He was succeeded by his son Louis X. surnamed Hu ten, who was scarcely seated on his throne when he or dered his prime minister Marigny to be executed, tinder the pretence of his being guilty of magic, but, in reality, that he might gain possession of his wealth. Louis, how ever, being improvident, soon spent the money lie had thus unjustly acquired ;_ and he was obliged, to satisfy his wants, to extort money from the nobility ; to levy a tenth from the clergy ; to sell their liberty to the slaves who belonged to the royal domains ; and even to compel such of them to be free as wished to continue slaves. Thus the king's avarice, or prodigality, benefited his subjects. It is re markable that the edict of enfranchisement, dated 3d July 1315, declares that every person is born free by nature. The following year this monarch died, in consequence it is said of having taken ice when he was warm : it is sus pected, however, that he was poisoned.
He was succeeded by his brother Philip V. surnamed the Long, on account of his remarkable stature. It was on oc casion of this succession that the Salic law was recognised and enforced by the states of the kingdom ; for Louis hav ing left one daughter by his wife Margaret of Burgundy, the Duke of Burgundy wished to support the claims of his niece : the states, however, having been assembled, ex cluded her, and declared all females for ever incapable of succeeding to the throne of France. This reign presents no foreign affairs of any moment ; but it may be noticed, that during it the Jews were banished, being suspected, or rather accused (for it is probable that they were not even suspected, much less proved guilty) of having poisoned the wells and fountains, at the instigation of the kings of Tunis and Grenada. Philip excluded the bishops from the parliament, where they had possessed too great authority. He also obliged the burghers to deposit their arms in the arsenals, whence they were not permitted to take them, except in case of war. Ile likewise appointed their offi cers, and established a numerous militia. In another en terprise he was not successful; for he in vain attempted to establish, over all his kingdom, the same denominations of money, weights, and measures. In the midst of these pro jects he died, A. D. 1322.
He was succeeded by his brother Charles IV. surnamed the Fair. This prince, immediately on his accession, turn ed his attention to the finances, in the management of which there were many abuses. At this the Italians in every part of Europe had the almost entire management of money concerns ; and Charles, having discovered that they were guilty of extortion, as well as dishonest, confis cated their property, and put some of them to death. Dur
ing this reign, a short war took place between France and England, respecting a castle which Edward II. pretended belonged to him : but, in 1326, Edward III. having suc ceeded to the throne of England, peace was concluded be tween the two monarchs. Charles the Fair died in 1328, ieaving the kingdom loaded with debts. He was the last of three brothers, successors of Philip the Fair, all of whom died in a short space of time.
Charles left only one child, a daughter, who of course could not succeed him ; but as his queen was pregnant at the time of his death, Philip de Valois, the next male heir. was appointed regent ; and, on a daughter being born, was unanimously placed on the throne of France. Though his title was indisputable, yet Edward III. of England put in his claim ; and this gave rise to the most memorable events in the history both of England and France, for upwards of a century. As these, however, have been noticed in the History of ENGLAND, they shall be but very briefly narra ted here. As the contest for the throne of France was one of very great importance, and likely to he long and arduous, both the competitors endeavoured to strengthen themselves by alliances. In 1346, Edward invaded France with an army of 30,000 men, and Philip advanced to meet him at the head of 100,000. On the 26th of August, in that year, the famous battle of Cressy was fought, in which the French were defeated with great slaughter. In 1347, Ed ward took Calais ; and in the following year, he returned in triumph to England, having concluded a truce with France. In the midst of his misfortunes, Philip had the satisfaction of seeing Dauphiuy annexed to the crown of France, the last Count of that province dying without issue ; having ceded his territories to the crown of France, on the condi tion that the eldest son of the French monarch should as sume the name of Dauphin. Philip died in 1350, at the age of 57, worn out with distress and anxiety. During his reign, a change took place in the constitution of Lie parlia ment, by the incorporation of the counsellors named jureurs, who had formerly been taken exclusively Flo n the no blesse, and the counsellors named rannorteur.s., wAo had been taken from the class of citizens. It ‘N as also in this reign that the famous tax on salt, the gabelle, was imposed, or rather established and augmented.