Book
The Royal Succession
Book 4 in the The Accursed Kings series.
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With Louis X dead and Clementia pregnant, Philip of Poitiers becomes regent while Charles of Valois and supporters of Louis's daughter Joan contest the future of the crown. Philip also intervenes in the prolonged papal conclave at Lyon, seeking a pope who will support political stability.
The birth and rapid death of John I leave France without a male direct heir. Philip uses legal argument and control of the coronation to become Philip V, establishing the exclusion of women that later generations associate with Salic succession; the novel fictionalises the infant king's death as part of the wider conspiracy.
