Philip VI (1293-1350) of France became the first of the Valois line of French kings in 1328. An assembly of barons and church officials chose Philip, a nephew of Philip IV, after Charles IV, the last king of the Capetian dynasty, had died without leaving a male heir. During Philip’s reign, relations with England became hostile. In 1337, Philip declared he would take over Guyenne (Aquitaine), the land King Edward III of England held in France. In turn, Edward III, a grandson of Philip IV of France, claimed the French throne. These actions began the Hundred Years’ War. Philip lost several battles in the war, including an important one at Crécy in 1346. When the war ended in 1453, more than a hundred years later, the French had driven the English out of almost all of France. A plague epidemic called the Black Death devastated France in the last few years of Philip’s reign. Philip died on Aug. 22, 1350. See also Dauphin.
