• Born: 1 May 1245, Poissy, Yvelines, France
• Married (1): 28 May 1262, Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-De-Dome, France
• Married (2): 21 Aug 1274, Vincennes, Val-De-Marne, Paris, Ile-de-France
• Died: 5 Oct 1285, Perpignan, Pyrenees-Orientales, France

  Research Notes:

The Brevis Chronicon of Saint-Denis records the birth "in festo apostolorum Philippi et Jacobi" in 1245 of "Philippus filius Ludovici regis". The Chronique de Guillaume de Nangis records the birth in 1245 "le premier mai, à la fête des apôtres Jacques et Philippe" of Philippe, son of Louis IX King of France. The Speculum historiali of Vincent de Beauvais records the birth in 1243 of "Ludovicus filiorum...Ludovici regis Franciæ primogenitus" and the birth "anno sequenti" of "ei secundus filius...Philippus".

Heir to the throne 1260 on the death of his older brother. He succeeded his father in 1270 as PHILIPPE III "le Hardi" King of France. He was consecrated at Notre-Dame de Reims 15 Aug 1271. He succeeded his uncle in Toulouse 1271. He was a candidate for the imperial throne in 1273. King Philippe III invaded Aragon in early 1285 and briefly captured Girona 7 Sep 1285. The testament of "Philippes…Roy de France" is dated Dec 1285 and makes a bequest to "Blanche nostre suer", and also names "la Reine Isabelle jadis nostre demme".

The Chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis records the death in 1285 "apud Perpeigniacum" of "Philippus...rex Franciæ", the burial of his flesh and intestines "apud Narbonam in majori ecclesia" and the burial of his heart "fratres Prædicatores Parisius...in sua...ecclesia". The necrology of the Leprosery at Sens records the death "VI Non Oct" of "Phylippus filius Ludovicus regi Francorum" at the castle of "Paripagniaus". ¹

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BIOGRAPHY ²

Philip III, byname Philip the Bold, French Philippe le Hardi... king of France (1270–85), in whose reign the power of the monarchy was enlarged and the royal domain extended, though his foreign policy and military ventures were largely unsuccessful....

Philip continued his father’s highly successful administration by keeping in office his able and experienced household clerks. Mathieu de Vendôme, abbot of Saint-Denis, whom Louis IX had left as regent in France, remained in control of the government. The death in 1271 of Alphonse of Poitiers and his wife, heiress of Toulouse, enabled Philip early in his reign to annex their vast holdings to the royal demesne. Nevertheless, in 1279 he was obliged to cede the county of Agenais to Edward I of England. The marriage in 1284 of Philip’s son, the future Philip IV, to Joan, the heiress of the crown of Navarre and the countships of Champagne and Brie, brought these important areas also under Capetian control. In addition Philip over the years made numerous small territorial acquisitions.

Philip was less successful militarily. In 1276 he declared war to support the claims of his nephews as heirs in Castile but soon abandoned the venture. In 1284, at the instigation of Pope Martin IV, Philip launched a campaign against Peter III of Aragon, as part of the War of the Sicilian Vespers, in which the Aragonese opposed the Angevin rulers of Sicily. Philip crossed the Pyrenees with his army in May 1285, but the atrocities perpetrated by his forces provoked a guerrilla uprising. After a meaningless victory at Gerona and the destruction of his fleet at Las Hormigas, Philip was forced to retreat. He died of fever on the way home.