Philip IV of France

thumb|They should be assayed like gold in the furnace. Philip IV (French: Philippe; April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called the Fair (le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre and Count of Champagne as Philip I from 1284 to 1305. Quotes If some among them are innocent, it is expedient that they should be assayed like gold in the furnace, and purged by proper judicial examination. Royal letter opening the enquiry into the Knights Templar, c. October 1307. Peter Partner, The Knights Templar & Their Myth (Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1990 [Oxford UP, 1981]) ch. 4, p. 61 Quotes about Philip IV To his enemy, Bernard Saisset, he was neither man nor beast, but a statue, "the handsomest man in the world, but unable to do anything but stare fixedly at people without saying a word." Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 21 (11th ed. 1911) p. 381. See also: Peter Vansittart, The Lost Lands (1964) bk. 1, ch. 5, p. 33 Under his reign France was great and the French wretched. Maurice Druon, The Iron King (tr. Humphrey Hare, 1956) pr. External links Category:Monarchs from France Category:1268 births Category:1314 deaths Category:People of the Crusades