General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> /Le Hardi/
REFN: 12063AN
Philip III the Bold (French: Philippe III le Hardi) (30 April 1245 – 5 Oct
ober 1285) reigned as King of France from 1270 to 1285. A member of the Ca
petian dynasty, he was born in Poissy, the son of Louis IX of France a
nd of Marguerite of Provence.
He accompanied his father on the Eighth Crusade to Tunisia in 1270. His fa
ther died at Tunis and there Philip was declared king at the age of 25. Ph
ilip was indecisive, soft in nature, timid, and apparently crushed by t
he strong personalities of his parents and dominated by his father's polic
ies. He was called "the Bold" on the basis of his abilities in combat a
nd on horseback and not his character. He was pious, but not cultivate
d. He followed the dictates of others, first of Pierre de la Broce and th
en of his uncle Charles I of Sicily.
After his succession, he quickly set his uncle on negotiations with the em
ir to conclude the crusade, while he himself returned to France. A ten-ye
ar truce was concluded and Philip was crowned in France on 12 August 127
1. On 21 August, his uncle, Alfonso, Count of Poitou, Toulouse, and Auverg
ne, died returning from the crusade in Italy. Philip inherited his counti
es and united them to the royal demesne. The portion of the Auvergne whi
ch he inherited became the "Terre royale d'Auvergne," later the Duchy of A
uvergne. In accordance with Alfonso's wishes, the Comtat Venaissin was gra
nted to the Pope Gregory X in 1274. Several years of negotiations yield
ed the Treaty of Amiens with Edward I of England in 1279. Thereby Philip r
estored to the English the Agenais which had fallen to him with the dea
th of Alfonso. In 1284, Philip also inherited the counties of Perche and A
lençon from his brother Pierre.
Philip all the while supported his uncle's policy in Italy. When, after t
he Sicilian Vespers of 1282, Peter III of Aragon invaded and took the isla
nd of Sicily, the pope, Martin IV, excommunicated the conqueror and declar
ed his kingdom (put under the suzerainty of the pope by Peter II in 120
5) forfeit. He granted Aragon to Charles, Count of Valois, Philip's son. P
hilip intervened in the Navarrese succession after the death of Hen
ry I of Navarre and married his son, Philip the Fair, to the heiress of Na
varre, Joan I.
In 1284, Philip and his sons entered Roussillon at the head of a large arm
y. This war, called the Aragonese Crusade from its papal sanction, has be
en labelled "perhaps the most unjust, unnecessary and calamitous enterpri
se ever undertaken by the Capetian monarchy."[1] On 26 June 1285, Philip t
he Bold entrenched himself before Gerona in an attempt to besiege it. T
he resistance was strong, but the city was taken on 7 September. Philip so
on experienced a reversal, however, as the French camp was hit ha
rd by an epidemic of dysentery. Philip himself was afflicted. The French r
etreated and were handily defeated at the Battle of the Col de Panissar
s. The king of France himself died at Perpignan, the capital of his ally J
ames II of Majorca, and was buried in Narbonne. He currently lies buried w
ith his wife Isabella of Aragon in Saint Denis Basilica in Paris.
In the Divine Comedy, Dante sees Philip's spirit outside the gates of Purg
atory with a number of other contemporary European rulers. Dante does n
ot name Philip directly, but refers to him as "the small-nosed" and "the f
ather of the Pest of France."
Marriage and children
On 28 May 1262, Philip married Isabella of Aragon, daughter of Jam
es I of Aragon and his second wife Yolande of Hungary, daughter of Andr
ew II of Hungary, and had the following children:
Louis (1266 – May 1276)
Philip IV (1268 – November 29, 1314), successor as king
Charles (March 12, 1270 – December 16, 1325), Count of Valois
After Isabella's death, he married on 21 August 1274, Marie de Brabant, da
ughter of Henry III of Brabant and Adelaide of Burgundy. Their children we
re:
Louis (May 1276