As early as 1329, on the death of Charles the Fair, the third and last of the sons of Philip IV., Edward, the son of the daughter of that King, laid claim to the French throne.[58] His rival was Philip of Valois, the son of Charles of Valois, Philip IV.’s brother, and, granting the existence of the Salic law, the undoubted heir; for all the three last kings had died without male issue. Edward’s claims then rested upon three principles; females were excluded from the French throne, or Joan, Queen of Navarre, daughter of Louis X., would have succeeded. The male issue of such females were not excluded; but, thirdly, they must be born during the lifetime of their grandfather, or else the children of the daughters of the three last kings would have a better claim than he had. The question had been properly tried by the Peers of France, and Philip of Valois had been declared King, and in 1331 Edward had himself done homage to him for Guienne. There was however a standing quarrel with regard to certain towns of the Agenois which Charles IV. had conquered. These, Edward understood, were to be restored to him, while Philip VI. declined to surrender them. This quarrel might perhaps have been passed over, but the reception of David on his flight from Scotland, and the assistance which Philip gave to the party opposed to Balliol, by degrees rendered war inevitable; and when once this became obvious, it was clearly good policy on the part of Edward to make his claims as national as possible, and instead of trusting to such secondary causes of hostility as were afforded by Philip’s refusal to surrender a few unimportant towns in a distant dependency, or his intrigues for the restoration of the Bruce dynasty, he at once, with the consent of Parliament, asserted his claim to the French throne. [Sidenote: Edward’s alliances on the North-east. 1338.] [Sidenote: Is made Imperial Vicar.]