Philip III (Basque: Filipe, Spanish: Felipe, French: Philippe; 27 March 1306 – 16 September 1343), called the Noble or the Wise, was King of Navarre with his wife Joan II from 1328 until his death in 1343.

He gained prominence when the Capetian main line went extinct, as he and Joan acquired the Iberian kingdom and a number of French fiefs.

At the time of his sudden death in 1316, Louis X's only child was a four-year-old daughter, Joan, which presented a problem because no Capetian king had ever died sonless.

[12] The death of Joan's uncle Charles IV in February 1328 paved the way for Philip's accession to the throne of Navarre, as there was no longer anyone who could challenge the couple's right to it.

[3][14] Her birth made it clear that the direct male line of the royal Capetian dynasty of France had become extinct with Charles IV's death.

The ascension of the House of Évreux under Philip III is thus important as the beginning of a new era in the history of Navarre, now once again free from the government of France.

[16] The spouses negotiated with the Estates separately in July,[17] and on 22 August Pope John XXII issued a bull confirming Philip as the king of Navarre.

The couple's legates invoked the New Testament in support of Philip's rights as "husband and head", while also stressing that Joan as sovereign wished him to be crowned and to have more power as her co-ruler.

[19] In the end, both Joan and Philip were crowned, anointed by Bishop Arnalt de Barbazan and raised on the shield in Pamplona Cathedral on 5 March 1329.

[22] In order to limit Philip's involvement, however, it was stipulated that both he and Joan would renounce the crown as soon as their heir, male or female, reached the age of 21, or they were obliged to pay a fine of 100,000 livres tournois.

[25] He was completely unprepared for the role but succeeded, all whilst counselling the newly enthroned king of France, in learning within a few months everything he needed to know about his new kingdom, and its people, language and institutions.

[27] Philip III and Joan II's joint reign was marked by their close cooperation, but he prevailed in legislation and several other fields of government.

[26] Economic development projects undertaken by Philip and Joan include the construction of an irrigation system in the arid fields of Tudela in the south of their kingdom, reparation of castles and erection of a new one in Castelrenault.

[26] The king and queen were also determined to ensure the enforcement of law in their realm, condemning the perpetrators of anti-Jewish riots that took place before their arrival and assigning compensation to the victims.

He refused to do homage to Philip, who sent Juan de Rosas, castellan of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to occupy Garris, the chief town of Mixe, and administer the territory as the king's bailiff.

The nobility of the region apparently resented the royal action, and in September a small army of 200 troops under Guillem Arnalt de Irumberri was sent to restore order.

[32] At the battle of Cassel on 23 August, the international force assisting Philip VI, was divided into ten batailles, with the French king himself commanding the fifth.

Though they remained entangled in French politics, the couple were keen to build closer relations with the neighbouring kingdoms of Aragon and Castile.

[36] On 1 October 1333, Pierre-Roger, then archbishop of Rouen, preached a crusading sermon before an assembly of noblemen in the presence of Philip VI in Paris.

[37][38] In late June 1335, while Philip was in France, Navarre suffered the first of a series of violations of its border by Castile that escalated into war by October.

In December 1339, during the opening stages of the Hundred Years' War, Philip III of Navarre reinforced the garrison of Tournai in anticipation of an English siege.

[43] Philip arrived at the siege of Algeciras in July 1343 with 100 knights and 300 infantrymen, but more important than this small military force was the large quantity of provisions—meat, barley, bacon and wine—which he had sent from the Bay of Biscay.

When Gaston II of Foix, an ally of Navarre in the war of 1335, abandoned the siege in late August, he tried unsuccessfully to convince Philip to leave as well.