Surnamed: "Auguste (Augustus)" and "Dieudonné (God-given)"
Parents: Louis VII, king of France, and Adèle of Champagne
Date of Birth: 21 August 1165
Royal House: Capet
Spouse: (1) Isabella, daughter of Baldwin V, count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, countess of Flanders, then (2) Ingeborg, daughter of Valdemar I, king of Denmark, and Sofia of Minsk, then (3) Agnes, daughter of Bertold IV, count of Andechs, and Agnes of Rocklitz
Predecessor: Louis VII
Reign: 1180 – 1223
Summary: Philippe was born late in the life of his father, giving him his first surname: "God-given". His father, Louis VII, had him crowned co-king at the age of fourteen and married him to Isabella of Hainaut the next year. This brought the county of Artois into the French domain. From the time of his coronation onwards, he was the true king of France. His father was ailing after having suffered a stroke, and slowly became senile. Philippe was still a very young ruler who exercised complete power, angering his nobles and family members alike. When his father died in 1180, his consolidation of power was complete.
Philippe II was an army-builder and fought hard to avoid falling back on his nobles. His royal army at the time of his ascension was composed of around 3,000 soldiers. By the end of his reign, he could call upon more than 20,000 soldiers and his navy included 10 fleet ships and many smaller boats. His victory over the count of Flanders in 1181 earned him his infamous nickname "Augustus" because of his expansion of the French domain. Throughout his life, he would continue to uphold that nickname. When Henry the Young King of England died in 1183, Philippe insisted that his lands, all French, be returned to France. A war was avoided when Henry's widow, Margaret, was married to Béla III of Hungary, forcing the dower to be transferred. But when English royal duke, Geoffrey II of Brittany, died in 1186, Philippe insisted that the duke's son, Arthur, should be placed under the guardianship of France rather than England. War naturally followed although nothing was resolved. Philippe at first allied with Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland, two sons of the English monarch. Over the next three years, Richard and Philippe would ravage England's lands, forcing King Henry II of England to acknowledge Richard as his heir before dying in 1189. Henry's death coincided with the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin, and with that the short Franco-English War ended. Philippe and Richard ventured to the Holy Land together on the Third Crusade between 1189 and 1192. Once in Palestine, Philippe became ill with dysentery while Richard became the hero of Acre. The two finally split over political and military disagreements and Philippe returned to France. With Richard still away, Philippe took advantage of the king's absence and began his reconquest of Western France. He gained the support of Prince John and invaded Normandy. He made significant progress until Richard returned in 1194 eager to fight the French king. The two kings played cat-and-mouse for a number of months before finally agreeing to a truce. The two resumed the fight in 1195 then agreed to another truce. When Count Baldwin of Flanders switched to the English side in 1197, the tide finally turned against the French. The new Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV was Richard's nephew and ally, and many Norman lords were returning to Richard. By 1198, Richard had reclaimed almost all of his lost lands and Philippe was desperate for a peace treaty. Richard died before a truce could be decided upon. In 1200, King John of England agreed to the Treaty of Le Goulet that ended the war and settled boundaries between France and Normandy. John's mismanagement of Aquitaine caused the entire duchy to rise in rebellion in 1201. Philippe supported the rebellion and then went back into open warfare with England following the death of Duke Arthur of Brittany, the legitimate heir to England. By 1204, most of Normandy and Aquitaine were in French hands. When John refused to travel to Paris and account for the murder of Arthur, Philippe used his power as French overlord to forcibly take John's French lands away. When the Holy Roman Empire broke out into civil war following the death of Philip of Swabia in 1208, Philippe took the initiative and attempted to invade England. While he was never given the opportunity, he was able to briefly install his son, Louis, as the English king until John died a few months later and John's son, Henry III, was nominated as king. The last ten years of Philippe's life were spent resolving the Champagne succession issue and improving Paris. He built the Louvre and continued the construction of Notre-Dame while also approving the charter for the University of Paris. He was a wine connoisseur and commissioned the Battle of the Wines in 1224. He died a year earlier and was buried in Saint Denis Basilica, the resting place of all French monarchs. His son, Louis, succeeded him.
Date of Death: 14 July 1223
Successor: Louis VIII
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Arnulf, duke of Bavaria (937)
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