ONT Re: Inquiry Driven Systems
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Note 9
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| In 1328 there occurred a most significant event.
| King Charles IV of France died and left behind him
| no sons, no brothers, and no nephews. However, he
| did have a living sister, Isabella, and this Isabella
| was none other than the mother of young Edward III,
| who at that time had been on the throne for but a
| year. By English custom, Edward III would have
| inherited the French crown.
|
| The alarmed French did not, however, want an English king ruling over them.
| There was a so-called "Salic law" dating back to the days of the Frankish
| tribes who had asserted their rule over Roman Gaul, which was supposed to
| forbid the inheritance of the kingship by a female or by the descendant of
| a female. It had never been called into play, however, for this was the
| first time in French history that a king had died without either a son or
| a brother to succeed him.
|
| It was now applied and the throne passed to a first cousin of Charles IV,
| Philip of Valois. He was further removed by blood than Edward III, but
| unlike the latter, Philip traced his descent from the royal line through
| males only, and he assumed the throne as Philip VI.
|
| Edward at first recognized Philip's title, but as the quarrel between
| England and France over the Flemish trade sharpened, the English King
| decided to take a drastic step. In 1337 he declared himself rightful
| King of France (a title the British monarch retains to this day) and
| began to make preparations for an invasion of that land in order to
| make good that title by force. This began what is known in history
| as the Hundred Years' War.
|
| Asimov, 'Guide to Shakespeare', Volume 2, page 255.
|
| Issac Asimov,
|'Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare', Two Volumes in One,
|'Volume 1, The Greek, Roman, and Italian Plays',
|'Volume 2, The English Plays',
| Wings Books, New York, NY, 1970.
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