Philip V of France

Philip V of France, known as Philip the Tall, ruled from 1316 to 1322 after the death of his nephew John I. His accession helped establish the exclusion of women from the French royal succession, a principle later used in Valois claims.

In Maurice Druon’s The Poisoned Crown, Druon turns Louis's sudden death into the result of Mahaut's poisoning, a fictional resolution to a death whose historical cause is uncertain, and leaves France awaiting the birth of a possible king. In Maurice Druon’s The Royal Succession, the birth and rapid death of John I leave France without a male direct heir. Other novels featuring Philip V of France include Maurice Druon’s The Strangled Queen.