Joseph R. Strayer (1904–1987)

1622 The Reign of Philip the Fair, by Joseph R. Strayer (read 17 Mar 1981) The author in 1973 retired as a history professor at Princeton. Much of this book is very technical history and since what I was looking for, and needed, was a detailed account of the reign of Philip the Fair, it was very boring usually. It is not that I do not appreciate technical history--but I need to have enough acquaintance with the period to appreciate the very detailed research which this book revels in. Sometimes he would say "this has been often told" but I had not heard it, or if I had heard it was so long ago I wanted to hear it again. This book really did not straight-out tell the story of the reign of Philip the Fair, but rather discussed various aspects of it. Some of it was interesting, but it simply assumed a greater acquaintance with the reign than I had. For instance, I would have liked a detailed examination of all aspects of the Templars matter. It is not in this book--this book refers to it in various ways, but never as if the person reading the book does not know quite a bit about it. Nevertheless I don't mind that I read the book. The reign of Philip the Fair began on 5 October 1285 when his father, Philip III (the son of St Louis IX), died at Perpignan, after fighting in Aragon. The reign ended 29 Nov 1314 when Philip died at 46 (an old man in those days!). The highlights of his reign include his quarrel with Boniface VIII, his attack on the Templars, and his war with Flanders (including his loss of the battle of Courtrai in 1302). All these things and more are discussed carefully and with much footnoting--but it is just not the popular history I drink up delightedly.… (mer)