The Iron King | 6. The Curse

This episode delves into the shocking historical events surrounding King Philip IV, known as Philip the Fair, his dynasty, and the consequences of treachery within his royal family.

1. The Capetian dynasty's downfall was precipitated by internal betrayal and scandal.
2. King Philip's harsh retribution towards his sons' wives and their lovers underscored his merciless rule.
3. The episode highlights the belief in curses and prophecies prevalent during Philip's reign, influencing royal and public actions.
4. The narrative draws a connection between personal vendettas and broader historical consequences, such as the onset of the Hundred Years' War.
5. The intricate details of medieval politics and familial alliances are crucial to understanding the period's historical and social dynamics.

1. The Scandal Unfolds

The episode opens with a vivid description of the affair that rocked the French royal family, setting the stage for the subsequent scandal. "Danielle Sabelski: It's treason, and is about to bring down the wrath of King Philip the fair in the most terrifying way imaginable."

2. Royal Retribution

This chapter details King Philip's brutal response to the scandal, from public humiliation to gruesome executions. "Danielle Sabelski: Philip the fair's eyes narrow slightly as he stares down at the two condemned knights, the only concession to the cold rage burning in his heart."

3. The Curse of the Templars

As the narrative unfolds, the historical context of the Templar's curse and its supposed impact on the Capetian dynasty is explored. "Danielle Sabelski: But these men deserve a fate worse than death. For daring to put his dynasty at risk, he is here to ensure his orders are carried out to the letter."

1. Understand the power of legacy: Reflect on how personal actions can impact professional and familial legacies.
2. Manage crises effectively: In times of scandal or crisis, consider the long-term consequences of your decisions.
3. Learn from history: Use historical events as lessons to avoid repeating past mistakes in governance or personal conduct.
4. Maintain ethical integrity: Uphold high ethical standards to avoid downfall due to moral failings.
5. Value discretion: Exercise discretion and careful judgment in both personal and professional relationships.

Philip the Fair’s beloved daughter Isabella comes to his rooms in the dead of night with scandalous news: his son’s wives are having affairs. Philip reacts to this revelation with an explosion of paranoia, violence and cruelty. As The Iron King does everything he can to secure his dynasty, he sows the seeds of its ultimate downfall.

People

King Philip IV, Isabella Queen of England

Content Warnings:

Content warning for descriptions of torture and execution.

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Head to squarespace.com history ten for a free trial and when youre ready to launch, use offer code history ten history ten to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Just a warning this episode contains some extremely gory medieval deaths. Stick around after the episode to hear about what's coming next on this is history the water of the river Seine flows quietly through the dark steps from a tall round tower called the Tour de Nelle. Hidden in the shadows, a servant crouches, watching and waiting. Across the water, the windows of the palace of the Louvre glow gently, while downstream, holy relics lie sleeping in the Sainte Chapelle, the glittering gothic chapel built by Saint Louis.

Danielle Sabelski
And just beyond, past the towering spires of the cathedral of Notre Dame. The last of the knights Templar was burned only a few weeks ago. The servant shudders at the thought and crosses himself.

But tonight, instead of ash and smoke, love is in the air. At least that's what the spy is counting on.

At the base of the tower, a door creaks open.

A womans face peeks out and looks around, scanning the deserted street. The spy holds his breath, but the woman doesnt see him. Behind her, a giggle erupts and is quickly hushed.

The woman steps out, pulling a hood up to cover her hair. Its messy, with strands falling out of its jeweled hair net. Pearls flash in the moonlight as they disappear into the folds. But before her face falls into shadow, its recognizable its blanche, the wife of King Philip ires youngest son, Charles. Behind her steps a man holding a torch.

A moment later, another woman stumbles out of the doorway, wrapped around a man of her own. Her laughter is muffled but unmistakable. The servants heart beats faster as he realizes its Margaret, the wife of Louis, the heir to the throne. The flicker of torchlight reveals the faces of the two men, faces the servant knows well. They are brothers Walter and Philip d'Aunet, popular knights in the royal household.

The servant has seen them at the palace, laughing and swaggering. Blanche glances around nervously as the party makes their way down to the riverbank. She casts a quick glare back at Margaret and Walter, whose drunken whispers and laughter are loud in the night air. There is the sound of skirts rustling, the quick and playful slap of a hand. The servant edges closer as the couples reach a waiting boat piloted by Margaret's doorman.

Philip lifts his torch high as he helps Blanche into the boat, and the light catches on the gold embroidery of the costly velvet purse that hangs from his belt. The spy swallows hard. It's the purse that was given to blanche by her sister in law, Isabella, Queen of England, last year, and now her lover is wearing it. Margaret pulls away from Walter with a lingering kiss, and as she draws back his lifted arm, reveals a second purse at his waist, the twin of his brothers. Its just as beautiful, just as expensive, and just as damning.

Margaret sits down in the boat and covers her hair with her hood. With a steady pull at the oars, the doorman gently steers into the current, and Margaret blows Walter a kiss as the boat picks up speed, carrying them home to the royal husbands, the women cast a last contented look at their lovers, already anticipating their next tryst. But in the darkness, the servant slips away and begins to run. What hes just seen is not just juicy gossip, its treason, and is about to bring down the wrath of King Philip the fair in the most terrifying way imaginable, sending the 30 zero year old capetian dynasty hurtling towards extinction and touching off one of the longest conflicts in all of history.

I'm Danielle Sabelski, and from Sony Music Entertainment, this is history presents the Iron King, episode six, the curse.

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Danielle Sabelski
In the spring of 1314. Things are looking pretty good for Philip the fair. At 46, hes healthy, focused, moisturized, thriving. Hes gone head to head with the toughest men in Europe and ground them into dust, sometimes literally. Hes also got three living sons to carry on his dynasty, something not every medieval king can say for himself, even if theyre still works in progress.

In proud tradition, Philip named his first son, Louis, his second son Philip after himself, and his third son Charles. All kingly names a good start, but none of them seem to have the same knack for kingship. Hes repeatedly given Louis the gears in public for not being more like him, but it doesnt seem to take. Still, Philip has to work with what hes got, continuing his mission to collect counties more tightly under the fleur de lis, Philip has married all three of his sons to the daughters of both the count and the Duke of Burgundy. Louis has already produced one child with his wife Margaret, a two year old daughter named, of course, Joan.

But the apple of Philips Eye is his beloved daughter Isabella. At 19, Isabella is a chip off the old ice block. Shes drop dead gorgeous and a bit of a clothes horse with her fathers exquisite taste in the finer things. As Phillips only living daughter, she was literally raised as daddys little princess, with three brothers ahead of her. No one expects Isabella to become queen of France, but shes already made her father proud as the firm and capable new queen of England.

And while she isnt nearly as rigid about moral purity as Philip, that will become disastrously clear when Dan returns with season five. Young Isabella is deadly serious about preserving the dignity of the royal family and the capetian dynasty. And shes about to prove that shes very much daddys girl.

With his kids married off, England well in hand, and the tamplars just a memory, Phillip is once again top dog. The Flemings are stirring up trouble again, and the people are grumbling about the latest war tax hes collected. But really, what else is new? Hes had to hire a new fixer to handle Flanders for him since his loyal attack dog lawyer Guillaume de Nogare died. But Philip is confident that at least Nogaret is resting in peace.

Before he died, he finally got his excommunication for the popes lap lifted in exchange for a promise to just stop trying to get Pope Boniface VIII exhumed and put on trial for heresy. Lawyers. So poor Boniface finally got to rest in peace too. And Pope Clement got an absolutely massive donation from Philip shortly afterwards. Win win.

Philip considers it a bit of a shame that knghare never got to see the grandmaster of the Templar, Jacques de Molay, burning at the stake last month. But since Nogaret died before Molay. It means his death had nothing to do with the grandmasters curse that God would avenge his death, right? Never mind its April in Paris and for Philip the fair, the curse of Jacques de Molay has blown away along with his ashes. Everything is coming up Philip.

Until one night he gets an unexpected visit from his daughter Isabella. Isabella has been visiting France as a diplomat, making deals with her dear old dad for the sake of her new useless husband, Edward II. But this visit isnt political, its very, very personal. No one knows exactly how the adultery scandal now known as the affair of the Tour de Nelle actually came to light, but many historians agree that isabellas late night visit with her father probably had something to do with it. According to later chroniclers, Isabella had given her sisters in law beautiful purses on a royal visit the year before.

And when she came home months later, the eagle eyed queen had spotted those same purses on the belts of the Daunet brothers. While this is a truly delicious version of events, its more likely that somebody saw the lovers and snitched to her. Because even if we forget the fact that the first rule of re gifting is never let that gift be seen by the original giver to flaunt a royal regift in the presence of the daughter of Philip, the fair is suicidal. But maybe the Daunay brothers considered Isabella to be kinda dim like her brothers. When Isabella comes in the night with the news that not one but two of his daughters in law are heating the sheets with the Daunee brothers, Philip sees his dynastic hopes falling to pieces.

The princesses havent just broken a couple of commandments by muddying up the royal gene pool. Theyve committed high treason. Phillips reaction to the news is as close to white hot rage as hes ever gotten in his entire life. Hes so angry and so offended by the sheer audacity of the lovers that instead of burying the scandal and sending the two knights on a quiet little permanent vacation 6ft under like a normal medieval king, Philip turns the affair into a tabloid worthy national scandal.

He hauls Margaret and Blanche out of their rooms and confiscates their fine clothes and jewels. He has their heads shaved so that everyone who sees them will know theyre adulteresses. Then he tosses them in prison at Chateau Gaillard. Richard the Lionhearts mighty fortress Philip junior s wife Joan is suspected of helping the lovers but not joining them. So she gets to keep her hair, but she too is arrested and imprisoned.

Philip is a longtime believer in uncomfortable imprisonment as a way of making his enemies talk, something he did very effectively with the templars. With Margaret it works like a charm. She confesses and keeps on confessing, but if she thinks she has even the slightest chance of melting Philips heart, shes got another think coming. Blanche maintains her innocence, but it makes no difference at all. The king has already arrested the two Donnet brothers and set his torturers to work.

Never one to sit still while he waits for the brothers to confess, Philip rounds up those he suspects of helping the lovers and has them swiftly executed. At least one of them is said to have been boiled alive, but Philip is just getting warmed up.

After three days of agonizing torture, the Daunet brothers confess to everything. They reveal that the affair has been going on for more than two years, immediately casting suspicion on the paternity of Louis daughter. Margaret and Blanche are both guilty of adultery, but Jeanne, they say, had nothing to do with it. An old hand at persecution. By now, Philip moves quickly.

The moment he has the confessions, he sentences the two knights to death. And in a particularly sadistic twist, he has the men's own father read out the gruesome details of their sentence. While plantagenets like King John and Edward I have been shown to be terribly creative in their execution of traitors. What Philip has planned for the Donnet brothers will make what he did to the Tamlars look like a cakewalk.

Hes going to show the world in no uncertain terms that messing with the Capetians will make you wish you were never born.

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Danielle Sabelski
The city of Pontoise sits to the northeast of Paris, nestled against the river Oise. Outside the palace, crowds of royal servants and curious townspeople mill around a central platform in the late afternoon sun, the smell of sawdust still fresh. So far, the platform is empty of people, but in the middle sits a block, an ominous reminder of what's to come. Next to the platform, several of the kings hunting dogs pant and strain at their leashes as they sniff at the tension filling the air. On a platform of their own, the nobility of France sits in cushioned chairs, exchanging looks of discomfort.

They know they have to be here and bear witness, but they dont have to like it. Although the day is mild, many in the crowd are sweating and fidgeting with nerves. Several have decided to skip their midday meal. Is the king actually going to go through with this?

Heads turn as King Philip himself arrives. His pace is measured and deliberate as always. As he makes his way up the wooden stairs to the elaborate royal chair, nobility and peasantry alike sneak glances at him as he settles in. Surely he must be feeling something. But the legendary, handsome features of the king reveal nothing.

More than one person in the crowd is reminded of the marble statues of angels they've seen in church, and more than one person remembers that Lucifer was once an angel, too. Everyone's attention turns back to the platform as the prisoners are announced. Walter and Philippe d'Aulnet are led up the steps still bound in chains, they are ragged and bloody, their bodies revealing the three days of torture they have endured. Walter looks weary and resigned. His brother is whimpering.

Quietly, a herald reads out the charges against the two men. This very morning, they confess to adultery and treason. The herald clears a throat, suddenly dry as he reads their sentence. Walter and Philip Daunet are to be flayed alive, then castrated, their manhood thrown to the waiting dogs. Then they will be beheaded as traitors, their bodies strung up as thieves for daring to steal the honor of the king.

Philip the fair's eyes narrow slightly as he stares down at the two condemned knights, the only concession to the cold rage burning in his heart. The execution of Jacques de Molay was nearly irrelevant to Philip, the man having long since ceased to be useful. But these men deserve a fate worse than death. For daring to put his dynasty at risk, he is here to ensure his orders are carried out to the letter. He wants to hear the screams with his own ears.

When it's all over. The broken bodies of the lovers are hanged on a gallows, their heads mounted on spikes beside them and left to rot. As spring turns to summer and the story of the Daunet brothers continues to circulate across Europe, Philip congratulates himself on a job well done. His sons are less than pleased. Their father has announced, in the most gruesome and public way possible, that they have been played for fools.

Theyre a laughing stock. If they cant even control their own wives, how could any of them be expected to control an entire kingdom? And theres an additional wrinkle. With Margaret and Blanche both still alive and locked up in Chateau Gaillard, the princes cant produce more heirs or remarry. While Joan hasnt been convicted of anything, she hasnt been let out either.

So all three princes are in a sort of marital limbo. To make matters worse, the pope, Clement V, dies within days of the execution of the Dony brothers. He was never exactly the picture of health, but the timing is suspicious. Its only been a month since Clement was cursed by the grandmaster of the Templars. For the superstitious, this is definitely not a coincidence.

But for the princes of France, its a major inconvenience. Once a new pope is elected, they might be able to start annulling their marriages. But even this is a bit complicated at the moment. Philip the fair has been so busy fleeing people alive that he hasnt made much progress on putting down the renewed rebellion in Flanders, a project that hes just collected another huge tax for. And for the first time in Philips nearly 30 year reign, the nobility are starting to get dangerously annoyed.

The noble families of Champagne, Normandy and the princes in laws in Burgundy begin to form leagues to demand their money back. The rebellion is gradually gaining steam, but Philip stubbornly refuses to give in to their demands. His new fixer has been trained up by Knghre and Philips, certain that soon hell come out on top. He always does. So as the leaves begin to turn color in the autumn of 1314, Philip mounts his horse and heads out to indulge himself in his very favorite pursuit.

Well, besides persecuting people, he goes hunting.

Hunting has always appealed to Philip. Maybe its the fresh air, maybe it's the killing of innocent creatures. But hunting is Philip's happy place. As he rides, he takes a moment to count his blessings. Truly he's God's chosen one.

Not even Saint Louis had managed to successfully expel the Jews, put the pope in his place, or crush an entire military order crawling with heretics. So much for the curse of Doctor Millay, sniffs Philip. His future is bright, or so it seems, because just as he thinks this, he starts to feel a squeezing in his chest. He cant quite catch his breath. His fingers cramp on the reins.

Suddenly hes on the ground.

His guards rush him to the nearest monastery and call for Philips doctor, but they are at a loss. The king cannot speak to them. It might be his heart, it might be an elf stroke. Either way, the king needs rest. But Philip has never been sickly before and he has no intention of being sickly now.

So after a few days of rest, hes literally back in the saddle, as stubbornly stoic as ever. Days later, it becomes clearer even to him that even a king cant outrun death. Like his father, Philip is carried in a litter to his final sick bed and attended by his heir, Louis. In true Philip fashion, however, he has no tender words for this son who has always been a disappointment to him. He tells Louis to do exactly what he says, promising him his paternal blessing if he did so.

Otherwise, he called upon his said heir to face divine judgment, asking God that in that case his heir would quickly follow him. Thanks, dad. As his last act, Philip irritably agrees to return the war tax, defusing the nobles rebellion, but leaving Louis to clean up the mess. On November 29, 1314, the beautiful, ruthless, cold and untouchable iron King dies at Fontainebleau, not far from his birthplace. Hes buried at St Denis, where he had long ago shoved aside his own fathers tomb so that he could be laid to rest next to his sainted grandfather Louis IX.

According to one account, very few nobles and barons attended the burial except those of the kings household. Philips treacherous heart is buried at Poissy and one contemporary remarks on just how Grinch like it. The heart of the said king was as small as the heart of a young child who has just emerged from his mothers womb. Indeed, I understood that those who saw it compared it to the heart of some bird, maybe an owl. In an eerie coincidence made for the Internet, both Philip I and Pope Clement V die less than a year after they are cursed by the Templar grandmaster Jacques de Molay.

If the thought did cross Philips mind in his final hours, he would have comforted himself with the knowledge that the capetian dynasty was still safe in the y chromosomes of his three sons. But in his savagely enthusiastic efforts to safeguard his sacred dynasty, Philip himself seals its fate. Over the next 14 years, his sons Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV come to the throne one by one, only to die shortly afterwards in sometimes strange circumstances without producing a male heir. When Charles dies in 1328, the direct male line of Capetians, unbroken for 300 years, flickers out. It seems Jacques de Molay has had the last laugh after all.

The next male heir in Phillips direct line comes from his favourite child, Isabella, a bright young teenage boy named Edward after his father.

This Edward has just ascended to the throne of England as Edward III, thanks in no small part to the help of his capetian relatives. Through his fathers plantagenet blood, he claims the throne of England. Through his mothers he will claim the throne of France. But the French will never bow down to an english born king, no matter how much capetian blood flows in his veins. But this plantagenet grandson of Edward Longshanks is also every inch the grandson of the Iron King, Philip the Fair, and he was not born to accept defeat.

In the name of his mother and his capetian heritage, Edward III will stop at nothing in his fight to rule France, even if it takes a hundred years. That's all coming up on this is history a dynasty to die for.

This is history presents the Iron King was written and hosted by me, Danielle Cebalski. The producer is Georgia Mills. The executive producer is Louisa Field. The marketing manager is Kieran Lancini with production management from Jennifer Mistry. Mixing and sound design by Chris O'Shaughnessy.

Subscriber episodes are produced by Hannah Talbott and mixed by Matthias Torres Sole and Gulliver Tickle, with additional production by Harry Gordon.

Thanks so much for listening to this is history presents the Iron King ill be over on this is history plus with Dan to talk about Philip, the fairs final acts of terror and the strange story of why Guillaume de Nogare was trying so hard to dig up the dead pope. So do join us there. But here on the main feed, I'm handing back the reins to Dan Jones, who will be back next week to tell you all about the very exciting new season of this is history, a dynasty to die for after investing billions. To light up our network. T Mobile is America's largest 5G network.

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