King Philip IV, the Fair

Philip the Fourth, also called Philip the Fair and 'The Iron King' is an autocratic tyrant of the early thirteenth century. This means to say that he rules his provinces of France totally, attempting to centralize all of the civic, religious, military and economic power into his own hands.

He is the father of Queen Isabella of England (whom he married to King Edward), and father to Louis of Navarre, Phillippe and Charles (who he married to the Mahaut's daughters of Burgundy) in an attempt to solidify the differing regions of France.

Philip the Fair is deemed to be one of the handsomest men in Europe, and this fact is contrasted with his ugly style of government: that of torture and persecution. He appears to be a very self-controlled man, always choosing reason over emotion, expediency over passion. These character traits make him unapproachable...