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Philippe le Bel
Un roi méconnu dont l'œuvre considérable, souvent décriée, souvent caricaturée, a masqué l'homme.Philippe le Bel a été une énigme pour ses contemporains et l'est longtemps resté pour les historiens. Car l'homme est caché derrière l'oeuvre du règne, une oeuvre propre à enfl ammer les imaginations romantiques à la lueur crépusculaire du bûcher des templiers, des sinistres drames familiaux de ses trois fils, de la lutte sans merci contre un pape mégalomane, Boniface VIII. Roi de fer pour les uns, édifiant de façon impitoyable un Etat bureaucratique moderne sur les ruinesde la monarchie féodale ; roi de chair pour les autres, dissimulant derrière son masque de sphinx et son impassibilité de statue un esprit faible et indécis, dominé par ses légistes, Flote, Nogaret, Marigny : il reste en apparence indéchiffrable.La réputation de Philippe le Bel a été ternie par la constante comparaison avec la figure idéalisée de son grand-père Saint Louis, dont le règne a fait figure d'âge d'or. C'est que vers 1300 commence un véritable âge de fer : c'est la fin du " beau Moyen Age " et l'entrée dans un siècle de catastrophes, avec les premières famines, les prémices de la guerre de Cent Ans, et bientôt les épidémies.Pour gouverner le royaume de France dans une période aussi difficile en assurant la transition de la monarchie féodale à la monarchie nationale, il fallait plus qu'un saint rêvant de croisade : il fallait une personnalité lucide et réaliste. Georges Minois raconte son histoire et découvre son portrait avec la rigueur et le talent qu'on lui connaît.
- GenresHistory
949 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2014
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Georges Minois
90 books54 followersGeorges Minois est un historien français né en 1946. Ancien élève de l'École normale supérieure, il est agrégé et docteur en histoire. Il a exercé la profession de professeur d'histoire et de géographie jusqu'en 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 27, 2020
What a ride!
Having known extremely little about Philippe le Bel aside from the trial of the Templars I was very curious to learn more about this man of marble - as he is often referred to. French historians have a hard time pinning Philippe down as he was not a very outspoken man; often sitting quietly during council meetings and was said to have a stern look on his face that emoted without needing to speak which was probably a character trait he wanted to express to his chroniclers such as Guillaume de Paris.
Philippe has come to be known in history for many things such as his expulsion of the jews and Lombards for the purpose of fiscal needs. But what I had little idea of was how innovative he was in developing some of the most important governmental measures in French beaurocracy, such as the Estates General which was convened for the first time during his reign - or at least what be realized later as the Estates General. He was also quite intelligent in the way he ultimately perpetuated and manipulated the masses of Paris and its surrounding regions to come ot his causes, especially during his secular and temporal wars against Boniface, who was a hot tempered, brash and arguably megalomanical and insecure pope.
Philippes reign largely consisted of dealing with Edward I who he frequently outmanoeuvered diplomatically, ousting him in Aquitaine, turning it for most of his reign into a French domain and harassing both England and Flanders throughout his reign. From his reign I drew many parallels of Edward I struggles with Scotland with Philips struggles with Lille, Douai and Artois. However, Philips struggles would be against Gui de Dampierre and his son Robert de Artois and Louis de Nevers.
Philippe in terms of his military exploits were not as notorious or expansive as Edward's as he did not consider himself a warrior king, and much preferred the tactic of weakening the enemy just enough where he had leverage on them, and he would then bring them to the table and get as favorable conditions as possible. But as a lack resort or as a staging of his political prowess he did not hesitate to take the field for the idea of the glory of France, or to protect his own credibility as a ruler in the field which was still a strongly held expectation for a king. He was however extremely cautious in choosing when and where he fought, as sieges and open battles could be extremely risky. One of the biggest disasters of Philips reign would be the battle of Courtrai or "battle of the golden spurs" which he in fact did not fight at himself as he remained in Paris, but he would receive word of the disaster and the death of the flower of the French and reacted in much the same way Augustus did when word reached him of Teutoburg Forest. In this defeat, the Flemish would make a true mockery of the French as the flemish army was composed of little more than merchants, while the French were composed of the prestigious french nobles and knights and as a result they underestimated their enemies.
The only battle Philip would actually participate in himself after his defeat of Courtrai would be the battle of Mons-en-Pevele which would not be decisive but it would satisfy his need for retribution against the Flemish and would give him an advantageous position in that theatre with the treaty of Athis and later a modified treaty of Arras. He would also take part in seige of Lille which would be successful and a later false campaign where the conditions were not favorable enough to his liking and he chose to come home without fighting which infuriated the people of Paris and close by who had lost loved ones at the Courtrai disaster, and lost Philip prestige.
Much of Philips reign was spent trying to further centralize the power of the Capetain monarchy taking power away from the nobles and barons which did work in large degrees but ultimately led to near erupting revolts on their part which would be unsuccessful in France as they were unable to unite, unlike in England where the revolts managed to force Edward II into signing a charter.
All in all the book was extremely satisfying as George Minois gave a very balanced biography of the man, not holding back in showing Philips dark side and mistakes, but also displaying in many cases how astounded and proud of Philip he was with the innovations he brought to France. He did leave me with a mixed feeling of what kind of monarch Philip was as he is so hard to penetrate aside from his actions, he was not a man who conveyed much emotion through words as he was extremely stoic and quiet, this leaves Minois only with his actions as a compensation. But what can be clearly seen was that Philip was a stern and unforgiving monarch who was not afraid to make an example of anyone who made a fool of him, but he was certainly more the calculating monarch who was careful in his steps and measures and has been compared to Machiavelli in his ability to scheme and outmaneuver his opponents in the diplomatic field. Philippe did manage to gain land for France but he reigned during a period of Early modern European transition where feudal Europe was no longer the system that would succeed. Instead the time for fiscal infrastructure was replacing it but no one in Philips kingdom had the knowledge to do anything about this revolution and therefore his policies and ability to do much was hamstrung by it. By the end of it, it seemed that George Minois was someone who admired Philippe but not so much that he would have been awestruck by him. The only issue that remains for me with Minois was his second last chapter which felt disjointed and a rehash of previous topics he had already covered in the book. Either he could have placed this extra material in their appropriate chapters or took it out alltogether as it simply did not work.
Having known extremely little about Philippe le Bel aside from the trial of the Templars I was very curious to learn more about this man of marble - as he is often referred to. French historians have a hard time pinning Philippe down as he was not a very outspoken man; often sitting quietly during council meetings and was said to have a stern look on his face that emoted without needing to speak which was probably a character trait he wanted to express to his chroniclers such as Guillaume de Paris.
Philippe has come to be known in history for many things such as his expulsion of the jews and Lombards for the purpose of fiscal needs. But what I had little idea of was how innovative he was in developing some of the most important governmental measures in French beaurocracy, such as the Estates General which was convened for the first time during his reign - or at least what be realized later as the Estates General. He was also quite intelligent in the way he ultimately perpetuated and manipulated the masses of Paris and its surrounding regions to come ot his causes, especially during his secular and temporal wars against Boniface, who was a hot tempered, brash and arguably megalomanical and insecure pope.
Philippes reign largely consisted of dealing with Edward I who he frequently outmanoeuvered diplomatically, ousting him in Aquitaine, turning it for most of his reign into a French domain and harassing both England and Flanders throughout his reign. From his reign I drew many parallels of Edward I struggles with Scotland with Philips struggles with Lille, Douai and Artois. However, Philips struggles would be against Gui de Dampierre and his son Robert de Artois and Louis de Nevers.
Philippe in terms of his military exploits were not as notorious or expansive as Edward's as he did not consider himself a warrior king, and much preferred the tactic of weakening the enemy just enough where he had leverage on them, and he would then bring them to the table and get as favorable conditions as possible. But as a lack resort or as a staging of his political prowess he did not hesitate to take the field for the idea of the glory of France, or to protect his own credibility as a ruler in the field which was still a strongly held expectation for a king. He was however extremely cautious in choosing when and where he fought, as sieges and open battles could be extremely risky. One of the biggest disasters of Philips reign would be the battle of Courtrai or "battle of the golden spurs" which he in fact did not fight at himself as he remained in Paris, but he would receive word of the disaster and the death of the flower of the French and reacted in much the same way Augustus did when word reached him of Teutoburg Forest. In this defeat, the Flemish would make a true mockery of the French as the flemish army was composed of little more than merchants, while the French were composed of the prestigious french nobles and knights and as a result they underestimated their enemies.
The only battle Philip would actually participate in himself after his defeat of Courtrai would be the battle of Mons-en-Pevele which would not be decisive but it would satisfy his need for retribution against the Flemish and would give him an advantageous position in that theatre with the treaty of Athis and later a modified treaty of Arras. He would also take part in seige of Lille which would be successful and a later false campaign where the conditions were not favorable enough to his liking and he chose to come home without fighting which infuriated the people of Paris and close by who had lost loved ones at the Courtrai disaster, and lost Philip prestige.
Much of Philips reign was spent trying to further centralize the power of the Capetain monarchy taking power away from the nobles and barons which did work in large degrees but ultimately led to near erupting revolts on their part which would be unsuccessful in France as they were unable to unite, unlike in England where the revolts managed to force Edward II into signing a charter.
All in all the book was extremely satisfying as George Minois gave a very balanced biography of the man, not holding back in showing Philips dark side and mistakes, but also displaying in many cases how astounded and proud of Philip he was with the innovations he brought to France. He did leave me with a mixed feeling of what kind of monarch Philip was as he is so hard to penetrate aside from his actions, he was not a man who conveyed much emotion through words as he was extremely stoic and quiet, this leaves Minois only with his actions as a compensation. But what can be clearly seen was that Philip was a stern and unforgiving monarch who was not afraid to make an example of anyone who made a fool of him, but he was certainly more the calculating monarch who was careful in his steps and measures and has been compared to Machiavelli in his ability to scheme and outmaneuver his opponents in the diplomatic field. Philippe did manage to gain land for France but he reigned during a period of Early modern European transition where feudal Europe was no longer the system that would succeed. Instead the time for fiscal infrastructure was replacing it but no one in Philips kingdom had the knowledge to do anything about this revolution and therefore his policies and ability to do much was hamstrung by it. By the end of it, it seemed that George Minois was someone who admired Philippe but not so much that he would have been awestruck by him. The only issue that remains for me with Minois was his second last chapter which felt disjointed and a rehash of previous topics he had already covered in the book. Either he could have placed this extra material in their appropriate chapters or took it out alltogether as it simply did not work.
August 17, 2021
Ouvrage interessant sur un roi dont le nom est connu de tous grâce aux grandes affaires du règne (arrestations des templiers, Attentat d'Anagni, ...), mais qui reste assez énigmatique en raison des sources peu nombreuses.
Cet ouvrage éclaire donc agréablement ce qui peut l'être.
Cet ouvrage éclaire donc agréablement ce qui peut l'être.
December 16, 2024
сюжет такой что темноглазые гончие взяли мой след и не знать мне ни сна ни покоя
June 30, 2025
не могу поверить что очень скучаю и много плачу по этому мистеру........ НЕ ТРОГАЙТЕ МЕНЯ САНИТАРЫ ФИЛИПП КОГДА-ТО БЫЛ ПРОСТО МАЛЕНЬКИМ МАЛЬЧИКОМ
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews