentioned the gabelle, a tax on salt destined to play a growing role in the monarchy’s finances. Finally, the ordinance of Pontoise of July 18, 1318 reorganized the King’s Council, testifying to the sovereign’s desire to better structure the instruments of central government.

Thus, between 1316 and 1318, Philip V the Tall’s reign opened with a double affirmation: that of his dynastic legitimacy, in a context of contested succession, and that of a royal power concerned with restoring order, reorganizing administration, and consolidating the principles of governance inherited from the monarchy of Philip the Fair.

II. 1320–1321: Recovery of the Royal Domain and Outbursts of Violence in the South

At the end of Philip V the Tall’s reign, the monarchy continued its effort of administrative and territorial consolidation, while being confronted with violent popular and religious disturbances in the South. These years witnessed both a strengthening of royal authority over contested lands, a relative stabilization of relations with Flanders, and a rise in persecutions against Jews and lepers in several regions of the kingdom.

On February 24, 1320, in application of a decision made back in 1318, an edict of the Parliament of Paris prescribed the return to the royal domain of castles, lands, and rights that had been donated under Philip III the Bold and Philip IV the Fair. This measure was part of a broader policy of reconstituting the crown’s domain and limiting the alienations granted by previous reigns.

That same year, the Flemish question experienced a relative easing. On May 5, 1320, the count Robert of Bethune, having come to Paris, renounced Gallican Flanders and swore homage to the king of France. This act marked an important step in the settlement of the long dispute between the Capetian monarchy and the county of Flanders following the conflicts of the preceding decades.

Miniature depicting Shepherds besieging Verdun-sur-Garonne in Languedoc in 1320, where they killed 500 Jews. A baby is thrown from the top of the burning tower. The page is titled “Of the pack of Shepherds.” Illuminated manuscript, Chronicles of France or of St.-Denis, British Library Royal, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, 1320 was also marked by strong popular agitation. From June onwards, the movement of the Shepherds spread in the south of the kingdom. Armed bands entered Albi on June 25, then Carcassonne on June 29, before extending their violence toward Navarre, Basque provinces, southern Aquitaine, and Languedoc. Under the guise of religious fervor or popular crusade, these groups attacked Jews, their quarters, as well as lepers, in a climate of panic and disorder.

This outbreak of violence found a continuation in 1321. On June 24, in Aquitaine, lepers were accused of having been bribed by Jews to poison springs and fountains. The rumor spread rapidly and led to new persecutions in Aquitaine as in Languedoc. These accusations, without foundation, were part of an imaginaire of conspiracy very present in medieval societies in times of tension and contributed to justifying the extension of violence against already marginalized groups.

Thus, the years 1320–1321 illustrate a double movement characteristic of the end of Philip V’s reign: on one hand, a monarchy concerned with restoring its domain and imposing its authority in the kingdom’s margins; on the other, a society crossed by collective fears, popular violence, and religious persecutions that reveal the persistent fragility of political and social order.

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III. 1322: End of the Reign and New Capetian Transition

The last year of Philip V the Tall’s reign continued the pattern of a government concerned with administrative reorganization and monarchical consolidation, but it led above all to a new dynastic rupture. Like his brother Louis X, Philip V died without leaving a surviving son, which reopened the question of succession to the head of the kingdom.

On January 3, 1322, Philip V died at the abbey of Longchamp, near Paris. His reign, begun amid the uncertainties of the succession of 1316, ended after just over five years of governance. Though relatively brief, it was marked by a constant desire to restore order in the kingdom, strengthen the functioning of royal institutions, and better regulate finances as well as the crown’s domain.

Under his authority, the monarchy continued the administrative work undertaken under Philip the Fair, while seeking to correct certain imbalances inherited from preceding reigns. The reorganization of the King’s Council, the affirmation of the role of Parliament, the return to the royal domain of several alienated lands, and the more methodical regulation of crown agents testified to this orientation. His reign also saw the strengthening of the principle that the crown of France could not be transmitted by women or through them, a principle formulated at his accession and destined to play a major role in French dynastic history.

However, despite this work of consolidation, Philip V left no male heir. His death thus led to the accession to the throne of his younger brother, Charles IV, last son of Philip the Fair, who became king of France under the name of Charles IV the Fair. This new succession between brothers confirms the immediate solidity of the Capetian dynasty, but it also underlines its growing fragility, since direct father-to-son transmission was now interrupted for the second time in a few years.

The reign of Philip V the Tall thus appears as a phase of relative stabilization between two brief reigns. Less spectacular than that of Philip the Fair, less troubled than that of Louis X, it nonetheless contributed to consolidating the institutional mechanisms of the Capetian monarchy. His death, however, opened a new period of uncertainty, only a few years away from the definitive extinction of the direct Capetian line.

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Key Points to Remember

• 1316: Philip V the Tall becomes king after a succession crisis and the exclusion of Joan of Navarre.
• 1316–1317: His accession strengthens the principle that the crown of France is not transmitted through women.
• 1318: He consolidates the monarchy through administrative reforms, notably the reorganization of the King’s Council.
• 1318–1320: His reign also sees the strengthening of royal taxation, with the mention of the gabelle and the recovery of the domain.
• 1320–1321: The Shepherds and the persecutions against Jews and lepers mark the end of his reign.
• 1322: Philip V dies without a male heir, and his brother Charles IV the Fair succeeds him.