86: Calm Amidst the Storm

People tend to do whatever brings them success, repeating the same actions and strategies for the rest of their lives. Few are as stubborn as military leaders. Those who triumph with the sword often wield it until their final downfall. Napoleon’s foray into Russia comes to mind. As his empire faced political and economic problems, Napoleon launched an invasion of the east, believing that since he was so frequently victorious on the battlefield that he could solve his country’s internal problems with war.

            Philippe II Auguste is a unique figure in history. He had been in a near-continuous state of warfare on-and-off since he was a youth. The Battle of Bouvines and the campaigns in the southwest proved the height of his military career. In 1214 he and his son Louis VIII bested the Holy Roman Emperor, the King of England, the Count of Flanders and the few French nobles who still resisted the monarch’s authority. When the war ended Philippe II’s enemies were in disarray, with the HRE and England falling into civil war as the aristocracy seized upon their leaders’ weakness. Most other leaders would have taken advantage of the chaos, invading border territories with the HRE, invading England or at least taking Gascony, that part of southwestern France which still remained in the possession of the King of England. Yet, Philippe II retired from warfare. After Bouvines he never personally appeared on another battlefield for the rest of his nine-year reign.

            Rather than try to expand his power over foreign territory, Philippe II worked to consolidate what he had won. He led administrative reforms in the north, spreading the baillis system, while allowing the south more autonomy. The king took a particular interest in Flanders. For so long, this part of the Kingdom of France was autonomous. Furthermore, its count had rivalled the King of France. Philippe II remembered the days when his father-in-law pressured him into marrying Isabelle and posed as the de facto ruler of France due to his influence over the young king. Multiple campaigns and ultimate victory at Bouvines finally broke Flemish power. Philippe II incorporated territories held by Flanders into the crownlands, including Artois, Amiénois, Valois and Vermandois all of which remain a part of France to this day. The king placed loyalists in power to replace those who had warred against him. This was not hard to do as many nobles voluntarily left on the Fourth Crusade. When the Crusaders took a detour and conquered the Byzantine Empire many stayed, which meant that Philippe II faced no real opposition in the county. While Flanders retained its own culture and traditions, it became a subordinate part of the Kingdom of France.

            If Philippe II was content to administer his realm, various forces attempted to pull him into larger conflicts. In the wake of Bouvines the infuriated English nobility invited Prince Louis VIII to take the throne of England. Philippe II had planned an invasion of the island nation just a few years prior, and so one would think he would leap on the chance to conquer another kingdom. However, Philippe II refused to join the war effort or aid his son. First, he was more focused on maintaining prosperity in France. Second, the papacy was firmly against the rebellious nobles, having condemned Magna Carta as an affront to the natural order. The king counseled his son not to sail to England, but the brash young man who had already bested King Jean before, was convinced that he would return to France in short order with a crown on his head. The war initially went well for the prince, as most of England submitted to him. Then King Jean died, leaving behind a child heir, which the English nobility recognized they could control. Their sudden about-face turned the war against Louis VIII who returned to the continent defeated, and likely embittered that his father had not sent soldiers to support him.

            The other major area of conflict was in the south. A growing religious movement, known as Catharism, took hold in Provence. This movement had a number of beliefs the church considered sacrilegious, such as denying Christ’s divinity and rejection of the Catholic hierarchy. For a decade Pope Innocent III asked Philippe II to pressure the Count of Toulouse to crack down on the heresy. However, Philippe II refused as the count was a valuable ally against the Angevins and because he did not want to overstretch himself. On 14 January 1208 a papal legate was assassinated, the morning after he had met with the Count of Toulouse. The papacy blamed the count and called for holy war in southern France, the first crusade launched by one sect of Christians against another.

            The Albigensian Crusade became an incredibly bloody affair as northern knights travelled south where they massacred anyone suspected of holding unsanctioned beliefs and taking their land and wealth in the process. Prince Louis VIII led several campaigns in the south, but again Philippe II refused to get involved until 1222 when he sent an army against the new Count of Toulouse. While Philippe II was not very involved in the holy war, his actions in the north combined with events in the south greatly impacted the future of France. The monarch consolidated his hold on power while overseeing a period of peace and prosperity. The devastation in Provence opened the door for its domination by the north, something which Philippe II’s successors achieved as they finally exerted royal authority over the region.

            One final war zone that was far less deadly than the other two, but which was much closer to home, was the War of the Succession of Champagne. The county of Champagne went through a tumultuous period in the early 1200s. First, count Henri II left France to rule as king of Jerusalem, leaving his brother Thibaut III in charge of the county. When Thibaut III died his widow claimed the region for her infant son, Thibaut IV. Over a decade later the boy’s aunt encouraged her own husband to take over Champagne.

            At first the rebels gained ground in the county with help from the Duke of Lorraine. However, their insurrection was doomed from the start. King Philippe II had been on good terms with the counts of Champagne, who had supported him in his youth against the Flemish. In recognition of their loyalty, Philippe II sided with Thibaut IV and his mother. Of even more importance was the Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich II. Friedrich II had not forgiven the Duke of Lorraine for supporting his rival to the throne Otto IV. When the duke sent forces to Champagne, the Emperor declared the action illegal and invaded Lorraine to assert his authority. Finally, the pope excommunicated the rebels who unlawfully usurped the rightful inheritance of Thibaut IV. Caught between France, Germany and God, the rebellion fell apart. While Philippe II only had a minor direct role in the affair, he was part of a coalition which defeated an upstart, secured a pro-Capetian loyalist in Champagne and maintained order in France.

            In September 1222 Philippe II fell ill. The aged king suspected he would die and so he composed his will. In it, he allocated money for the poor, lepers and orphans within France, with more money going to the Templars, Hospitallers and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Philippe II even gave his wife Ingeborg a significant amount of money, apparently holding no grudge over their previously contentious relationship.

            Philippe II recovered his health and continued administering the kingdom for almost another year. That summer he became sick again, this time with flu-like symptoms. Fearing death, he summoned his son and instructed him to fear God, love justice and protect the church, govern with mercy, particularly for the poor and oppressed, respect the rights of nobles but restrain them from acting outside their boundaries and to defend the kingdom from internal and external threats. His nine-year-old grandson Louis IX was also there. Philippe II instructed him to be humble before God and act with piety and justice, something which the future Saint Louis IX took to heart.

Just as it seemed he would recover, Philippe II, against the advice of his physician, decided to travel to Paris. He never made it to the capital city and died on 14 July 1223 at the age of 57. His retainers carried his body on a bier from Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris, where they interred it at Saint-Denis. He became the first French king to be buried with his crown and scepter, as the Capetians copied the regal burial rituals of the Angevins.

            Philippe II had ruled France for 43 years, the longest of any French king up to that point. Over the course of his long reign he had made House Capet the undisputed great power in the kingdom. He destroyed the Angevin Empire, subdued Flanders and defeated invasion by the Holy Roman Empire. He left behind a significantly wealthier country even as he engaged in large-scale building projects, such as Notre-Dame de Paris, the Louvre Castle and Les Halles. He founded the University of Paris and turned his capital into the center for medieval European learning. Philippe II was unquestionably the greatest king that France had ever had up to that point, but he also laid a foundation for the future success of the kingdom.

Sources:

Jim Bradbury, The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328, 2007.