Philip V of France - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

In 1321 an alleged conspiracy – the "leper scare" – was discovered in France; the accusation, apparently unfounded, was that lepers had been poisoning the wells of various towns, and that this activity had been orchestrated by the Jewish minority, secretly commissioned by foreign Muslims. The scare took hold in the febrile atmosphere left by the Shepherds' crusade of the previous year and the legacy of the poor harvests of the previous decade.

The French Jews were, by 1321, closely connected to the French crown; Philip had given orders that royal officials assist Jewish money lenders in recovering Christian debts, and some local officials were arguing that the crown was due to inherit the estates of dead Jewish merchants. Following the events of 1320, Philip was involved in fining those who had attacked Jews during the Shepherds' Crusade, which in practice added further to the dislike of this minority in France. Rumours and allegations about lepers themselves had been circulated in 1320 as well, and some had been arrested during the Crusade.

Philip was in Poitiers in June involved in a tour of the south aimed at reform of the southern fiscal system, when word arrived of the scare. Philip issued an early edict demanding that any leper found guilty was to be burnt; their goods would be forfeit to the crown. The King's southern tour and reform plans, although administratively sound by modern standards, had created much local opposition and modern historians have linked the King's role in Poiters with the sudden outbreak of violence. This all put Philip in a difficult position; he could not openly side with those claiming wrongdoing by the lepers, Jews and Muslims without encouraging further, unnecessary violence – on the other hand, if he did not ally himself to the cause, he encouraged further unsanctioned violence, weakening his royal position. In August Philip was continuing to progress his reform plans when he fell ill from multiple illnesses. After a brief respite, he died at Longchamp, Paris. He was interred in Saint Denis Basilica. Some Jews did leave France as a result of the leper scare, but Philip had successfully resisted signing any formal edict, which limited the impact to some degree.

By the Salic law that Philip had reaffirmed in 1316, without a living male heir Philip was succeeded by his younger brother, Charles IV. Charles was also to die without male issue, resulting ultimately in Edward III's claim to the French throne and the subsequent Hundred Years War (1337–1453).