Philip VI, of Valois 1293-1350
First Valois King of France

The son of Charles of Valois, younger brother of Philip IV, le Bel, he became king on the death of Charles IV (1328). His right was denied by Edward III of England, son of Philip IV's daughter, who declared that females, though excluded by the Salic Law, could transmit their rights to their children. Thus began the Hundred Years War with England in 1337. The French fleet was destroyed off Sluys (1340), and in 1346 Edward III landed in Normandy, ravaged to the environs of Paris, and defeated Philip at Cr�cy, just as the Black Death was about to spread through France.

Bibliography: Abb� de Choisy, Histoires de Philippe de Valois et du roi Jean (1688)