"Philip IV had an acute, probably too acute, sense of his royal dignity. His reign marks the culmination of the medieval French monarchy. From 1285 to 1314, all his enterprises were executed with an extraordinary constancy, leading to an increase of the royal might and the destruction of the persons, groups and institutions that opposed or obstructed it. To attain these results, all means were good: obstinate war against the Flemings till the end of the reign, and spectacular trials well ordered, the accused going from interrogation to torture, accused of sorcery, heresy, crimes against nature, and eventually going to the stake."
Colour me cynical, but these medieval potentates were all the same. Philip arguably took things to extremes by perverting the course of justice to tear down Christian institutions such as the Knights Templar, but whatever.
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