Philip V of France - Resolution of The Flanders Conflict and England

Resolution of The Flanders Conflict and England

Philip was able to achieve a successful resolution of the ongoing Flanders problem. The Count of Flanders ruled an "immensely wealthy state" which largely led an autonomous existence on the edge of the French state; the French king was generally regarded as having suzerainty over Flanders, but in recent years the relationship had become strained. Philip IV had been defeated at Courtrai in 1302 attempting to reassert French control, and despite the later French victory at the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle the relationship remained tense.

Robert III of Flanders had continued to resist France militarily, but by Philip's accession to the throne had found himself increasingly isolated politically in Flanders itself. Meanwhile, the French position had become strained by the need to maintain a wartime footing. Louis X had prohibited exports of grain and other material to Flanders in 1315, resulting in a profitable smuggling industry that in turn discouraged legal trade with the French crown along the border region; Louis was forced to directly requisition food for his forces, resulting in a string of complaints from local lords and the Church. Philip began to reinstate a proper recompensation scheme in 1317, but the situation remained unstable.

Both Philip and Robert turned away from seeking a military solution in favour of a political compromise. Accordingly Robert made an accommodation with Philip in June 1320, under which Robert would confirm his young grandson, Louis, as his designated heir, in return for Louis being pledged in marriage to Philip's second daughter, Margaret. This would provide Robert, and then Louis, with strong French support within Flanders. Louis was, to a great extent, already under Philip's influence. Louis had been brought up in Nevers in central France, and at Philip's court. and was culturally effectively a French prince. This arrangement was a considerable success for Philip's policy, although over time Louis' clear French loyalties and lack of political links within Flanders itself would lead to political upheaval and peasant revolt.

Philip also faced difficulties with Edward II of England. Like the Count of Flanders, Edward in his role as the ruler of Gascony owed homage to the king of France, but as a king in his own right, and as the head of a largely autonomous Gascon province, was disinclined to do so. Edward had not given homage to Louis X, and initially declined to do so to Philip, who had a reputation as being more favourable to the English than Louis X. In 1319 Philip allowed Edward to give homage by proxy, an honour by the standards of the day, but expected him to do so in person in 1320. Edward arrived in Amiens to do so, only to find that Philip was now insisting on Edward also giving an oath of personal fealty to him – an act going beyond that of normal feudal homage. Edward gave homage but refused to swear fealty; nonetheless, this marked a period of increased French pressure on England over Gascony.