The Tour de Nesle affair was a scandal amongst the French royal family
in 1314, during which Margaret, Blanche, and Joan, the
daughters-in-law of King Philip IV, were accused of adultery. The
accusations were apparently started by Philip's daughter, Isabella.
The Tour de Nesle was a tower in Paris where much of the adultery was
said to have occurred. The scandal led to torture, executions and
imprisonments for the princesses' lovers and the imprisonment of the
princesses, with lasting consequences for the final years of the House
of Capet.The royal scandal occurred at the end of the difficult reign
of Philip IV, known as "le Bel" (the Fair) because of his good looks.
Philip IV was a strangely unemotional man. The contemporary bishop of
Pamiers described him as "neither a man nor a beast, but a statue";
modern historians have noted that he "cultivated a reputation for
Christian kingship and showed few weaknesses of the flesh." Throughout
his reign, Philip had attempted to build up the authority and prestige
of the French crown, raising fresh revenues, creating new institutions
of government, engaging in wars against his rivals, and on occasion
challenging the authority of the Church. Just before the crisis broke,
Philip had been engaged in the liquidation of the order of the Knights
Templar in France. By 1314, however, he was financially overstretched
and in an increasingly difficult domestic political situation, and
some have suggested that his weakened position contributed to the
subsequent royal crisis.The royal scandal occurred at the end of the
difficult reign of Philip IV, known as "le Bel" (the Fair) because of
his good looks. Philip IV was a strangely unemotional man. The
contemporary bishop of Pamiers described him as "neither a man nor a
beast, but a statue"; modern historians have noted that he "cultivated
a reputation for Christian kingship and showed few weaknesses of the
flesh." Throughout his reign, Philip had attempted to build up the
authority and prestige of the French crown, raising fresh revenues,
creating new institutions of government, engaging in wars against his
rivals, and on occasion challenging the authority of the Church. Just
before the crisis broke, Philip had been engaged in the liquidation of
the order of the Knights Templar in France. By 1314, however, he was
financially overstretched and in an increasingly difficult domestic
political situation, and some have suggested that his weakened
position contributed to the subsequent royal crisis.Philip IV had
three sons, Louis, Philip and Charles. As was customary for the
period, all three were married with an eye for political gain.
Initially, Philip had intended for Louis to marry Joan, the eldest
daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy, but in the end chose Margaret,
the daughter of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy, in 1305, and arranged for
his middle son Philip to marry Joan in 1307. His youngest son Charles
married Blanche, another of Otto's daughters, in 1308.The three
marriages had fared differently. Louis' is considered to have been an
unhappy match; Louis, known as "the Quarreler" and "the Headstrong",
is said to have preferred playing real tennis to spending time with
the "feisty and shapely" Margaret. Charles, a relatively conservative,
"strait-laced" and "stiff-necked" individual, had an unexceptional
marriage. Philip, in contrast, became noted for his unusual generosity
to his wife Joan; the pair had a considerable number of children in a
short space of time and Philip wrote numerous, if formulaic, love
letters to his wife over the years. Tour de Nesle affair Top Movies & Young Movies