Abroad, Philippe IV wants to release France from the disastrous affair of Aragon. Nephew of Alphonse III of Aragon, he imposed peace on him in 1291. Anxious to extend France's influence to the northeast, the king supported the rich urban patriciate of Flanders against Count Gui de Dampierre, an ally of King Edward I of England.
As early as 1286, the latter paid homage to the new King of France for his Aquitaine possessions. However, from 1296, for fishing problems, new difficulties appear. Real naval battles pit Norman sailors — Normandy is no longer English land — against their Gascon and English colleagues.
Early in 1293, Philip summons Edward to appear before him. Too busy with Scottish affairs, the king delegates his own brother to France, accepts the conditions imposed by his suzerain - the occupation of Guyenne in particular - but rebels in May when Philippe summons him again to appear. The two kingdoms prepare for war, seek allies and subsidies. In 1294,. the King of England sends a body of troops to Guyenne, occupied since the previous year by the Constable de Nesle. The conflict drags on. In 1297, the Count of Flanders Gui de Dampierre, denouncing the homage due to the King of France for his possessions, signed an alliance with Edward. After the victory of Furnes, won on August 13, 1298 by Robert d'Artois against the Flemings, followed by the capitulation of Lille, the arbitration of the pope allows the conclusion of a treaty signed in June 1298 by Edward, Philippe and the Count of Flanders. The Treaty of Montreuil sanctioned, in June 1299, the measures taken the previous year.
Edouard covers Guyenne, except Bordeaux. He will marry Marguerite, sister of Philippe, while his son, already promised to Philippine of Flanders, is engaged to Isabelle of France. The young Edward II, before marrying Isabella, came in 1304 to pay homage to the King of France. The Treaty of Montreuil thus isolated Gui de Dampierre, deprived of the support of his powerful ally. In January 1300, the count therefore went to the mercy of the king, who ordered him to reside henceforth in Compiègne. Flanders is administered by royal officers from France. At their head, a governor, Gui de Châtillon. But, on the night of May 18, 1302, the population of Bruges rose up, massacring the French garrison:these were the Matins* of Bruges. Philip IV then sent a powerful army to avenge these deaths, which was cut to pieces by the Flemish militias in Courtrai on July 11. The king, leading his army in person, took his revenge two years later, on August 10, 1304, in Mons-en-Pevèle. The war continues, however, is likely to last and, in the fall, the adversaries begin peace negotiations. The conversations ended on June 23, 1305 with the Treaty of Athissur-Orge.
Gui de Flandre having died, his son Robert de Béthune became Count of Flanders and Peer of France. The walls of the main fortified towns will have to be dismantled, a large indemnity paid, and several Flemish towns occupied, until the execution of the treaty. Overly stringent measures, opposition to France and unrest persist. The Treaty of Athis, modified however in 1309, is not applied. After the sterile conferences of Tournai, in September-October 1310, an arrangement, known as Transport of Flanders, is concluded in Pontoise. The king, who held Lille, Douai and Béthune in pledge, kept them permanently. However, the count still refuses to demolish the fortifications of his cities. A new war is preparing for the summer of 1313, the host is summoned. The Flemish problem will not be settled when the "biau roi" dies.
Philippe le Bel had more success in other matters. After 1284, the date of his marriage to Jeanne de Navarre, he administered Champagne and Navarre in the name of his wife, and bore the title of King of Navarre, Count of Champagne. Having become king of France the following year, Philippe retains, the first of our kings, the title of king of Navarre, abandons that of count of Champagne but reserves the administration of the county, completing the penetration of royalty there. P>
After the death of Jeanne de Navarre, on April 4, 1305, the eldest son of the royal couple, Louis, took the title of Count of Champagne, but Philippe kept the administration. Another vassal of the king, Henry III, count of Bar, allied to the king of England and taken prisoner in 1297 must, to obtain freedom, sign in 1301 the treaty of Bruges by which he abandons to Philippe his possessions of the left bank of the Meuse, become the moving Barrois. While Valenciennes had been placed under royal suzerainty from 1292, the castellany of Tournai, confiscated in 1313, was also attached to the domain. Further south, Lyon, where the predecessors of Philippe le Bel intervened on several occasions since the 12th century, also joined the royal suzerainty after the agreements of 1307, or philippines, and those of 1312. Other acquisitions of Philippe, the county of Chartres, ceded in 1286, the mobility of Montpellier, purchased in 1293, the seigneury of Beaugency, the rights of the sisters and heiresses of Hugues XIII of Lusignan over the counties of La Marche and Angoulême, the viscounty of Soule and Mauléon, ceded in 1306, the County of Bigorre, sequestered in 1292, and various territories dependent on the Bishop of Viviers.
On the other hand, according to custom, Philippe constitutes appanages in favor of his brothers and his sons. His brother Charles, owner of the counties of Anjou and Maine, and already endowed by his father with the county of Valois, received in 1293 the counties of Chartres, Alençon and Perche, the châtellenies of Senonches and Thimerais. Louis, son of Philippe III and Marie de Brabant, received in 1298 the county of Évreux, the seigneuries of Beaumont-le-Roger, Meulan, Étampes, Dourdan and La Ferté-Alais. Philippe, second son of the king, and future Philippe V, received in 1313 part of the county of Poitiers. Charles, future Charles IV, to whom his mother gave the county of Bigorre in 1293, received the county of La Marche as an appanage.