Philip V of France - Accession and The Salic Law

Accession and The Salic Law

Philip's older brother, Louis X, died in 1316 leaving the pregnant Clementia of Hungary as his widow. There were several potential candidates for the role of regent, including Charles of Valois and Odo IV, the Duke of Burgundy, but Philip successfully out-manouvred them, being appointed regent himself. Philip remained as regent for the remainder of the pregnancy and for a few days after the birth of his nephew John I – the infant only lived for five days before dying.

The death of John I was unprecedented in the history of the Capetian Kings of France. For the first time, the King of France died without a son. The heir to the throne was now a subject of some dispute. Princess Joan, the remaining daughter of Louis X by the late Queen Margaret, was one obvious candidate, but suspicion still hung over her as a result of the scandal in 1314, including concerns over her actual parentage. In addition, the Salic law had been reaffirmed in recent years, which would have meant that the throne would pass over Joan in any event, but this interpretation of the law was not necessarily accepted by all the nobility.

With only his niece between himself and the throne, Philip engaged in some rapid political negotiations and convinced Charles of Valois, who along with Odo IV was championing Joan's rights, to switch sides and support him instead. In exchange for marrying Philip's daughter, Odo IV abandoned his niece's cause, not only her claim to the French throne but also her claim to Navarre's. On the 9 January 1317, with Charles's support, Philip was hastily crowned at Rheims. The majority of the nobility, however, refused to attend, there were demonstrations in Champagne, Artois and Burgundy and Philip called a rapid assembly of the nobility on 2 February in Paris. Philip laid down the principle that Joan, as a woman, could not inherit the throne of France, played heavily upon the fact that he was now the anointed king, and consolidated what some authors have described as his effective "usurpation" of power. Joan, however, did in 1328 ultimately accede to the throne of Navarre, which did not hold to the Salic law.

The next year, Philip continued to strengthen his position. He married his eldest daughter, Joan to the powerful Odo IV, bringing the Duke over to his own party. Philip then built his reign around the notion of reform – "reclaiming rights, revenues and territories" that had been wrongly lost to the crown in recent years.