Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/569

 THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR 519 The Parliament also repudiated the annual tribute which King John had agreed to pay to the pope. In France under Philip VI the royal power continued to develop. Philip gave away a good deal of territory in appan- ages, it is true, but added to his dominions by R oya l power purchase the city of Montpellier on the Mediter- of phili P VI ranean coast and the province of Dauphine east of the Rhone. As the oldest son of the King of England is called Prince of Wales, so from this time in France the crown prince was known as the "dauphin." During Philip's reign the central administration and machinery of monarchy were further elaborated by a series of royal ordinances. Royal taxation also continued to increase. Toward the close of this reign, however, and during the disastrous reign of John which followed, it looked for a time as if the Estates General might acquire the same control over taxation as had the English Parliament. The first meeting of the Estates General in the reign of Philip VI, concerning which we have detailed information, was in 1346. It ventilated various grievances, The Estates but made no grants of money. In the next year, crTc^to^ ™ after the defeat at Crecy, the Estates read the Poitiers Iking quite a lecture, and during the remainder of the reign [became increasingly niggardly and exacting toward the Crown. The provincial estates were equally difficult to deal with. Under John, who was extravagant and had bad 'advisers and favorites, the general dissatisfaction with the misconduct of the war and the sad state of the country in- creased until it resulted in a revolutionary movement. In December, 1355, just before Poitiers, the Estates General granted supplies for the war, only on condition that they have complete charge of collecting the taxes, organizing the army, and auditing the accounts. For these purposes they appointed committees and stipulated that they should meet 'again after three months to see that their wishes had been icarried out. In these measures the lead was taken by the representatives of the towns under the leadership of Etienne Marcel, provost of the merchants of Paris, The Estates,