Although Philip was known to be handsome, hence the epithet le Bel , his rigid, autocratic, imposing, and inflexible personality gained him from friend and foe alike other nicknames, such as the Iron King French: le Roi de fer. His fierce opponent Bernard Saisset , bishop of Pamiers , said of him: "He is neither man nor beast. He is a statue. Philip, seeking to reduce the wealth and power of the nobility and clergy , relied instead on skilful civil servants, such as Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny , to govern the kingdom.
The king, who sought an uncontested monarchy, compelled his vassals by wars and restricted their feudal privileges, paving the way for the transformation of France from a feudal country to a centralised early modern state. Princes from his house ruled in Hungary , and he tried and failed to make another relative the Holy Roman Emperor. The most notable conflicts of Philip's reign include a dispute with the English over King Edward I 's duchy in southwestern France and a war with the County of Flanders , who had rebelled against French royal authority and humiliated Philip at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in The war with the Flemish resulted in Philip's ultimate victory , after which he received a significant portion of Flemish cities, which were added to the crown lands along with a vast sum of money.
Domestically, his reign was marked by struggles with the Jews and the Knights Templar. In heavy debt to both groups, Philip saw them as a " state within the state " and a recurring threat to royal power. In Philip expelled the Jews from France, followed by the total destruction of the Knights Templar in The ensuing conflict saw the pope's residence at Anagni attacked in September by French forces with the support of the Colonna family.
Pope Boniface was captured and held hostage for several days. This eventually led to the Avignon Papacy of to His final year saw a scandal amongst the royal family, known as the Tour de Nesle affair , in which King Philip's three daughters-in-law were accused of adultery. Their rapid successive deaths without surviving sons of their own would compromise the future of the French royal house, which had until then seemed secure, precipitating a succession crisis that eventually led to the Hundred Years' War — In August , when Philip was two years old, his grandfather died while on Crusade, his father became king, and his elder brother Louis became heir apparent.
Only five months later, in January , Philip's mother died after falling from a horse; she was pregnant with her fifth child at the time and had not yet been crowned queen beside her husband. A few months later, one of Philip's younger brothers, Robert, also died. Philip's father was finally crowned king at Rheims on 15 August Six days later, he married again; Philip's stepmother was Marie, daughter of the duke of Brabant. In May , Philip's elder brother Louis died, and the eight-year-old Philip became heir apparent.
