Philip IV Debases the Coin

1306 CE — Western Europe, France

Today: Paris, France

Philip IV of France ran out of money and worked through the options in order: he debased the currency repeatedly until Paris rioted, taxed the Church until the Pope objected and was arrested, expelled the Jews and seized their assets, expelled the Lombard bankers and seized theirs, and then destroyed the Knights Templar — his largest creditor — arresting them on one coordinated morning, extracting confessions under torture, and burning the last Grand Master. His nickname, earned from the coin, was the Counterfeiter King.

Worth knowing: Philip's creditors were arrested at dawn on Friday the 13th of October, 1307, in a nationwide operation — one of the popular explanations for why that date still carries a superstition, though historians consider the link a much later invention.

Pattern: Monetary debasement — A money's intrinsic or backed value is diluted to fund obligations; confidence in it erodes, often into inflation.

Entry 132 of 240 in Precedent, a walk through the whole human story in order.