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The Tour de Nesle Affair was a scandal amongst the French royal family in 1314, during which the three daughters-in-law of King Philip IV of France were accused of adultery, the accusations apparently started by Philip's only daughter, Isabella, Queen of England. The ''Tour de Nesle'' was a tower in Paris where much of the adultery was said to have occurred. The scandal led to torture, executions and imprisonments, with lasting consequences for the final years of the Capetian dynasty. == Background == The royal scandal occurred at the end of the difficult reign of Philip IV, known as ''"le Bel"'' (the Fair) because of his good looks. Philip IV was a strangely unemotional man; the contemporary bishop of Pamiers described him as "neither a man nor a beast, but a statue";〔Weir, p.11.〕 modern historians have noted that he "cultivated a reputation for Christian kingship and showed few weaknesses of the flesh."〔Jones and McKitterick, p.394.〕 Throughout his reign, Philip had attempted to build up the authority and prestige of the French crown, raising fresh revenues, creating new institutions of government, engaging in wars against his rivals, and on occasion challenging the authority of the Church.〔Hallam and Everard, p.363.〕 Just before the crisis broke, Philip had been engaged in the liquidation of the order of the Knights Templar in France. By 1314, however, he was financially overstretched and in an increasingly difficult domestic political situation, and some have suggested that his weakened position contributed to the subsequent royal crisis.〔Broad and Green, p.8.〕 Philip IV had three sons, Louis, Philip and Charles. As was customary for the period, all three were married with an eye for political gain. Initially Philip had intended for Louis to marry Joan, the eldest daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy, but in the end chose Margaret, the daughter of the Robert II, Duke of Burgundy, in 1305, and arranged for his middle son Philip to marry Joan in 1307. His youngest son Charles married Blanche, another of Otto's daughters, in 1308.〔Wagner, p.250; Brown, p.130.〕 The three marriages had fared differently. Louis' is considered to have been an unhappy match; Louis, known as "the Quarreler" and "the Headstrong", is said to have preferred playing real tennis to spending time with the "feisty and shapely" Margaret.〔Weir, p.100.〕 Charles, a relatively conservative, "strait-laced"〔Sumption, p.101.〕 and "stiff-necked"〔Sumption, p.97.〕 individual, had an unexceptional marriage. Philip, in contrast, became noted for his unusual generosity to his wife Joan;〔Brown, p.130.〕 the pair had a considerable number of children in a short space of time and Philip wrote numerous, if formulaic, love letters to his wife over the years.〔Brown, p.134.〕 Meanwhile, Philip the Fair married his daughter, Isabella, to Edward II of England in 1308 in an attempt to resolve the tensions of his twin problems of conflict over the contested territories of Gascony and Flanders. Isabella's marriage proved difficult, largely due to Edward's intimate relationship with his close friend and possible lover, Piers Gaveston. Isabella looked frequently to her father for help addressing the problems in her English marriage.〔See Weir, chapter two.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tour de Nesle Affair」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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