About the book: 2003 / The title of this book contains two names: Enguerrand de Marigny, a modest Norman knight, and Philip the Handsome, the great king of France. Both of these characters were inextricably linked with each other: the French kingdom entered the 14th century. under the rule of these people, one of whom was a powerful monarch of medieval Europe, the other his faithful minister. Together they decided the destinies of thousands of people: they sent troops to Flanders, negotiated with the papal curia, and sent the Templars to the stake. But only Enguerrand de Marigny paid the price for this. How did it happen that a simple knight from the retinue of the French queen overnight gained the favor of the king and ascended to the pinnacle of power, and then just as quickly ended up in prison, and from there went to the gallows in Montfaucon? Who exactly was Enguerrand de Marigny for King Philip - a devoted assistant, zealously implementing the unspoken orders of his master, or an evil genius who bewitched the king and pushed him to commit unrighteous deeds, under whose harsh hand the entire kingdom suffered? The famous French historian Jean Favier answers these and other questions. On the pages of his book, the author recreates to the smallest detail the daily life of the royal court, the mechanism of royal power, the rivalry of court groups, against the backdrop of which Enguerrand de Marigny made his ascent to power.