Philip IV Debases the Coin

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.