Philippe VI de Valois (1328-1350)

Philippe VI de Valois (1294 † 1350), King of France from 1328 to 1350, son of Charles de Valois and Marguerite de Sicile.

Philip VI acceded to the throne in May 1328 following the death of John I the Posthumous, who had neither son nor brother, and his uncles, Philip V and Charles IV, who had assumed the regency. He is preferred to Philip V the Long's grandson, Philip of Burgundy, and Philip the Fair's grandson, Edward III of England. Edward III of England also claimed to rule France, but did not recognize his sovereignty. The rivalry between Philip the Fair's two grandsons gave rise to the Hundred Years' War.

This funerary statue is realistic, the worn out face of the sovereign supreme represents the end of the difficult reign marked by war, famine and plague. The emblem of the coronation, the scepter and the hand of justice, which no longer exist, as well as the four-fleuron-crown which is said to have belonged to Charlemagne, are represented to proclaim the legitimacy of the supreme Valois Dynasty. The sculptor André Beauneveu was commissioned by Charles V, his grandson, to create this recumbent statue in 1364.

Lying recumbent Philippe VI of Valois and his son John II the Good (in the background). © Pascal Lemaître - Centre des monuments nationaux.