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England podcast hello and welcome to the queens of england podcast episode 16 margaret of

france the not so evil stepmother Margaret was born in 1779 to King Philip III of France, also known as Philip the

Bold, and his wife Maria of Brabant. She was Philip's youngest child, the final of seven

children who made it out of infancy, though three of them, including Philip's future successor,

who was also called Philip, were children of his first wife, Isabella of Aragon. Philip, you may

remember, they come to the throne in 1270 after the death of his father, Louis X, during the Eighth,

crusade. Though he was called the Bold, this was more a death of his father, Louis 9th, during the Eighth Crusade. Though he was

called The Bold, this was more a description of his prowess with the sword rather than his

character in politics or in life, where really he was a rather cautious man. His life was

rather dominated by his mother, Margaret of Provence, who you may remember as being Eleanor of

Provence's elder sister, and if you think that

Eleanor was a headstrong and ambitious woman, she has nothing on Margaret. When she was six, her father

died of dysentery while campaigning in Spain, because, you know, it's the Middle Ages, and everyone

dies of dysentery when they go to war. And so the throne was passed to her brother, Philip

IV, who is also known as Philip the Fair,

one of the most influential kings in French history. Philip's goal on the throne was to modernise

the royal administration and also to kick the English out of France, and with that in mind,

in 1296 he invaded Gascony. Gascony was the southern part of England's only major

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