Philip, Count of Flanders

Philip, Count of Flanders

Philip of Alsace (1143 – August 1, 1191) was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. He succeeded his father Thierry of Alsace.

History and Family

Count of Flanders

His reign began in 1157, while he acted as regent and co-count for his father Thierry, who was frequently away on crusade. He defeated Floris III, Count of Holland and stopped the piracy; Floris was captured in Bruges and remained in prison until being ransomed in 1167, in exchange for recognition of Flemish suzerainty over Zeeland. By inheritance, Philip also recovered for Flanders the territories of Waes and Quatre-Métiers.

In 1159 Philip married Elisabeth of Vermandois, also known as Isabelle, elder daughter of count Raoul I of Vermandois and Petronilla of Aquitaine. When his brother-in-law died (1167), his wife inherited the county of Vermandois. This pushed Flemish authority further south, at its greatest extent thus far, and threatened to completely alter the balance of power in northern France.

Philip governed wisely with the aid of Robert d'Aire, whose role was almost that of a prime minister. They established an effective administrative system, and Philip's foreign relations were excellent: he mediated in disputes between Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, between Henry II and Thomas Becket, and arranged the marriage of his sister Margaret with Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut.

Philip and Elisabeth were childless. In 1175, Philip discovered Elisabeth was committing adultery, and had her lover, Walter de Fontaines, beaten to death. Philip then obtained complete control of her lands in Vermandois from King Louis VII of France. Philip's brothers Matthew and Peter also died without surviving children, so in 1177 he designated Margaret and Baldwin as his heirs, before going on crusade.

Philip's first crusade

In the Holy Land, Philip hoped to take part in a planned invasion of Egypt, for which purpose the crusaders had allied with the Byzantine Empire. A Byzantine fleet of 150 galleys was waiting at Acre when Philip arrived on August 2. Philip had other plans, however: he and King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem were first cousins, sharing a grandfather, King Fulk, whose daughter from his first marriage, Sibylla of Anjou, was Philip's mother.

Baldwin IV was a leper and childless, and offered Philip the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem as his closest male relative currently present there. Philip refused both this and the command of the army of the kingdom, saying he was there only as a pilgrim. Instead Baldwin appointed Raynald of Chatillon, to whom Philip would act as an assistant. As William of Tyre says, "this being the situation, the count at last revealed the secret thought of his mind and did not try to conceal to what end all his plans were." He had come to have his own vassals married to his cousins, Baldwin's sister Princess Sibylla and half-sister Princess Isabella.

Sibylla's husband William of Montferrat had just died, leaving her pregnant with the future Baldwin V; William of Tyre, who was the chief negotiator in this dispute, told the count it would be improper to marry her off again so soon. According to the chronicle of Ernoul, Philip was also rebuffed by Raymond III of Tripoli, who also claimed the regency, as well as Raymond's supporters from the Ibelins, who hoped to marry the princesses into their own family. Baldwin of Ibelin insulted the count in public, and Philip left Jerusalem in October to campaign in the north for the Principality of Antioch, participating in an unsuccessful siege of Harim before returning home. Meanwhile, the Byzantine alliance against Egypt was abandoned, but in November, Baldwin IV and Raynald defeated Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard.

War with France

Philip returned from Palestine in 1179, and Louis VII, now sick, named him guardian of his young son Philip II. The count had Philip II married to his niece, Isabelle of Hainaut, with an imprudently disproportionate dowry: the County of Artois. When Louis VII died, Philip II began to assert his independence. War broke out in 1180 and Picardy and the Ile-de-France were devastated; King Philip refused to give open battle and gained the upper hand, and Baldwin of Hainaut, at first allied with his brother-in-law Count Philip, soon intervened on behalf of his son-in-law the King, in support of his daughter's interests. The dispute between Count Philip and Baldwin was encouraged by King Philip, who went so far as to name Baldwin his representation in negotiations with the Count.

Count Philip's wife Elisabeth died childless in 1183, and King Philip seized Vermandois on behalf of Elisabeth's sister, Eleonore. Philip then married Teresa of Portugal, daughter of Afonso I of Portugal, first king of that country, and Maud of Savoy. Teresa arrived with a large dowry, but this marriage was also childless. Fearing that he would be surrounded by the royal domain of France and the County of Hainaut, Philip signed a peace treaty with his enemies on March 10, 1186, recognizing the cession of Vermandois to the king, although he was allowed to retain the title Count of Vermandois for the remainder of his life.

Philip's second crusade and death

In 1190 Philip took the cross for a second time and joined the Flemish contingents which had already gone to Palestine. After arriving at the Siege of Acre, he was stricken by the epidemic passing through the crusader camp, and died on August 1, 1191. His body was brought back to Flanders by his wife, who acted as regent during his absence, and Philip was buried in Clairvaux Abbey. He was succeeded by his sister Margaret and his brother-in-law Baldwin of Hainaut.

Legacy

Philip seems to represent the end of one kind of feudal world, and the beginning of a new type of sovereignty, put into practise by King Philip: for the first time, a king of France ruled over a count of Flanders. However, despite a costly war, the economic expansion of Flanders did not stop, as witnessed by the number of communal charters signed by Count Philip, and by the end of his reign the county had entered into a period of unprecedented prosperity.

Philip also acted as patron for Chrétien de Troyes while he was writing his last romance, "Perceval, the Story of the Grail". In the opening lines, Chrétien praises Philip for providing him with the book he adapted into the "best tale ever told in a royal court". The work is unfinished, and was obviously begun sometime before Philip's death.

ources

* Jim Bradbury, "Philip Augustus", 1998.
* Robert Payne, "The Dream and the Tomb", 1984.
* Bernard Hamilton, "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in "Medieval Women", edited by Derek Baker. Ecclesiastical History Society, 1978.
* Steven Runciman, "A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem". Cambridge University Press, 1952.
* William of Tyre, "A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea". E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey, trans. Columbia University Press, 1943.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Count of Flanders — Coat of arms of the Counts of Flanders. The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790. Although the early rulers, from… …   Wikipedia

  • Prince Charles, Count of Flanders — Prince Charles Count of Flanders; Prince Regent of Belgium Regency 1944 1950 Full name French: Charles Théodore Henri Antoine Meinrad Dutch: Karel Theodoor Hendrik Anton Meinrad House …   Wikipedia

  • Ferdinand, Count of Flanders — Ferdinand jure uxoris Count of Flanders Reign 1212–1233 Predecessor Joan Successor …   Wikipedia

  • Thierry, Count of Flanders — Thierry of Alsace (Dietrich) (c. 1099 – January 17, 1168), in Flanders known as Diederik van den Elzas, was count of Flanders from 1128 to 1168. He was the youngest son of Duke Thierry II of Lorraine and Gertrude of Flanders (daughter of Robert I …   Wikipedia

  • Philip, Count of Longueville — Philippe de Navarre, comte de Longueville (1336 1363) was a younger brother and supporter of Charles II of Navarre, a claimant to the French throne. The son of Philip III of Navarre and Joan II of Navarre, he married Yolande of Flanders in 1353.… …   Wikipedia

  • Robert I, Count of Flanders — Robert I of Flanders (b. between 1029 and 1032–13 October 1093, Kassel), known as Robert the Frisian , was count of Flanders from 1071 to 1092.HistoryHe was the younger son of Baldwin V of Flanders and Adèle, a daughter of King Robert II of… …   Wikipedia

  • Baldwin V, Count of Flanders — Baldwin V of Flanders (died 1 September 1067) was Count of Flanders from 1036 until his death.He was the son of Baldwin IV of Flanders, who died in 1035.HistoryIn 1028 Baldwin married Adèle of France in Amiens, daughter of King Robert II of… …   Wikipedia

  • Infante Ferdinand, Count of Flanders — Infante Fernando of Portugal, Count of Flanders (pron. IPA2|fɨɾ nɐ̃du; English Ferdinand; Old French Ferrand) was a Portuguese infante, fourth son of Portuguese King Sancho I and Dulce Berenguer. He was Count of Flanders by marriage to Jeanne of… …   Wikipedia

  • Philip of Harveng — [Philippe Le Harvengt.] (died 1183) was a twelfth century Premonstratensian and abbot of Bonne Espérance Abbey in Hainault (present day Belgium), and a theological writer. Biblical commentaryHis Responsio de damnatione Salomonis addressed the… …   Wikipedia

  • Philip — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Philip, Phillip, or Filip imagesize= caption= pronunciation= IPA|fɪlɪp gender = Male meaning = Lover of horses region = origin = Greek: Φίλιππος related names = Filipe, Filippo footnotes = Philip is a personal… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”