Philip IV

views updated May 23 2018

Philip IV ( the Fair) (1268–1314) King of France (1285–1314). Partly to pay for wars against Flanders and England, he expelled the Jews (1306), confiscating their property. Claiming the right to tax the clergy involved him in a long and bitter quarrel with Pope Boniface VIII. He used assemblies, later called the States-General, to popularize his case. After the death of Boniface (1303), Philip secured the election of a French pope, Clement V, based at Avignon.

More From encyclopedia.com