The French Succession

The French succession

he mother of King Edward III was Isabella of France. From 1314 until 1328 her three brothers, Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV, ruled France successively. When Louis X died in 1316 he did so leaving a pregnant wife, Clemence of Hungary. Their child was a boy named John but he only lived for five days. John reigned as King of France as soon as he was born and until his death, being the only French king to do so. After John's death the French throne was claimed by his uncle Philip who reigned as Philip V. France had adopted Salic law that stated a woman could not inherit the throne. For the French this was important to maintain their independence as a queen could potentially marry a king of another country and lose that independence. This meant that when Philip V died in 1322 the French throne did not pass to his daughter, but to his brother Charles IV and when Charles died in 1328 it passed to his Philip VI.

In England at this time Edward III was too young to rule and the country was being governed by his mother Isabella and Roger Mortimer. Being the sister of Charles IV, Isabella could have claimed the French throne on behalf of Edward, but instead, Mortimer sent Edward to France to due homage to Philip VI for his French possessions.

After the fall of Roger Mortimer, Edward became his own master. He once again visited France and a treaty was agreed with Philip that reversed the previous agreements of homage for the English possessions.