Pope Clement VI to Philip of Alsace

Continued from previous post.

Pope Clement VI (1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352. Clement is most notable as the Pope who reigned during the time of the Black Death (1348–1350), during which he granted remission of sins to all that died of the plague. Clement continued the struggle of his predecessors with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, and excommunicated him after protracted negotiations on 13 April 1346.

Louis IV (1 April 1282, Munich – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328. Louis was elected in October 1314 upon the instigation of Peter of Aspelt, the Prince-elector and Archbishop of Mainz.

Peter of Aspelt (died 1320) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1306 to 1320, and an influential political figure of the period. He brought the archbishopric to its peak of power. Once personal physician to Rudolf of Habsburg, he became an opponent of the Habsburgs on the wider European stage.

Rudolph I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291), also known as Rudolph of Habsburg,  was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties. In 1281 he compelled Count Philip I of Savoy to cede some territory to him.


Philip I (1207, Aiguebelle, Savoie – 16 August 1285) was the count of Savoy from 1268 to 1285. Before this, he was the bishop of Valence (1241–1267), dean of Vienne (1241–1267) and archbishop of Lyon (1245–1267). While he was at first successful in extending the power of Savoy, in 1282 he was opposed by a coalition of King Rudolph I, Charles of Anjou, the dauphin, and the counts of Geneva.

Charles I (21 March 1226 – 7 January 1285), known also as Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily by conquest from 1266, though he had received it as a papal grant in 1262 and was expelled from the island in the aftermath of the Sicilian Vespers of 1282. In 1247, while Charles had gone to France to receive the Counties of Anjou and Maine, the local nobility (represented by Barral of Baux and Boniface of Castellane) joined with his mother-in-law the Dowager Countess Beatrice of Savoy and the Imperial cities of Marseille, Arles, and Avignonto to form a defensive league against him.

Barral of Baux (died 1268) was Viscount of Marseilles and Lord of Baux. Barral came to oppose the Albigensian Crusade, and invaded the Comtat Venaissin in 1234 in support of Raymond VII of Toulouse.

Raymond VII of Saint-Gilles (July 1197, Beaucaire, Gard – 27 September 1249) was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death.  During the Albigensian Crusade in May 1216, he set out from Marseille and besieged Beaucaire, which he captured on 24 August. He fought to reconquer the county of Toulouse from Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester and later Simon's son Amaury VI of Montfort.

Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester (1160 – 25 June 1218), also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade. Simon's part in the Albigensian Crusade had the full backing of his liege lord, the King of France, Philip Augustus, although historian Alistaire Horne, in his book Seven Ages of Paris states that Philippe (sic) "turned a blind eye to Simon de Montfort's brutal crusade...of which he disapproved, but readily accepted the spoils to his exchequer".

Philip II Augustus (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223) was the last King of the Franks from 1180 to 1190, and the first King of France from 1190 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip was one of the most successful medieval French monarchs in expanding the royal demesne and the influence of the monarchy. He broke up the great Angevin Empire and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He reorganized the government, bringing financial stability to the country and thus making possible a sharp increase in prosperity. His reign was popular with ordinary people because he checked the power of the nobles and passed some of it on to the growing middle class. In 1181, Philip began a war with Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders over the county of Vermandois.

Philip of Alsace (1143 – 1 August 1191) was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. His reign began in 1157, while he acted as regent and co-count for his father, Thierry, who was frequently away on crusade. Philip defeated Floris III, Count of Holland and captured him in Bruges. Floris remained in prison until 1167, at which point he was ransomed in exchange for recognition of Flemish suzerainty over Zeeland.


Continued in the next post.