Association de Sauvegarde du

CHATEAU DE GAVRAY

Normandy and the successors of Saint Louis 1270 - 1314

The beginning of this period was marked by a slowdown in economic growth. The first signs of the crisis appeared at the beginning of the fourteenth century. A novelty was that the royal resources became insufficient, hence an increase in the tax burden. Normandy, which already contributed heavily to the royal budget, was heavily solicited, leading to discontent and revolt.

1270 – On August 25, Louis IX dies of plague or dysentery under the walls of Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philippe, son of Louis IX and Marguerite de Provence, succeeded him at the age of 15, under the name of Philip III, known as the Bold.
1272 – On 16 November, Henry III dies, succeeded by his son Edward I and pays homage to Philip III.
1278 – The inhabitants  of Caen take advantage of a visit by the king to show their dissatisfaction with the increase in taxes. They were condemned by the Parliament of Paris to pay a fine to the king.
1280 - The Normans are very attached to their privileges, they consider that, since Saint Louis, the king and his representatives have tended to question them in the areas of taxation and justice. The irregularity of the meetings of the Exchequer, a superior and highly political tribunal, did not allow for speedy justice, especially since the lack of knowledge of judges from outside the province of local customs led to frequent additional investigations, slowing down the procedure, while the application of the  "edict" could already take several years. In addition, from then on, the judgments of the Exchequer could be appealed to the Parliament of Paris, causing the Norman court to lose its status as a supreme court and the province its judicial autonomy. On the financial front, advances in royal taxation made it virtually lose its power of control over the collection of taxes.
1282 – Preparations begin for the Aragon campaign, foreshadowing a new Franco-English confrontation.
1283 – Philip III demands a new tax on the people of Rouen. Arguing their privileges, they refused. The king's representatives did not hesitate to imprison the mayor, Thomas Naguet, and several of the most prominent burghers. Rouen paid the price, but discontent grew among the population.
Philippe does not really care about his "beautiful province", busy as he is to war, successfully, in the south of France.
  Coronation of Philip III
 

1285 – On October 5, Philip, son of Philip III and Isabella of Aragon, at the age of 29 succeeds his father, under the name of Philip IV called the Fair.From the beginning of his reign, relations between the kingdoms of France and England deteriorate. The Normans played an important role in the outbreak of hostilities. Their attitude was ambiguous, and merchants continued to trade actively with the ports across the Channel. In competition with the Bayonnais on the traffic of Gascony wine, they had a real fleet that could conduct operations at sea on behalf of the King of France with or without his consent. 
1286 – On 5 June, Edward I pays homage to Philip IV the Fair.
1289 – Philip the Fair expels Jews from Poitou who refused to convert to Catholicism, requiring them to wear distinctive signs on their clothing. At the time, Judaism occupied an important place in Normandy. There are many "streets of the Jews" in many cities: Granville, Coutances, Lisieux, Pont-Audemer, Fécamp, Bernay.
1290 – First currency devaluation.
1292 – A veritable naval war takes place between the Normans and the Bayonne people off the coast of Pointe Saint Mathieu (northern Finistère). The Normans had to make amends and swore to keep the peace of the seas. As soon as they left port, eighty Norman ships sank many Bayonne ships, and Philip the Fair officially condemned this intervention.
1293 - In the spring, the Normans do it again, sending many English ships to the bottom. Edward I, King of England, mobilized the fleet of the "Cinque Ports" which surprised the Normans on their return and this time won the battle.
1294 – On 19 May, Philip the Fair confiscates his fief of Guyenne from Edward I, the war officially begins, lasting four years from 1294 to 1298.
1295 – New devaluation and currency crisis.
1297 –  Beginning of the War of Flanders, which lasted eight years from 1297 to 1305.Si the land operations of these two wars, in which the Norman vassals participated, spared Normandy, which contributed to a large part of their financing.  Indeed, at the beginning of the war the kingdom's coffers were empty, Philip the Fair used all possible means to fill them. Forced borrowing from burghers, prelates and officers, confiscation of the property of the Lombards and Jews, currency devaluation, decimations on the clergy (with the consent of the pope in 1295), introduction of new taxes. The Normans contributed to the new taxes while continuing to pay the old ones.
1305 – On June 23, the Treaty of Athis ends the War of Flanders, the Flemish are defeated.    The fiscal noose is loosening ever so slightly, but the king still needs money.
1306 – Philip the Fair issues an edict confiscating their property and expelling about 100,000 Jews.
1307 – On Friday, October 13,  the Knights Templar are imprisoned and tortured to gain acceptance of the heresy of their order. In fact, Philip couldn't stand the fact that an elite army of religious knights was so wealthy and dependent on the pope on French soil.
1309 – Further currency devaluation.
1314 – Jacques de Molay, Master of the Order, is burned at the stake in Paris after being declared a "relapse" for retracting his confession extracted under torture.
Statue of Philippe Le Bel in Saint Denis  

1314 – In April, Isabella of France, daughter of Philip the Fair and Queen of England, denounces to Philip her three daughters-in-law who were two sisters and their cousin: Margaret of Burgundy, wife of Louis of France and Navarre, future Louis X, Blanche of Burgundy, wife of Charles future Charles IV the Fair and Joan of Burgundy,  wife of the future Philip V the Long in what became known as the state scandal of the Tour de Nesle. Marguerite and Blanche were accused of having cheated on their husbands with the brothers Philippe and Gauthier d'Aunay, both knights of the royal mansion with Jeanne's indulgence. An investigation was launched and the two brothers confessed, under torture, to having adulterous relations with two of the king's daughters-in-law. The two lovers were tried and convicted of the crime of lèse-majesté. They are executed on the spot in a public square, skinned alive, their genitals cut off and given to the dogs, finally beheaded, their bodies dragged and hung by the armpits on the gallows. Such cruelty is the consequence of the affront to the royal family and the attack on the institutions of the kingdom. Indeed, what could be the legitimacy and authority of a sovereign whose royal paternity can be questioned? The punishment reserved for Margaret and Blanche of Burgundy was exemplary. Marguerite was sentenced to be shorn and taken in a cart covered with black sheets to Château-Gaillard where she died in 1315. She was first imprisoned for seven years, including for a short time in the Château de Gavray, then obtained permission to take the veil. She became queen of France in prison on February 21, 1322 before her marriage was annulled on May 19 by Pope John XXII. Supported by her mother Mahaut d'Artois, she reconciled with her husband who became Philip V the Long and became Queen of France in 1317. 
On 29 November, Philip IV the Fair died after falling from his horse. Under his reign, the kingdom of France reached the height of its medieval power, it was the most populous country in Christendom with thirteen million inhabitants and experienced great economic prosperity. However, several trials and scandals, both private and political, surrounded Philippe with a dubious aura. An enigmatic king, is he the instigator of royal policy or an indecisive king led by his advisers and ministers? Under his rule, France abandoned its feudal traditions to become a state with a modern administration. However, the centralization of the monarchy displeased the great lords, new taxes set the bourgeois against the government, and the peasants, burdened with various taxes, revolted.
1314 – On November 29, Louis, aged 25, son of Philip IV and Joan of Navarre, becomes Louis X known as the Hutin. He had already been King of Navarre since 4 April 1305, when he succeeded his mother Joan of Navarre.
 
  Philip IV the Fair surrounded by his heirs and legal experts
 

1315 – To appease the periodic revolts of the Normans, Louis X le Hutin recognizes the specificity of Normandy by conferring certain rights and privileges by an act called "the charter to the Normans". This charter, signed by him, was enacted in two parts: on 19 March 1315 at Vincennes, it contained fourteen articles, and in July 1315 at Crécy, it contained twenty-four articles.
1316 – On June 5, Louis X le Hutin dies.
On 14 November, John I the Posthumous was born, son of Louis X and Clemence of Hungary, he died 5 days later on 19 November.
On 19 November, Philip, the second son of Philip IV and Joan of Navarre, aged 23, succeeded him as Philip V, known as the Long.
1322 – On January 3rd, Philip V of the Long, suffering from dysentery and fever, dies. Charles, the 28-year-old son of Philip IV and Joan of Navarre, succeeded his brother as Charles IV, known as the Fair.
1328 – On February 1, Charles IV the Fair dies of illness. Philippe de Valois, son of a younger brother of Philip the Fair, succeeded him at the age of 34 under the name of Philip VI.The notorious infidelity of Margaret of Burgundy, the ex-wife of Louis X the Hutin, raised the risk of putting a bastard on the throne, his daughter Jeanne, who had become Queen of Navarre. At the conclusion of long discussions, the barons agreed to use the "Salic law" which excluded women from the inheritance of the lands, and therefore from the throne of France. Christ called to the rescue is said to have declared that "women cannot accede to the throne of France". An assembly of barons, from among the principal lords, chose the 34-year-old Philip of Valois, the son of a younger brother of Philip the Fair. A fat man, no longer very young, not gifted for weapons, Henry III of England took the opportunity to claim the throne of France which was rightfully his, according to him, through his mother Isabella of France, daughter of Philip the Fair.
1331 – In April, Henry III pays homage to Philip VI.
Granting of the charter to the Normans  

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