Mary of Habsburg: Queen of Hungary & Governor of the Netherlands (1505-1558)

                               

On today's blog, we will be discussing the life of one of the children of Queen Joanna of Castile, unfairly known as Juana la Loca (English: Joanna the Mad) due to her said attack of madness, and her husband, Philippe the Handsome, the Habsburg son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I who was known for being a prince with very good features... and also for his infidelities. Their offspring had lots of Queens, Kings and Emperors, of those, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V being the most famous and his sister Eleanor, twice consort for two kings of distant countries: Portugal, in her first marriage, and France, in her second.

But today the topic is about one of Queen Joanna's less spoken children, Mary of Habsburg, who was not only Queen of Hungary but a Governor of the Netherlands on behalf of her brother, Charles. So who was this woman, well spoken by Erasmus  whose beauty we can attest by her portraits above? What were the greatest achievements whilst a politician? That is precise what we intend to find out next.

After facing very difficulties in labour, with her life in risk, Queen Joanna of Castile finally gave birth to her third daughter, whom she named Mary (Spanish: Maria). The archduchess, known then as Mary of Austria, was born in Brussels on 15 September, and would be sent at an early age to be educated at the court of her paternal aunt, Margaret of Austria, after the mental breakdown of her mother around 1506. Earlier that year, before her depart, her grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, negotiated to have her married to an unborn heir to the crown of Hungary.

After she was placed under the care of Margaret of Austria, alongside her siblings Isabel, Eleanor and Charles, the alliance with Hungary was confirmed upon the birth of the heir Louis, and "when she was eight years old, Mary left Margaret of Austria's court at Mechelen and traveled to Maximilian's court in Vienna in preparation for the conclusion of his proposed alliance."

To reinforce this alliance with Hungary, a sister of Louis, Anne, was offered the hand of either the two brothers of Mary, who turned out to be Ferdinand. So Anne was also sent to Maximilian's court to be educated alongside Mary and there:

"(...) the fourteen-year-old Anne knelt next to Maximilian, renounced her title as "empress" and was married by proxy to Maximilian's grandson. Following this ceremony, the "little queens", now sisters-in-law, were sent to Innsbruck."

What we know about Archduchess Mary's education is that she received a very good education from excellent tutors. Her grandfather also encouraged her hunting activities, an habit she would still practice, though her passion were much more like culture, music and arts, as seen in the paragraph below:

"That year [1516], Mary's father-in-law died, making Louis and Mary king and queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Mary moved to Innsbruck, where she was educated until 1521. Maximilian encouraged her interest in hunting, while childhood lessons prompted an interest in music. This passion would later be demonstrated during her tenure as governor of the Netherlands."

Once her marriage was celebrated on 11 December 1520, and the next year she departed to Hungary, it was then during the period afterwards when the royal couple was blessed in Buda, that she and Louis fell in love. At first, because of her youth, Mary held little influence at court, but it was not too soon until she surrounded herself with German and Dutch influences, which "formed the base for the interests of the House of Habsburg" and made use of her authority by putting to an end factions that divided court. As we can perceive next:

"By 1524, (...) the new queen had negotiated considerable influence and authority for herself, and by 1525, in a "spectacular coup", she gained even more when she assumed control of one powerful political faction and put down the threat, for the moment, of another. A friend wrote to the humanistic scholar Erasmus expressing the hope and regret of many: "If she could only be changed into a king, our affairs would be in better shape."

Often, Mary and Louis were seen riding and hunting when they were not busy trying to contain Hungary from the political threats coming from the Ottoman Empire. Hungarian nobility was quite a problem from the weak Louis, who had "inherited the crown of a country whose noblemen were fighting among themselves and against the peasantry." It is no surprise to understand that, consequently, the country was very divided and that made easy to Ottoman Empire break in. Louis eventually leaded the army against the Ottomans, and though he was close to a victory, he slipped from his frightened horse and died drowned after the Battle of Mohács.

Following the death of her husband, whom she would mourn for the rest of her life, Queen Mary sought her brother, Ferdinand, recently elected King of Bohemia, to alert him about the Hungarian defeat and...

"sending him a warning: 'I fear the Turk will not stop at my lord brother's borders.' Shortly thereafter, an urgent message was sent to the archduke, urging him to come immediately to Hungary's aid--until he could arrive, troops were requested to support Mary 'so that the kingdom does not fall away from us entirely and Your Serene Highness can the better come into Hungary with her help'."

As a result, the Queen Dowager was chosen to be the regent on behalf of Ferdinand, though this was done against her will. Nonetheless, as dutiful as she was, she "spent the following year working to secure the election of Ferdinand as King of Hungary." There was an attempt of resigning, but her request was denied at least until summer of 1527, when he assumed the crown.

Subsequently,

"Hungary was divided into three parts: Ottoman Hungary- a part of the Ottoman Empire, Royal Hungary- ruled by Mary's brother Ferdinand, and Eastern Hungarian Kingdom- ruled by John Zápolya."

In the next year, her aunt Margaret suggested a marriage to King James V of Scotland, of which Mary refused, claiming that, for having loved her husband, she would not be capable of loving again, so she had no wishes for another marriage. Another brother of Mary, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles, proposed Frederick of Bavaria instead, who had unsuccessfully tried to court Eleanor, Mary's sister, years before. But again Mary refused.

Ferdinand, by 1528, offered the position of regent in Netherland, but Mary declined, claiming that "such affairs need a person wiser than I am", though he would persist in drawing her to politics especially after communicating the death of their aunt, Margaret of Austria the year after, leaving the post of Governor of the Netherlands vacant. Thus, this was offered by Charles V to his sister, who reluctantly thought about whether was wiser to decline or accept.

"As her biographer Jane de Iongh states Mary's dilemma, on the one hand she could remain a queen "without a country, without a crown, without money", but with some measure of independence. On the other, she could assume the regency of the Netherlands which offered action, responsibilities, and power--but no independence.

 In her response of 29 January, Mary agreed to take over the regency for Charles. In October, she was invested with the power to uphold the law, to receive petitions, to supervise legislation  and finances, to command the army, and to head the various governors of the provinces: "In short, she received the right to perform everything that could serve to maintain the sovereign's authority and the welfare of the country."

As Governor of the Netherlands, Mary was a sole ruler, even though she was so on behalf of her brother, the Emperor, who, as he told herself, could not always be in every place, so he trusted in the members of his family to play this role. However, it was observed that many female rulers were either unmarried or widows who masculinized themselves in order to hold authority. With Mary this was no different. Because of that, she is often seen as "authoritarian" unlike her charismatic aunt, who was much praised for her beauty and intelligence.

But was she really "authoritarian"? She was forced to deal with several rebellions, had her complaints and asks for help ignored by her brother Charles, and saw no other way but to declare war against France. In a world where power was largely associated to strenght and this latter, to men, Mary eventually masculinized herself, as she would later say that because of her gender she was hardly taken seriously by her counterparts or even by Charles.

In matters concerning their nieces Dorothea and Christina who, after the death of their mother, Isabella, Queen of Denmark, were under the care of Margaret, they were sent to Mary's after Margaret's past away. At her court, they were educated and Mary also helped in planning their marriages for...

"Charles, like his Habsburg grandfather, decided to follow the course of "happy Austria" in using marriage to effect in arranging political alliances."

In here we find one more time conflicts between Mary and Charles; though it is true that, in one hand, he relies on her and trusts in her capacibility in reigning on his behalf, on the other, he values above all opinions his own and not of those he trusts. For example: Mary argued with her brother that Christina was far too young to consummate her marriage with the duke of Milan, providing him with religious and social arguments how against she was with this act, but he ignored. She then delayed it, claiming first Christina to be sick, before going to some part of Netherland to resolve the matter, until she could do so no longer for Christina had reached the age of 12, as we can see in the following paragraph:

"At this, Mary of Austria responded, for once, as her biography notes, abadoning 'the humble attitude of modest pupil' which she had adopted with her brother and speaking with a 'conviction and a confidence in her own judgment that cannot have escaped Charles despite the careful terms in which her letter was couched':

I reply to Your Majesty...only to unburden my conscience... and to warn you of the difficulties I think I discern... I am of the opinion that it contravenes the law of God and all reason to have her marry so young, before she is twelve years old... I hold it not only contrary to God's command, but I am moreover convinced that you may endanger her life, should she become pregnant before she is altogether a woman. It has often happened that in such cases neither the mother nor the child has survived the birth.

Monseigneur, I am aware that I have said more about this matter, and that I express myself more clumsily, than is desirable. I beg you to forgive me, for my conscience and the love I bear the child compel me to it." 

Christina was not long married when, some years later, she returned a widow to her aunt's court. At this year, she received a propose from King Henry VIII of England, a match that Mary great disapproved and used all of her will to  disencourage it, in spite of Charles' insistances. With Henry VIII's excommunication, however, she managed to convince her brother.

What it may seem stubborness for some and determination for others was a cause for disagreement of the two siblings for long years, but, in spite of them, it is assumed that, though she was not his favourite sister, they were fond of each other and had mutual respect. But it must be remembered that he left Mary in a charge she was unwilling to take from the beginning, despite her sense of duty led her to do the art of government well, and ignored her pleadges for help. She faced difficulties that often made her try to resign, receiving always a decline on the part of Charles. And that is how we understand why she is unfairly seen as "authoritary".

But unlike other contemporaries, like Henry VIII of England or François I of France, she did try to use peace as a mean to achieve her goals, especially within her family. When Charles V abdicate his Holy Roman Empire crown and intended to pass to his son, she had to mediate it for Ferdinand was protesting over the matter. Her relationship with Philippe, her nephew, though, was no better than the one she had with Charles, though it may be assumed that even with Charles she had a better one. It is probably a cause why she wrote a long letter explaining the reasons for resigning one more time. Despite the protests of her brother and her nephew, for apparently she excelled in governing Netherlands for the Spanish Crown, she had her request finally granted.

Mary joined her recently widowed sister Eleanor and returned to Castile, despite fearing to live in a country she was never introduced to its language and costume. So she then flew from Ghent with Eleanor and Charles and was very devasted when they came to die in 1558. But before he died, Charles had requested his sister to be Governor once more, a promise she came to make and was ready to fulfill, but she was too weak and feverish and died in October that same year.

What we learn about Mary, at least in our humble point of view, is the other way her strenght worked. She did not prosecute Protestants, though in a moment she was forced to do so by Charles' command and slight threat of distrusting a member of his family if any of them did so, she was a patron of musicians and arts, a supporter of Reinassacence. A woman of her days, for she believed women should not take part where it doesn't concern them and was always a pious royal, she nonetheless used her heart to do what was expected and yet could and would stand for herself and those she cared, and it is not because she had no scandals in her lifetime that she should be less remembered than some of her siblings.

Bibliography:

http://www.monstrousregimentofwomen.com/2015/07/mary-of-austria-heart-to-do-anything.html

http://www.liquisearch.com/mary_of_hungary_governor_of_the_netherlands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Hungary_(governor_of_the_Netherlands)

Catherine of Braganza: A Portuguese Loving and Brave Queen of the British (1638-1705)

The subject of our blog today is about this consort who is, unfortunately, neglected in counterpoint to her predecessors. Who was Catherine of Braganza, the only Portuguese Infanta to be crowned Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland? It is true that we count a Castilian consort amongst the British Kings (Eleanor of Castile, as the wife of King Edward I, excluding the Castilian princesses who were married to princes like John of Gaunt) and an Aragonese, Catherine of Aragon, before the union of Spain. Then the future Philippe II of Spain is married to Queen Mary Tudor.  Even with the next dynasty, the Stuarts, we see no Portuguese consort until the restoration, when Catherine is married to King Charles II, and no other after their deaths. 

But Catherine of Braganza was more than just the sweet wife of a womanizer monarch. Their own relationship was, against all odds,  one of full of affection. After his death, she returned to Portugal, where she acted as regent to her brother and then to her nephew. She was a fortress for all, a clever and pious woman who introduced the habit of drinking tea to the British people. Currently, british historiography has been trying to open to new perspectives of the impact Catherine left during the time she reigned as Queen next to Charles Stuart. 

Born Catarina Henriquetta de Bragança at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, she was the second daughter of the then 8th duke of Bragança, John, and his spouse Luísa of Guzmán. By the time of her birth, Portuguese was struggling for independence against Spain, as it was under the Spanish domain ever since King Philippe II united the Iberian Peninsula. Eventually, John became King John IV of Portugal, accepting the throne and declaring independence of Spain for good. Many european countries were relucting to acknowledging it: for example, France abandoned the treaty with Portugal and the struggle with Spain would still remain for a while.

Despite this, Catherine had a happy childhood in Lisbon, where she was raised at a convent that stayed very near to the royal palace. Her mother, Queen Luísa, supervised the education of her children, and Catherine was no exception. What we also know, aside of her quiet childhood, is that "her upbringing was said to be sheltered and made her a person of strong faith and devotion."

With her father becoming king of Portugal, and upon the death of her older sister Joanna, Catherine's status as Portuguese Infanta was very valuable so her mother:

"(...) first contemplated a marriage with Louis XIV of France. When that didn't materialize, she turned to England. A secreet meeting was set up with her ambassador and King Charles II. The Portuguese offered Charles Tangier which could be used as a base for trade in the Mediterranean, Bombay, a gateway for trade with India, free trade with Brazil and the East Indies and an enormous amount of cash, £300,00. After a year  of negotiations and overcoming doubts over him marrying a Catholic princess, Charles announced he would marry Catherine of Braganza before Parliament on May 8, 1661."

As for Charles II, before he was invited to come back to England, there had been few prospects as his consort. Luckily, situation favoured for his side once it was stabilized and the choice fell on Catherine of Braganza, especially because she'd bring a huge dowry to the already in debt british sovereign. Nonetheless, by all accounts the:

 "(...) marriage between the newly restored King of England and the Portuguese Infanta took place in Portsmouth on the 21st of May 1662. As St Thomas's, the parish church of Portsmouth, was still heavily damaged from the English Civil War, the only suitable venue for a royal wedding was the "Domus Dei". (...) The wedding service, however, is believed to have taken place in the Governor's Presence Chamber and not the chapel itself [4]. Besides a considerable dowry of some 2 million Portuguese Crowns, England also gained the North African port of Tangiers, trading privileges in the East Indies (...)."

It is said that they had two ceremonies: one, secret, followed the Catholic rites according to the new Queen's insistence; and the other followed the Protestant ones. Later, on 30 september 1662 the:

"(...) married couple entered London as part of a large procession, which included the Portuguese delegation and many members of the court. There were also minstrels and musicians, among them ten playing shawns and twelve playing Portuguese bagpipes, those being the new Queen's favourite instruments. The procession continued over a large bridge, especially designed and built for the occasion, which led into the palace where Henrietta Maria, the Queen Mother waited, along with the British court and nobility. This was followed by feasting and firework displays."

And although her good, quiet, pious nature she developed thanks to the days she spent in the convent had pleased the Queen Mother, the effect it had on her husband was little. Despite the good beginning they apparently shared, with Charles having no complaints of his wife, he had mistresses, one of them the most famous being Barbara Villiers. She apparently demanded to be included in the retinue of ladies of the Queen. At first, Catherine was not aware of the liasion and permitted it, but once she found about it, she tried to dismiss. This was reason to the strangement between them until she was forced to accept her husband's mistress.

In fact, "Catherine worked hard on her public image of being a pious image (but she also loved to party), and conveyed the message that she was still the queen". This would prove useful as the king started to rely on his wife, and, as their relationship developed into a loving one, the king would constantly stand by her side, especially when she was accused of poisoning him in what was known as "Popish Act":

"Technically British monarchs were not supposed to be practicing Catholics (...) but she practiced her religion anyway. She was definitely in danger of treason, though, when she was accused of planning to poison the king along with other conspiracies. King Charles didn't believe the accusations against his wife and ignored suggestions to divorce her. He said: "She could never do anything wicked, and it would be a horrible thing to abandon her."

The divorce was suggested not only as a result of Catherine failing in producing a male heir after three miscarriage, but because of the concern that the crown would be passed to James, who, by then, was converted to Catholicism. Nonetheless, it seemed this did not make them strained, but attached one another as was already mentioned, to the point that whoever offended the Queen would be at least banished from court or be sent away, as it was the case of Barbara Villiers.

The nature of their relationship has been often discussed through controversies of whether he did love her or not, after all, it is not uncommon to wonder so due to the common concept of love. But here are some situations that prove how kind and loving King Charles was towards his wife, despite the extra marital affairs that made the Stuart king known for his love of women.

"On one occasion, she (Catherine) felt ill during the night when he was in bed with her. He got up to fetch her a basin, but she was sick in the sheets before he returned. Not until he had himself cleaned and dried her, and changed the sheets, did he call her women to help, and repaired to his own room, even then returning three times to see how she was before he finally went to sleep. (Masters 1979, 75-76)."

Also:

"In 1663, she fell seriously ill and almost died. The King remained by her side, seemingly devoted to her. In her delirium she kept asking where her children were. Charles reassured her and his attentiveness seemed to restore her. When she recovered she couldn't walk and was temporarily deaf but she eventually overcame these disabilities. In 1665, plague in London caused the court to move to Oxford and it is likely Catherine miscarried in February 1666. She suffered another miscarriage in 1668 and again in June 1669."

That being said, Catherine is remembered for introducing the tea into the British lands, or at least making a habit having it, since Samuel Pepys, a 17th century writer, mentions the drink before Catherine's arrival.  As the next paragraph points it out:

"She started a fashion for drinking tea, which became associated with the queen as well as changing consumer habits. In one poem of tea, Edmund Waller wrote 'the best of queens and best of herbs we owe/ to that bold nation which the way did show': thinking of Portugal and how assets and trading links with Portugal could help to create new opportunities in England. But the actual parts of Catherine's dowry, the ports that were coming from Catherine's dowry, like Bombay, gave England a presence in India and provided a new platform for the East India trading company."

But her habits were not limited in making drinking tea fashionable at court. In fact, although the court of Charles II is often associated to the reproduction of francophone's influences, Queen Catherine managed to, through her fondness of dance, insert some Italian styles in music and fashion. Another of her habits involved playing cards, which left Protestants perplexed, because she did so on Sunday's. She also:

"enjoyed dancing and took great delight in organising masques. She had a great love for the countryside and picnics; fishing and archery were also favourite pastimes. In a far cry from her convent-days the newly liberated Catherine displayed a fondness for the recent trend of court ladies wearing men's clothing, which we are told, "showed off her pretty, neat legs and ankles"; and she was even reported to have considered leading the way in wearing shorter dresses, which would show off her feet."

Plus, Catherine:

"(...) may have introduced the use of forks as well. She did not get involved with English politics but closely followed developments in Portugal. In 1665, she started building a religious house east of St. James which was completed in 1667 and became known as The Friary." 

In general words, we understand that, although she failed in what was expected concerning the main role of a consort -which was providing a male heir to the king- she nonetheless was wise by holding the crown in times her position as queen was constantly defied by the mistresses of her husband and to what extent did her Portuguese habits and her own piety contributed to be an easy target to Protestants courtiers.

After Charles's death in 1685, James Stuart became King James II of England and VII of Scotland. With him, Catherine held the prestigious position of Queen Dowager, and kept good relations with him. She also witnessed the Glorious Revolution, where her niece through marriage, Mary, deposed her father James alongside her husband William of Orange. They would reign jointly as Queen Mary II and King William III. The relations Catherine of Braganza held with them were respectfully, but some odd involving money and other religious misunderstandings leaded her to return to Portugal, as we see next:

"Catherine's current chamberlain worked closely with the now dowager-queen. He took the blame for Catherine's actions when Mary II found out that Catherine forbade the chapels of Somerset House to say prayers for King William. William once tried to get Catherine out of Somerset House, but Catherine reminded him she was protected with certain rights. It took Queen Mary to talk through things with Catherine. Finally it was agreed upon that it would be best if she returned to Portugal."

Whether these events actually happened or were merely misunderstandings is beyond of us to figure them out, but the idea that Mary disliked her aunt Catherine can at least be put aside. It must be remembered that even though this is the end of 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, the Protestant Reformation that ecloded almost 200 years earlier still had its effects. Tensions between Protestantism and Catholicism still happened, and the English people would difficultly accept a monarch of the latter religion.

Perhaps the reason they tolerated Catherine, or at least embraced her as Queen, unlike what had happened to her predecessor, is possibly explained by the fact she lacked heirs and the possibility of educating them to Catholicism. So if there was a main reason that could be pointed to Catherine's return to her homeland is this one.

But even still, when she did so, she returned as a wealthy widow and held regency in Portugal on the behalf of her brother and then her nephew. When this latter's mother died, it was Catherine who helped him to get out of depression and acted as mothern figure. Furthermore, she:

"(....) ruled over military campaigns and was highly effective in running the country. She was to govern to great acclaim until her death on December 31, 1705. She is buried in the Royal Pantheon of the Braganza Dynasty and her name is highly respected to this day in Portugal."

Biography:

http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/behind-the-scenes/blog/very-royal-wedding-charles-ii-and-catherine-braganza

http://loyaltybindsme.blogspot.com.br/2012/07/did-charles-ii-love-catherine-of.html

http://herstoryline.com/2014/09/23/keeping-up-appearances-catherine-of-braganza-charles-iis-underestimated-wife/

http://stuarts-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/royal-marriage.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Braganza

http://www.marryingcultures.eu/research/catherine-braganza

http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/queen_of_reg/catherine.html

https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2012/08/30/catherine-of-braganza-queen-of-england/

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/11/nyregion/here-s-to-queen-catherine-who-gave-queens-a-name.html

http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart_29.html

Philippe IV Capet: The Iron King of France (1268-1314)

Philippe IV of France, from the Capetian Dynasty, is not only known as le Bel (in English: the handsome) for his good-looking features, but as well as le Roi de Fer (English: the iron king) for his harsh measures that marked his reign, as was the case of the burning of the Knights of Templar and the conflits with the Pope. In order to understand him, both as person and as monarch, we bring to this blog his royal figure, with special considerations that he was, above all, a medieval man.

The grandson of St Louis IX of France, Philippe of Capet was born in Fontainebleau as the second son of his father Philippe III and his first wife, Isabella of Aragon. At the age of three, his mother died and a few years later, when he was six, his father was remarried to a woman named Marie de Brabant, whom apparently preferred the company of her own children (one of them, Margaret, later married as the second consort, though never crowned, of King Edward I of England) than of her step children. Louis, Philippe's older brother, then died, thus making him presumptive heir to the French crown. It was rumoured that Marie had taken part on the death of Louis, perhaps poisoning him herself, but this was never confirmed. 

In general, Philippe had had little contact with his father, though in his youth, around the age of 15, 16, he followed his father in his campaign against the region of Aragon. What we know is that he was tutored by Guillaume d'Ercuis, a man of his father's trust. And at the age of 17, when Philippe III died in his 40's, Philippe rises as Philippe IV of France.

Soon he earned the nickname of 'Le Bel' because he was a blond king with blue eyes, but what we know of his personality can be measured by the harsh attitudes that could have marked him as tyrant by some historians. It is with some reason that, as previously said, Philippe was also known as the iron king of France.

On this blog, we intend to approach two of the most important aspects that marked his reign: the fall of the Templars and the friction with the Catholic Church. In the Middle Ages, it is important to remember that religion is what makes society work, so naturally it is an element that is connected with others such as politics. All this to say that these aspects mentioned are connected and, more indirectly, to the war against England, France's traditional enemy.

In truth, let's start with this incident between the two countries. Edward Plantagenet, as duke of Aquitaine, was a vassal of the king of France. It is apparent that he has been summoning the king of England and this was never present to attend the ceremony as the vassal he was. Relations of vassals and overlords marked those medieval days and, as we can see, Philippe IV took them very seriously. What happened next was what turned into quite some diplomatic incident: Edward sent English ambassadors and his own brother, Edmund, to ease the situation, but the men were sent away rudely as Philippe said he was not summoning Edward as king, but as vassals. Complications increased as the disputes amongst the lands followed, and, despite the promises of delivering the English lands in return to French possessions, Philippe actually managed to fool Edward. War was, then, a result of this, and it was not until a marriage between Isabella, Philippe's daughter, to Edward's son and heir, future Edward II, that the peace treaty was sealed.

As a consequence of this long war against England, economy fell and custs worsened. Not to mention the bad habit of Philippe in spending money, although it should be said that Philippe had already inherited the debits of his father. So he turned his attentions straight to the powerful Church, in hopes to get the money he needed, and that is precisely how we connect this struggle with the papacy to the fall of Templars. And all started with the prison of his long-time enemy, the bishop of Pamiers, as we can see next:

"In 1301, Philip arrested Bernard Saisset,, the bishop of Pamiers. Although the principal charges against the biship involved treason, Saisset was also accused of being a manifest heretic. He had spoken, so it was charged, against the sacrament of penance and mantained that fornication committed by people in holy orders was not a sin. He had also asserted that Pope Boniface VIII had acted against truth and justice in canonisign Philip's grandfather, Louis IX, who was residing in Hell."

Another bishop, Guichard of Troyes, was arrested, under the accusation of "using black magic to bring about the death of Philip's wife, Queen Jeanne, in 1305." Apparently, the man had "conjured up the Devil" and was a heretic who committed murdering and sodomite, amongst of being "the son of an incubus that impregnated his mother." 

All these imprisonments came after the decision of taxing the Church, which would spark the tensions between the Pope and the French Crown. Specially because:

"(...) he saw this as a break from tradition. The Church had never subjected to taxes from kings before. He also viewed taxation as a challenge to the power of the church. Pope Boniface considered the Christian Church to be the supreme authority on Earth. Pope Boniface believed that by taxing the Church, King Philip was saying that he was more powerful than the Church. Pope Boniface issued an official ruling, known as a papa bull, called Clericis laicos, which said that governments could not tax the church or church officials without prior approval from the Pope. He compared the taxes to an attempt to enslave the church. He also threatened that any king, emperor, feudal lord, or anyone else who tried to tax the church would be subjected to excommunication."

The king in return:

"(...) had the papal bull burned. Boniface then issued another bull called Unam sanctam in which he proclaimed that popes were the supreme authority on earth and that kings were obligated to follow the orders of the pope. He then excommunicated Philip. King Philip sent an army led by Guillaume de Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna, which surprised Pope Boniface at his vacation home in Anagni. Boniface was beaten and briefly imprisoned. He died soon after he was released."

With the death of Boniface, Clement V rose to the papacy and, as pro-French, he even moved to Avignon, in a crisis that would be perpetuated for a while. And even though he favoured the French interests, Clement V did not escape the tensions between the Catholic Church and the Iron Crown of France. To the point that they involved the Templars, as we notice, especially because of the depts of Philippe IV. Seeking a way to have not only the french monarchy strenghtened and independent of papacy, but also from the dependency of the powerful order, he:

"(...) arrested en masse in October 1307, (...) accused of denying Christ and spitting on his image during their reception into the order. (...) The order was dissolved in 1312 by Pope Clement V while its grand master went to the stake in 1314."

But, to be seen as the leader of Christendom, Philippe would play with the medieval mentality of those days, which was marked by the recently defined notion of supernatural, a consequence of the religious thought of then. After all, as an unged monarch, how could he be deceived? The King of France would not lie to his subjects, regardless how unpopular his economic measures could have been in the past. So what we can say is that:

"By making the charges religious in nature, Phillip would be seen not as an avaricious thief, but as a noble servant of God. For (...) most of the arrested Templars subsequently recanted their confessions and proclaimed to Church officials that their statements were made under the pain of torture and threat of death. To intimidate the remaining Templars, Phillip ordered 54 of the knights to be burned at the stake in 1310, for the sin of recanting their confessions."

According to Bernard Délicieux, a Franciscan, the king "was useless to his subjects, less a king than a pig who wanted nothing else than to be always with his wife." Earlier in his reign, Philippe was seen as both from his supporters and enemies as cold. His rival, the already mentioned bishop of Pamiers, compared the french monarch to a statue.  And yet, it must be remembered that, years before this event involving the Templars, a result of the economic crisis which, in turn, was a consequence of the war against England, the Jews and the Lombars were expelled from the realm, in hopes to acquire their profit in order to save the French debt. 

So what can be observed of Philippe IV's reign? He was, indeed, a tyrannical king, one who used religion to alienate his subjects in order to have his goals achieved. Philippe was a strong king in every manner, seemed to have been, although corrupt, a dutiful and conscious monarch. But, behind all of these measures, the construction to solidify his power is, in fact, the great curtain he used to encover the weakness left by his predecessors. In other words, we can observe that:

"His reign was a balancing act amidst a host of other power actors: great lords, churchmen, town governments, village communities, and his own nascent bureaucracy. The actual business of governing was messy and carried on in the face of obstructionism, foot-dragging, and endless petty and sometimes not so petty, challenges." 

It is no wonder then to see how easily Tywin Lannister, the head of the House of Lannister on the tv show "Game of Thrones", based on the homonimous series of books, was inspired in the figure of this Capetian monarch. Both men were dutiful, and yet corrupt: to strenghten their power, they had nothing to stand on their way, gold being the cause of all the iron hand they commanded their armies and governments. The love Tywin Lannister had for his late wife, Joanna, can arguably compared to the one Philippe felt for his Joanne, if we take what the Franciscan Bernard Délicieux said, of never leaving the company of his wife. There are, indeed, many parallels between these men, which can make Philippe, for better or worse, an interesting historical character behind the power. His sudden death was believed to be a punishment from God after the burning of the Templars. Whether this is true or not, what we might never know is what really caused his death. Philippe left three sons, all of those kings, but who left no descendancy. In turn, those of his brother, Charles, would inaugurate the beginning of the rule of a new house, the House of Valois, in France.

In general view,  we can end this post with a view of the reign of Philippe Capet:

"as J.R. Strayer has put it, Philip was a sort of 'constitutional' king who tried to conform to the traditions of the French monarchy and the practices of the French government. As far as possible, he governed the realm through a well-established system of courts and admnistrative officials. He always asked the advice of responsible men: he was influenced by that advice in working out the details of his general policy. He tried to stay at least within the letter of the law; he tried to observe the customs of the kingdom. When he had to beyond established custom he always sought to justify his action and to obtain the consent of those who were affected."

Bibliography:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_IV_of_France

http://blog.templarhistory.com/2010/03/philip-iv-1268-1314/

http://www.dummies.com/education/politics-government/king-phillip-iv-pope-clement-v-and-the-fall-of-the-knights-templar-part-ii/

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_Brabant,_Queen_of_France