Philip IV ruled France from 1285 to 1314, expanding the resources and claims of the Capetian monarchy. His marriage to Joan of Navarre connected the crown with Navarre and Champagne. He relied on lawyers and administrators, including Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny, whose work strengthened royal justice, finance, and arguments for the king's authority.

War with England over Gascony and conflict in Flanders placed heavy demands on revenue. French forces suffered a major defeat at Courtrai in 1302, where Flemish infantry overcame aristocratic cavalry. Subsequent campaigning and negotiation recovered leverage, but Philip did not simply absorb all Flanders into his domain. Taxation, monetary changes, loans, and seizures of property generated money while provoking resistance and instability.

His disputes with Pope Boniface VIII concerned clerical taxation, jurisdiction, and the relationship between royal and papal power. Philip assembled representatives of the realm in 1302 to support his position. Nogaret's involvement in the attack on Boniface at Anagni in 1303 marked the conflict's violent culmination. The election of Clement V and the papacy's later residence at Avignon increased French influence without making every papal decision an instrument of the crown.

Philip's government expelled Jews from France in 1306 and confiscated their assets, combining persecution with fiscal exploitation. In 1307 he ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar. Interrogations involving torture produced confessions, and sustained royal pressure contributed to the order's suppression in 1312. Jacques de Molay and another senior Templar were burned in 1314. These actions show the coercion accompanying royal expansion. Philip died that year, leaving stronger administration but burdensome finances and political tensions. His sons succeeded in turn, yet their failure to leave surviving male heirs eventually ended the direct Capetian line and opened a disputed succession.