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Philip III, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip III (Philip the Bold), 1245–85, king of France (1270–85), son and successor of King Louis IX. He secured peaceful possession of Poitou, Auvergne, and Toulouse by a small cession (1279) to E...

Philip IV, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip IV (Philip the Fair), 1268–1314, king of France (1285–1314), son and successor of Philip III. The policies of his reign greatly strengthened the French monarchy and increased the royal reve...

Philip V, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip V (Philip the Tall), c.1294–1322, king of France (1317–22), son of King Philip IV. He became regent in 1316 on the death of his brother Louis X, who was survived by his pregnant wife and in...

Philip VI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip VI, 1293–1350, king of France (1328–50), son of Charles of Valois and grandson of King Philip III. He succeeded his cousin Charles IV, invoking the Salic law to set aside both Charles's dau...

Pas-de-Calais, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Pas-de-Calais pä-də-kälāˈ [key], department (1990 pop. 1,435,000), N France, on the Strait of Dover. Arras is the capital. ...

Saar, river, France and Germany

(Encyclopedia)Saar zär [key], Fr. Sarre, river, c.150 mi (240 km) long, rising in the Vosges Mts., NE France, and flowing N past Sarrebourg and Sarreguemines. It enters Saarland, W Germany, and continues NW past S...

Robert II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Robert II (Robert the Pious), 970–1031, king of France (996–1031); son of Hugh Capet, with whom he was joint king after 987. Distinguished for his piety and learning, he also sought to strengthen ...

Rhône, river, Switzerland and France

(Encyclopedia)Rhône, Lat. Rhodanus, river, 505 mi (813 km) long, rising in the Rhône glacier, NE Valais, Switzerland. It flows west through a narrow, flat valley that separates the Bernese Alps from the Pennine A...

Oise, river, Belgium and France

(Encyclopedia)Oise, river, 186 mi (299 km) long, rising in the Ardennes Mts., S Belgium, and flowing through N France generally SW past Compiègne to join the Seine River near Pontoise. Navigable for most of its le...

Valois, royal house of France

(Encyclopedia)Valois välwäˈ [key], royal house of France that ruled from 1328 to 1589. At the death of Charles IV, the last of the direct Capetians, the Valois dynasty came to the throne in the person of Philip ...