General Notes

REFN: 4185AN
Alias:<ALIA> Philip II /Augustus/
REFN: P4186
Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe II Auguste) (August 21, 1165 – July 1
4, 1223), was King of France from 1180 to 1223.
A member of the Capetian dynasty, Philip Augustus was born on August 21, 1
165 at Gonesse, Val-d'Oise, France, the son of Louis VII of France and h
is third wife, Adèle of Champagne. He was originally nicknamed Dieudonn
é: God-given.
Philip II was a younger half-brother of Marie, countess palatine of Champa
gne, Alix, countess of Blois, Marguerite, queen of Hungary and Alys, Count
ess of the Vexin. He was an older full brother of Agnes of France, Empre
ss of Constantinople.
In declining health, his father had him crowned at Reims in 1179. He was m
arried on April 28, 1180 to Isabelle of Hainaut, who brought the Coun
ty of Artois as her dowry. His father and co-ruler died on September 18, 1
180. Philip's eldest son Louis (later King Louis VIII), was born on Septem
ber 5, 1187 and became Count of Artois in 1190, when Isabelle, his mothe
r, died.
As King, Philip II would become one of the most successful in consolidati
ng northern France into one royal domain, but he never had more than limit
ed influence in southern France. He seized the territories of Maine, Toura
ine, Anjou, Brittany and all of Normandy from King John of England (1199–1
216). His decisive victory at the Battle of Bouvines over King John a
nd a coalition of forces that included Otto IV of Germany ended the immedi
ate threat of challenges to this expansion (1214) and left Philip II Augus
tus as the most powerful monarch in all of Europe.
He reorganized the government, bringing financial stability to the count
ry and thus making possible a sharp increase in prosperity. His reign w
as popular with ordinary people because he checked the power of the nobl
es and passed some of it on to the growing middle class that his reign h
ad created.
In 1179, Louis VII, in the tradition of his forefathers going back to Hu
gh Capet, had his son Philip crowned king to assure his smooth successio
n. On 1 November, Guillaume aux Blanches Mains, Archbishop of Rheims, crow
ned and anointed the fourteen year-old prince in the cathedral there. H
is father died on 18 September of the next year.
While the royal power had been increased under Philip I and Louis VI, und
er Louis VII it had diminished slightly. In April 1182, Philip expelled Je
ws from France and confiscated their goods. The reasons given were, of cou
rse, a mere pretense to allow the crown to aggrandise itself at the expen
se of an unpopular sect of the population.
In 1184, Stephen I of Sancerre and his Brabançon mercenaries ravaged the O
rléanais. Philip, aided by the Confrères de la Paix, defeated him and esta
blished order.
Since 1181, conflict had been ongoing with the count of Flanders, Philip
pe of Alsace. Philip managed to counter the ambitions of the count by brea
king his alliances with Henry I, Duke of Brabant, and Philipp von Heinsber
g, Archbishop of Cologne. In July 1185, the Treaty of Boves confirmed to t
he king the possession of the Vermandois, Artois, and Amiénois.
Philip also began to war with the Henry II of England, who was also cou
nt of Anjou and duke of Aquitaine in France; two years of combat (1186-118
8) followed, but the situation remained unchanged. Philip initially alli
ed and worked with the young sons of Henry, Richard and John, who we
re in rebellion against their father. The death of Henry and the fall of J
erusalem in 1187 diverted attention from the Franco-English war.
Philip went on the Third Crusade with Richard I of England (1189–99) and t
he Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa (1189–1192). His army left V
ézelay on July 1, 1190. At first the French and English crusaders travel
ed together, but the armies split at Lyons, as King Richard I decid
ed to go by sea, and Philip took the overland route through the Alps to Ge
noa. The French and En