PHILIP II. surnamed Augustus, the conqueror and given of God, son of Louis VII. (called the younger). King of France, and of Alix, his third wife, daughter of Thibault, count of Champagne, was born the 22d of August 1165. He came to the crown, after his father's death in 1180, at the age of 15 years. His youth was not spent like that of the generality of other princes; for, by avoiding the rock of pleasure on which so many are apt to split, his courage thereby became the more lively and intrepid. The king of England seemed willing to take advantage of his minority, and to seize upon a part of his dominions. But Philip marched against him, and compelled him, sword in hand, to confirm the ancient treaties between the two kingdoms. As soon as the
war was ended, he made his people enjoy the blessings of peace. He gave a check to the oppressions of the great lords, banished the comedians, punished blasphemies, caused the streets and public places of Paris to be paved, and annexed to that capital a part of the adjacent villages. It was inclosed by walls with towers; and the inhabitants of other cities were equally proud to fortify and embellish theirs. The Jews having for a long time practised the most shameful frauds in France, Philip expelled them from his kingdom, and declared his subjects quit with them; an action unjust, contrary to the laws of nature, and consequently to religion. The tranquillity of France was somewhat disturbed by a difference with the count of Flanders, which was however happily terminated in 1184. Some time after he declared war against Henry II. king of England, and took from him the towns of Issoudun, Tours, Mans and other places. The epidemical madness of the crusades then agitated all Europe; and Philip, as well as other princes, caught the infection. He embarked in the year 1190, with Richard I. king of England, for the relief of the Christians in Palestine who were oppressed by Saladin. Those two monarchs sat down before Acre, which is the ancient Ptolemais; as did almost all the Christians of the east, while Saladin was engaged in a civil war on the banks of the Euphrates. When the two European monarchs had joined their forces to those of the Asiatic Christians, they counted above 300,000 fighting men. Acre surrendered the 13th of July 1191; but the unhappy disagreement which took place between Philip and Richard, rivals of glory and of interest, did more mischief than could be compensated by the successful exertions of those 300,000 men. Philip, tired of these divisions, and displeased with the behaviour of Richard his vassal, returned to his own country, which, perhaps, he should never have left, or at least have seen again with more glory. Besides, he was attacked (say historians) with a languishing disorder, the effects of which were attributed to poison; but which might have been occasioned merely by the scorching heat of a climate so different from that of France. He lost his hair, his beard, and his nails; nay, his very flesh came off. The physicians urged him to return home; and he soon determined to follow their advice. The year after, he obliged Baudouin VIII. count of Flanders to leave him the county of Artois. He next turned his arms against Richard king of England, from whom he took Evreux and Vexin; though he had promised upon the holy gospels never to take any advantage of his rival during his absence; so that the consequences of this war were very unfortunate. The French monarch, repulsed from Rouen with loss, made a truce for six months; during which time he married Engelburge, princess of Denmark, whose beauty could only be equalled by her virtue. The divorcing of this lady, whom he quitted in order to marry Agnes daughter of the duke of Merania, embroiled him with the court of Rome. The pope issued a sentence of excommunication against him; but it was taken off upon his promising to take back his former wife. John Sans-terre, succeeded to the crown of England in 1199, to the prejudice of his nephew Arthur, to whom of right it belonged. The nephew, supported by Phi-
lip, took arms against the uncle, but was defeated in Poitou, where he was taken prisoner, and afterwards murdered. The murderer being summoned before the court of the peers of France, not having appeared, was declared guilty of his nephew's death, and condemned to lose his life in 1203. His lands, situated in France, were forfeited to the crown. Philip soon set about gathering the fruit of his vassal's crime. He seized upon Normandy, then carried his victorious arms into Maine, Anjou, Touraine, Poitou, and brought those provinces, as they anciently were, under the immediate authority of his crown. The English had no other part left them in France but the province of Guienne. To crown his good fortune, John his enemy was embroiled with the court of Rome, which had lately excommunicated him. This ecclesiastical thunder was very favourable for Philip. Innocent II. put into his hands, and transferred to him, a perpetual right to the kingdom of England. The king of France, when formerly excommunicated by the pope, had declared his censures void and abusive; he thought very differently, however, when he found himself the executor of a bull investing him with the English crown. To give the greater force to the sentence pronounced by his holiness, he employed a whole year in building 1700 ships, and in preparing the finest army that was ever seen in France. Europe was in expectation of a decisive battle between the two kings, when the pope laughed at both, and artfully took to himself what he had bestowed upon Philip. A legate of the holy see persuaded John Sans terre to give his crown to the court of Rome, which received it with enthusiasm. Then Philip was expressly forbid by the pope to make any attempt upon England, now become a fee of the Roman church, or against John who was under her protection. Meanwhile, the great preparations which Philip had made alarmed all Europe; Germany, England, and the Low-Countries were united against him in the same manner as we have seen them united against Louis XIV. Ferrand, count of Flanders, joined the emperor Othon IV. He was Philip's vassal; which was the strongest reason for declaring against him. The French king was no wise discerned; his fortune and his courage dissipated all his enemies. His valour was particularly conspicuous at the battle of Bouvines, which was fought on the 27th of July 1214, and lasted from noon till night. Before the engagement, he knew well that some of his nobles followed him with reluctance. He assembled them together; and placing himself in the midst of them, he took a large golden cup, which he filled with wine, and into which he put several slices of bread. He eat one of them himself, and offering the cup to the rest, he said, "My companions, let those who would live and die with me follow my example." The cup was emptied in a moment, and those who were the least attached to him fought with all the bravery that could be expected from his warmest friends. It is also reported, that after showing the army the crown that was worn by sovereigns upon these occasions, he said, "If any one thought himself more worthy than he was to wear it, he had only to explain himself; that he should be content it were the prize of that man who should display the greatest valour in battle." The enemy had
an army of 150,000 fighting men; that of Philip was not half so numerous; but it was composed of the flower of his nobility. The king ran great hazard of his life; for he was thrown down under the horses feet, and wounded in the neck. It is said 30,000 Germans were killed; but the number is probably much exaggerated. The counts of Flanders and Boulogne were led to Paris with irons upon their feet and hands; a barbarous custom which prevailed at that time. The French king made no conquest on the side of Germany after this ever memorable action; but it gained him an additional power over his vassals. Philip, conqueror of Germany, and possessor of almost all the English dominions in France, was invited to the crown of England by the subjects of King John, who were grown weary of his tyranny. The king of France, upon this occasion, conducted himself like an able politician. He persuaded the English to ask his son Louis for their king; but as he wished at the same time to manage the pope, and not lose the crown of England, he chose to assist the prince his son, without appearing to act himself. Louis made a descent upon England, was crowned at London, and excommunicated at Rome in 1216; but that excommunication made no change upon John's situation, who died of grief. His death extinguished the resentment of the English, who having declared themselves for his son Henry III. forced Louis to leave England. Philip-Augustus died a little time after, at Mantes, the 14th of July 1223, aged 59, after a reign of 43 years. Of all the kings of the 3d race, he made the greatest accession to the crown-lands, and transmitted the greatest power to his successors. He reunited to his dominions Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Poitou, &c. After having subdued John Sans-terre, he humbled the great lords, and by the overthrow of foreign and domestic enemies, took away the counterpoise which balanced his authority in the kingdom. He was more than a conqueror; he was a great king and an excellent politician; fond of splendor on public occasions, but frugal in private life; exact in the administration of justice; skilful in employing alternately flattery and threatenings, rewards and punishments; he was zealous in the defence of religion, and always disposed to defend the church; but he knew well how to procure from her successors for supplying the exigencies of the state. The lords of Coucy, Rhetel, Rofey, and several others, seized upon the property of the clergy. A great many of the prelates applied for protection to the king, who promised them his good offices with the depredators. But, notwithstanding his recommendations, the pillages continued. The bishops redoubled their complaints, and intreated Philip to march against their enemies. "With all my heart (said he), but in order to fight them, it is necessary to have troops, and troops cannot be raised without money." The clergy understood his meaning; they furnished subsidies, and the pillages ceased. The enterprizes of Philip-Augustus were almost always successful: because he formed his projects with deliberation, and executed them without delay. He began by rendering the French happy, and in the end rendered them formidable; though he was more inclined to anger than to gentleness, to punish than to pardon, he was regretted by his subjects as a powerful genius and
Philip as the father of his country. It was in his reign that the marshal of France was free, for the first time, at the head of the army. It was then, also, that families began to have fixed and hereditary surnames; the lords took them from the lands which they possessed; men of letters from the place of their birth; the converted Jews and rich merchants from that of their residence. Two very cruel evils, viz. leprosy and usury, were prevalent at that time; the one infected the body, the other proved the ruin of the fortunes of families. The number of lepers was so great, that the smallest villages were obliged to have an hospital for the cure of that distemper. It is remarkable, that when Philip was on the point of engaging Richard, the English, who were lying in ambush near the Loire, run away with his equipages, in which he caused to be carried all the deeds or writings respecting the rights of the crown; a custom which is used at this day by the grand seigneur. Philip caused copies of his charters to be collected wherever they could be found; but after all his endeavours, some of them were never recovered. The surname of Augustus was given to Philip by his contemporaries. Mezerai is mistaken, when he asserts that Paulus Emilius was the first who rendered the name of conqueror by that of Augustus; a learned critic has proved the contrary by undoubted authorities.
Philip of Valois, first king of France of the collateral branch of the Valois, was son to Charles count of Valois, brother of Philip the Fair. He mounted the throne in 1328, on the death of his cousin Charles the Fair, after having held for some time the regency of the kingdom. France was much divided in the beginning of his reign, by disputes about the succession to the crown. Edward III. king of England laid claim to it as grandson of Philip the Fair, by his mother; but Philip of Valois took possession of it as first prince of the blood. The people gave him, upon his accession to the throne, the title of fortunate; to which might have been added, for some time, those of victorious and just. He marched to the relief of his vassal the count of Flanders, whose subjects, on account of bad usage, had taken up arms against him. He engaged the rebels at Cassel, performed prodigies of valour, and gained a signal victory, the 24th of August 1328. Having made all quiet, he went home, after saying to the count of Flanders, "Be more prudent and more humane, and you will have fewer disloyal subjects." The victorious Philip devoted the time of peace to the internal regulations of his kingdom. The financiers were called to an account, and some of them condemned to death; among others Peter Remi, general of the finances, who left behind him near 20 millions. He afterwards enacted the law respecting freeholds, imposing a tax upon churches, and commoners who had acquired the lands of the nobility. Then, also, began to be introduced the form of appeal comme d'abus, the principles of which are more ancient than the name. The year 1329 was distinguished by a solemn homage paid to Philip, by Edward king of England, for the duchy of Guienne, upon his knees, and with his head uncovered. The interior peace of the kingdom was disturbed by disputes about the distinction of the church and state. An assembly was summoned for hearing the two parties, in the presence of the king: and in this assembly Peter de Cugnières, his
majesty's advocate, defended the secular jurisdiction with great ability as a man well-informed, and an enlightened philosopher. Bertrand bishop of Auton, and Roger archbishop of Sens, pled the cause of the clergy with less ingenuity and judgment. This did not, however, prevent the king from showing them favours, though the controversy itself laid the foundation of all the disputes which were afterwards agitated about the authority of the two powers; disputes which contributed not a little to confine the ecclesiastical jurisdiction within narrower limits. While Philip was employing himself in some useful regulations, he was unhappily interrupted by Edward III. declaring war against France. This prince immediately recovered those parts of Guienne of which Philip was in possession. The Flemish having again revolted from France in spite of oaths and treaties, joined the standard of Edward; and required that he would assume the title of King of France, in consequence of his pretensions to the crown; because then, agreeably to the letter of their treaty, they only followed the king of France. From this period is dated the union of the flower-de-luce and leopards in the arms of England. Edward, in order to justify the change of his arms, caused the following manifesto to be published in the verse of the times.
Rex sum regnorum, bina ratione, duorum:
Augustorum in regno sum rex ego jure paterno;
Matris jure quidem Francorum nuncupor idem:
Hinc est armorum variatio facta nostrum.
In the way of a parody to these lines, Philip made the following reply:
Prædo regnorum qui diceris esse duorum,
Francorum regno privaberis, atque paterno.
Succedunt mares huic regno, non mulieres:
Hinc est armorum variatio facta tuorum.
In the mean time Philip put himself in a posture of defence. His arms were at first attended with some success; but those advantages were far from compensating the loss of the battle of E-luse, in which the French fleet, consisting of 120 large ships, and manned by 40,000 seamen, was beat by that of England in the year 1340. This defeat is to be attributed, in part, to the little attention which had been paid to the navy of France, notwithstanding her favourable situation, by being washed by two seas. She was obliged to make use of foreign ships, which obeyed but slowly, and even with some reluctance. This war, which had been alternately discontinued and renewed, begun again with more heat than ever in 1345. The two armies having come to an engagement the 26th of August 1346, near Crecy, a village in the county of Ponthieu, the English there gained a signal victory. Edward had only 40,000 men, while Philip had nearly twice that number; but the army of the former was inured to war, and that of the latter was ill disciplined and overcome with fatiguing marches. France lost from 25,000 to 30,000 men; of which numbers were John king of Bohemia (who, though blind, fought gallantly), and about 1500 gentlemen, the flower of the French nobility. The loss of Calais, and several other places, was the sad fruit of this defeat. Some time before Edward had challenged Philip of Valois
to a single combat; which he refused, not on the score of cowardice, but from the idea that it was improper for a sovereign prince to accept a challenge from a king who was his vassal. At length, in 1347, a truce for six months was concluded between France and England, and afterwards prolonged at different times. Philip died a short time after, the 23d of August 1350, aged 57 years, and far from bearing on his monument the title of Fortunate. He had, however, reunited Dauphiny to France. Humbert, the last prince of that country, having lost all his children, and wearied with the wars which he had held out against Savoy, turned a Dominican, and gave his province to Philip, in 1349, on condition that the eldest son of the kings of France should bear the title of Dauphin. Philip likewise added to his domain Roussillon and a part of Cerdague, by lending some money to the king of Majorca, who gave him those provinces as a security; provinces which Charles VIII. afterwards restored without any reimbursement. It is surprising that in so unfortunate a reign he should have been able to purchase those provinces after having paid a great deal for Dauphiny; but the duty on salt, the rise on the other taxes, and especially the frauds committed in the coinage of money, are supposed to have enabled him to make those acquisitions. The fictitious and ideal value of the coin was not only raised, but a great deal of bad money was issued from the mint. The officers of the mint were sworn upon the gospels to keep the secret: but how could Philip flatter himself that so gross a fraud would not be discovered?