CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Philip II

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Philip II
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Philip II (Augustus)
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King of
France
, born 22 or 25 August, 1165; died at Mantes, 14 July, 1223, son of Louis VII and Alix de Champagne.
He was saved from a serious illness after a
pilgrimage
made by his
father
to the
tomb
of
Thomas à Becket
; he succeeded to the throne 18 September, 1180. His marriage with Isabella of Hainault, niece of the Count of
Flanders
, the conflicts which he afterwards sustained against the latter, and the deaths of the Countess (1182) and Count of
Flanders
(1185), increased the royal power in the north of
France
. His strife with
Henry II
of
England
in concert with the sons of that monarch, Henry, Richard, and John, resulted in 1189 in the Treaty of Azay-sur-Cher, which enhanced the royal power in the centre of
France
. The struggle with the Plantagenets was the ruling
idea
of Philip II's whole policy.
Richard Cæur de Lion
having become King of
England
, 6 July, 1189, was at first on amicable terms with Philip. Together they undertook the
Third Crusade
, but quarreled in Palestine, and on his return Philip II accused Richard of having attempted to poison him. As Richard had supported in
Sicily
the claims of Tancred of
Lecce
against those of the
Emperor Henry VI
, the latter resolved to be avenged. Richard, having been taken captive on his return from the
Crusade
by the Duke of
Austria
, was delivered to Henry VI, who held him
prisoner
. Philip II sent William,
Archbishop
of
Reims
, to Henry VI to request that Richard should remain the captive of
Germany
or that he should be delivered to Philip as his
prisoner
. Without loss of time Philip reached an agreement with John Lackland, Richard's brother. Normandy was delivered up by a secret treaty and John acknowledged himself Philip's vassal. But, when in February, 1194, Richard was set free by Henry VI, John Lackland became reconciled with him and endless conflict followed between Richard and Philip. On 13 January, 1199,
Innocent III
imposed on them a truce of five years. Shortly after this Richard died. Subsequently Philip defended against John, Richard's successor, the claims of the young Arthur of Brittany, and then those of Hugh de Lusignan, Count of La Marche, whose
betrothed
had been
abducted
by John. The
war
between Philip and John, interrupted by the truces imposed by the
papal legates
, became a national
war
; and in 1206 John lost his possessions in central
France
. Philip was sometimes displeased with the pontifical intervention between
France
and the Plantagenets, but the prestige of
Innocent III
forced him to accept it. Protracted difficulties took place between him and the
pope
owing to the tenacity with which
Innocent III
compelled respect for the indissolubility of even royal marriages.
In 1190 Philip lost his wife, Isabella of Hainault, whom he had married in order to inherit Artois, and in 1193 he married Ingeburga, sister of Canute VI, King of
Denmark
. As he immediately desired to repudiate her, an assembly of complaisant barons and
bishops
pronounced the
divorce
, but Ingeburga appealed to
Rome
. Despite the remonstrances of
Celestine III
, Philip, having
imprisoned
Ingeburga, married Agnes de Méran, daughter of a
Bavarian
nobleman.
Innocent III
, recently elected, called upon him to repudiate Agnes and take back Ingeburga, and on the king's refusal the
legate
, Peter of
Capua
, placed the kingdom under an
interdict
(1198). Most of the
bishops
refused to publish the sentence. The Bishops of
Paris
and Senlis, who published it, were punished by having their goods confiscated. At the end of nine months Philip appeared to yield; he feigned reconciliation with Ingeburga, first before the
legate
, Octavian, and then before the Council of
Soissons
(May, 1201), but he did not dismiss Agnes de Méran. She died in August, 1201, and
Innocent III
consented to legitimize the two children she had borne the king, but Philip persisted that
Rome
should pronounce his
divorce
from Ingeburga, whom he held
prisoner
at Etampes.
Rome
refused and Philip dismissed the
papal legate
(1209). In 1210 he thought of marrying a princess of
Thuringia
, and in 1212 renewed his importunities for the
divorce
with the
legate
, Robert de Courçon. Then, in 1213, having need of the aid of the
pope
and the King of
Denmark
, he suddenly restored Ingeburga to her station as queen.
Another question which at first caused discord between Philip II and
Innocent III
, and regarding which they had later a common policy, was the question of
Germany
. Otto of Brunswick, who was
Innocent III's
candidate for the dignity of emperor, was the nephew of Richard and John Lackland. This was sufficient to cause Philip to interfere in favour of Philip of Suabia. They formed an alliance in June, 1198, and when Philip of Suabia was assassinated in 1208 Philip put forward the candidacy of Henry of Brabant. However, the whole of
Germany
rallied to Otto of Brunswick, who became emperor as
Otto IV
, and in 1209 Philip feared that the new emperor would invade
France
. But
Otto IV
quarrelled with
Innocent III
and was
excommunicated
and the
pope
by an unexpected move called upon Philip for subsidies and troops to aid him against Otto. They agreed to proclaim as emperor Frederick of Hohenstaufen, the future
Frederick II
, Philip giving Frederick 20,000 "marcs" to defray the cost of his election (November, 1212). Thus was inaugurated the policy by which
France
meddled in the affairs of
Germany
and for the first time the French king claimed, like the
pope
, to have a voice in the imperial election.
The accord established between
Innocent
and Philip with regard to the affairs of
Germany
subsequently extended to those of
England
. Throughout his reign Philip dreamed of a landing in
England
. As early as 1209 he had negotiated with the English barons who were hostile to John Lackland, and in 1212 with the
Irish
and the
Welsh
. When John Lackland subjected to cruel
persecution
the
bishops
who, in spite of him, recognized Stephen Langton as
Archbishop
of
Canterbury
Innocent III
in 1212 placed
England
under
interdict
, and the
legate
Pandulphus
, declared that John Lackland had forfeited his throne. Then Philip, who received at his court all the exiles from
England
, consented to go to
England
in the name of
Innocent III
to take away the crown from John Lackland. It was to be given to his son, the future Louis VIII. On 22 May, 1213, the French expedition was to embark at Gravelines, when it was learned that John Lackland had become reconciled with
Rome
, and some months later he became a vassal of the
pope
. Thus failed, on the eve of its realization, the project of the French invasion of
England
. But the
legate
of
Innocent III
induced Philip to punish Ferrand, Count of
Flanders
, who was the ally of all the enemies of the king. At the battle of Bouvines (27 July, 1214) Ferrand, who supported
Otto IV
, was taken
prisoner
. This battle is regarded as the first French national victory. Philip II, asserting that he had on both sides two great and terrible lions, Otto and John, excused himself from taking part in the
Crusade
against the
Albigenses
. He permitted his son Louis to make two expeditions into Languedoc to support Simon de Montfort in 1215, and Amaury de Montfort in 1219, and again in 1222 he sent Amaury de Montfort two hundred
knights
and ten thousand foot soldiers under the
Archbishop
of
Bourges
and the Count of La Marche. He foresaw that the French monarchy would profit by the defeat of the
Albigenses
Philip's reign was characterized by a gigantic advance of the French monarchy. Before his time the King of
France
reigned only over the Ile de France and Berri, and had no communication with the sea. To this patrimony Philip II added Artois, Amienois, Valois, Vernandois, a large portion of Beauvaisis,
Normandy
Maine
, Anjou, Touraine, and a part of Poitou and Saintonge. His bailiffs and seneschals established the royal power firmly in those countries.
Paris
became a fortified city and attracted to its
university
students from different countries. Thanks to the possession of Dieppe,
Rouen
, and certain parts of Saintonge, the French monarchy became a maritime and commercial power, and Philip invited foreign merchants to
France
Flanders
, Ponthieu, and Auvergne became subject fiefs, supervised by agents of the king. He exercised a sort of protectorate over Champagne and
Burgundy
. Brittany was in the hands of Pierre de Dreux, a Capetian of the younger branch. "History", writes M. Luchaire, "does not present so many, such rapid, and such complete changes in the fortune of a State".
Philip Augustus did not interfere in episcopal elections. In Normandy, where the Plantagenets had assumed the custom of directly nominating the
bishops
, he did not follow their example. Guillaume Le Breton, in his poem the "Philippide", makes him say: "I leave to the men of
God
the things that pertain to the service of
God
." He favoured the emancipation of communes, desiring to be liked by the middle classes of the districts he annexed. He often exacted a tax in exchange for the communal charter. But he did not allow the communes to infringe on the
property
of
clerics
or the episcopal right of
jurisdiction
. At Noyen he intervened formally in behalf of the
bishop
, who was threatened by the commune. He undertook a campaign in defence of the
bishops
and
abbots
against certain
feudal
lords whom he himself desired to humiliate or weaken. In 1180, before he was king, he undertook an expedition into Berri to punish the Lord of Charenton, the enemy of the
monks
, and into
Burgundy
where the Count of Chalon and the Lord of Beaujeu were persecuting the
Church
. In 1186, on the complaint of the
monks
, he took possession of Chatillon-sur-Seine, in the Duchy of
Burgundy
, and forced the duke to repair the wrongs he had committed against the
Church
. In 1210 he sent troops to protect the
Bishop
of
Clermont
, who was threatened by the Count of Auvergne.
But on the other hand, in virtue of the preponderance which he wished royalty to have over
feudalism
, he exacted of the
bishops
and
abbots
the performance of all their
feudal
duties
, including military service; although for certain territories he was the vassal of the
bishops
of Picardy, he refused to pay them homage. Moreover, he declared with regard to Manasses,
bishop
of Orléans, that the royal court was entitled to judge at the trials of
bishops
, and he made common cause with lay
feudalism
in the endless discussions regarding the province of
ecclesiastical tribunals
, which at the beginning of the thirteenth century were disposed to extend their
jurisdiction
. An ordinance issued about 1205 at the instance of the king, executed in
Normandy
and perhaps elsewhere, stipulated that in certain cases lay judges might arrest and try guilty
clerics
, that the right of asylum of religious buildings should be limited, that the
Church
might not
excommunicate
those who did business on Sunday or held intercourse with
Jews
, and that a citizen having several children should not give more than half of his estate to that one of his sons who was a
cleric
. Finally he imposed on the
clergy
heavy financial exactions. He was the first king who endeavoured to compel
clerics
to pay the king a tenth of their income. In 1188 the
archdeacon
Peter of
Blois
defeated this claim, but in 1215 and 1218 Philip renewed it, and by degrees the resistance of the
clergy
gave way. Philip, however, was
pious
in his own way, and in the advice which St. Louis gave to his son he said that Philip, because of "God's
goodness
and mercy would rather lose his throne than dispute with the servants of Holy Church". Thus the reputation left by Philip II was quite different from that of
Philip IV
, or
Frederick II
of
Germany
. He never carried out towards the
Church
a policy of trickery or petty vexations, on the contrary he regarded it as his collaborator in the foundation of French unity.
Sources
LE BRETON,
La Philippide,
ed. DELABORDE (Paris, 1883-5); RIGORD AND LE BRETON,
Chroniques
; DELISLE,
Catalogue des actes de Philippe-Auguste
(Paris, 1856); LUCHAIRE,
Philippe-Auguste
in LAVISSE,
Hist. de France,
III (Paris, 1901); LUCHAIRE,
L'Université de Paris sous Philippe-Auguste
(Paris, 1899); GAUTIER,
La France sous Philippe-Auguste
(Tours, 1899); CARTELLIERI,
Philipp II August, König von Frankreich
(3 vols., Leipzig, 1899-1909); DAVIDSOHN,
Philipp August von Frankreich und Ingeborg
(1888); WALKER,
On the increase of royal power in France under Philip Augustus
(1888); HUTTON,
Philip Augustus
(London, 1896).
About this page
APA citation.
Goyau, G.
(1911).
Philip II (Augustus).
In
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company.
MLA citation.
Goyau, Georges.
"Philip II (Augustus)."
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
Vol. 12.
New York: Robert Appleton Company,
1911.
.
Transcription.
This article was transcribed for New Advent by WGKofron.
With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert, Akron, Ohio.
Ecclesiastical approbation.
Nihil Obstat.
June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.
Imprimatur.
+John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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