Philip VI of France

Imagine a king named Philip VI. He was the very first king from a family called the House of Valois. That means his family took over being king after another family stopped.

He was king a long, long time ago, from 1328 until 1350. People sometimes called him 'the Fortunate' because he was lucky to become king, but his time as king wasn't always easy. He had to deal with a big argument about who should be king and a very long war!

When the old king died, there was a problem. The king of England, Edward III, thought he should be the king of France too! But the important people in France didn't want an English king.

They chose Philip of Valois instead. Edward III was not happy about this, and it started a super long war called the Hundred Years' War. This war lasted for over 100 years, which is longer than your great-great-great-grandparents have been alive!

King Philip VI had some big battles. His navy was defeated in a sea battle called the Battle of Sluys. Later, the English won another big battle on land called the Battle of Crécy. To make things even worse, a terrible sickness called the Black Death spread through France. It made many people very sick and sadly, many people died. This made the country very sad and weak.

Even with all the problems, King Philip VI did something interesting. He bought a place called Dauphiné. It was like buying a big new playground for France! This made France bigger and stronger. He gave this new land to his grandson, who would later become a king himself. So, even though his reign had tough times, he also made France a bit larger.