King Philip IV of France earned the nickname “the Fair,” but his response to a scandal involving his own daughters-in-law revealed a far more brutal side. When he discovered that two of them were allegedly having affairs with knights, he ordered punishments so severe that they became a grim chapter in French royal history. Born in 1268 to Isabella of Aragon and Prince Philip the Bold, the future king lost his mother at a young age when she died in a riding accident. The death of his grandfather, King Louis IX, during a crusade in 1270 set off a chain of succession that eventually made Philip the heir after his older brother died in 1276.
Philip came to view himself as divinely appointed, believing that God had chosen him to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was revered for his piety. That conviction shaped his reign with an inflexible sense of righteousness that left little room for mercy. On August 16, 1284, Philip married Joan of Navarre, a union that expanded his territory and, unusually for royal marriages of the time, developed into genuine affection. After Joan’s death, Philip refused to remarry.
When his father died of dysentery in 1285 during a campaign against Aragon, the 17-year-old Philip took the throne on January 6, 1286. His primary ambition was clear: strengthen the monarchy at all costs, even if that meant breaking from how previous rulers governed. One of his first inherited problems was debt. His father had borrowed heavily from the Knights Templar to finance military campaigns, and Philip found himself owing enormous sums to the powerful order.
Meanwhile, tensions with England were building. The duchy of Aquitaine was held by King Edward I of England but remained a vassal state under French rule, forcing Edward to pay homage to Philip despite his reluctance. By the early 1290s, relations had deteriorated into open conflict, sparked by sailors attacking each other’s ships and the English sacking the port of La Rochelle. In 1293, Philip summoned Edward to appear before him.
Edward sent his brother instead and negotiated a temporary surrender of Gascony in exchange for forgiveness. But the peace collapsed, and when Edward refused a second summons in April 1294, Philip seized his lands and revoked his duchy of Aquitaine. French troops marched into Gascony, and Edward formally declared war on France that year. The conflict soon drew in others.
The county of Flanders declared independence in 1297, and England seized the opportunity to aid the Flemish against their common enemy. France countered by calling on its alliance with Scotland. The war took a devastating turn for Philip at the Battle of the Golden Spurs, where Flemish forces soundly defeated his army of roughly 6,500 men. Philip waited two years before exacting revenge.
At the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle in 1304, French forces crushed the Flemish army, effectively ending the rebellion. In 1305, Philip imposed severe punishments on Flanders to ensure it would never rise against him again. The war with England left neither side satisfied. Territorial disputes remained largely unresolved, and the financial toll was enormous.
The value of French currency dropped by 37 percent after the Golden Spurs defeat alone. Philip ordered the collection of silver objects from residents to be minted into coins, then devalued the wartime coinage in 1306, which caused debtors to lose money and triggered violent riots. To stabilize relations, Philip’s daughter Isabella married King Edward’s son, the future Edward II, in 1308 under the terms of the 1299 Treaty of Montreuil. But Philip’s financial troubles continued to shape his decisions.
In 1306, he expelled all Jewish residents from France, a move widely believed to be aimed at seizing control of their mints and collecting loans owed to them. His next target was the Knights Templar, to whom he remained heavily indebted. The order had evolved from protecting Christian pilgrims into a powerful banking institution, and they expected repayment. Philip’s solution followed a pattern he had used before: eliminate the debtors.
When accusations of heresy and sodomy were raised against the Templars, Philip seized on them as justification for destruction. The order answered primarily to the Pope, but Philip framed his actions as divine justice and positioned himself as operating above the papacy. On Friday the 13th of October 1307, Philip’s men arrested hundreds of Templars across France in a swift, coordinated operation. Nearly all confessions of heresy were extracted through brutal torture, casting serious doubt on their validity.
Pope Clement V, largely under Philip’s influence, proved ineffective at protecting the order. Philip ordered executions by burning at the stake before trials could even take place. Years later, Philip confronted a scandal much closer to home. His three sons—Louis, Philip, and Charles—had each married into Burgundian nobility: Margaret, Joan, and Blanche of Burgundy.
Their marriages would not survive the events of 1313. During a family visit that year, Philip’s daughter Isabella gave embroidered coin purses as gifts to her brothers and their wives. Months later, she claimed to spot purses belonging to her sisters-in-law Margaret and Blanche in the hands of two knights. She reported her suspicions to her father.
King Philip ordered surveillance on his daughters-in-law. According to the allegations, Margaret and Blanche had been conducting affairs with the knights in an old guard tower called the Tour de Nesle. Joan was also implicated, accused of knowing about the affairs and, according to rumors, of being unfaithful herself, though evidence suggested her marriage was the happiest of the three. Modern historians remain divided on how much of Isabella’s story was true.
Many believe Margaret and Blanche were likely carrying on affairs, while Joan’s involvement is considered less probable. Some have suggested Isabella fabricated or exaggerated the scandal for political reasons, possibly to clear a path for her newborn son to inherit the throne. Whatever her motives, the consequences were severe. After a short period of surveillance, Philip had his three daughters-in-law taken into custody.
The two knights were captured and tortured, making their confessions highly questionable. Margaret and Blanche were found guilty of adultery at court. Joan, due to intervention from her husband Prince Philip, was declared innocent. The two guilty women had their heads shaved and were sentenced to life in prison.
The knights faced a far worse fate: they were tortured, flayed, and executed in what became known as the Tour de Nesle affair. In 1314, two of the last surviving Templar leaders publicly declared that their confessions had been coerced. The Preceptor of Normandy and Grand Master Jacques de Molay told the public they had betrayed their order to save their own lives. Philip, outraged, ordered their immediate executions without formal hearings.
Both men were burned alive at the stake that March. Their composure during execution led many to view them as martyrs. Philip’s own death came shortly after, and it was far from heroic. In late 1314, while hunting in the forest of Halatte, he suffered a cerebral stroke.
He initially survived and appeared to be recovering, but he died on November 29, 1314. Pope Clement V had died about seven months earlier, likely from lupus. The proximity of both deaths to de Molay’s execution gave rise to a legend that the Grand Master had cursed the king and the Pope as he burned.
Many saw divine retribution at work.
