Background

The royal domain formed only a small part of NW France in 1100. The rest was held as great fiefs by magnates and lords who nominally owed homage to the French king, e.g., the dukes and counts of Normandy, Brittany, Flanders, Champagne, Blois, Aquitaine, Anjou, Gascony and Toulouse.

Louis VI (1108-1137) won the Île de France.

Louis VII (1137-1180) won nothing. Divorced Eleanor of Aquitaine because she bore him no sons. Went on 2nd Crusade.

The royal family, descended from Hugh Capet were known as Capetians.

PHILIP II 1180-1223

Philip was 15 in 1180

A. Increase of royal Domain

1)	The House of Blois The queen mother was Adele of Blois. Her brothers included Thibault, count of Blois and Henry, count of Champagne. The family of Blois hoped to dominate Philip. Philip told his mother and uncles that he did not need their help.He allied with Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders, against them in 1180. In 1180 also Philip married Isabella of Hainault, the niece of the count of Flanders. He refused to be crowned by his uncle William archbishop of Reims.
2)	Flanders In early 1180s Philip made peace with Henry II to give himself the chance to deal with a coalition of vassals led by the count of Flanders and his uncles. He bought off his uncles Thibault and William and turned the count of Hainault against the count of Flanders by threatening to reject his wife Isabella. In 1185 the count of Flanders was forced to cede Vermandois and Amiens to Philip II.
3)	Henry II Philip from 1185-1189 was free to deal with the Angevins who ruled most of his kingdom and who did not give him homage as they should. Philip intrigued with Henry’s sons, firstly with Geoffrey who was set to leave Henry and become seneschal of France. But Geoffrey died in 1186. The Vexin had been the dowry of Philip’s step sister Margaret who married Prince Henry. He had died in 1183 but Henry still held the Vexin. It now became the dowry of his sister Alice who was to marry Richard. No marriage took place. Therefore, Philip picked a quarrel over the Vexin. In 1187 Philip took Issoudun in Berry. Henry, at the treaty of Châteauroux promised Alice to John along with Aquitaine and other lands. Richard immediately allied with Philip and "they went to bed together". Richard did homage to Philip and together in 1188-1189 they seized Maine and Touraine. In 1189 by the Treaty of Azai Henry handed over Auvergne to Philip and did homage for his other lands. Alice was to marry Richard as before. This was a major victory for Philip, aged 24.
4)	Richard I While Richard was on Crusade Philip attacked Normandy and allied with John and conquered the Vexin. Philip lost this when Richard returned - the Treaty of Vernon 1199.
5)	John Finally Philip turned against John. Philip used Geoffrey’s son Arthur’s claim to the throne to split John’s support. Also John married Isabella of Angoulême who was betrothed to Hugh de Lusignan, count of La Marche. Hugh appealed to the royal court. John refused to attend and Philip in 1202 forfeited his fiefs. By 1203 Philip had conquered Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. By 1204 he had conquered Normandy . John allied with the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto and the count of Flanders but their two-pronged attack failed at Bouvines in 1214.

Reasons for Philip’s success.

a)	Skilful manipulation of feudal relationships of N France
b)	Ruthless - his ally in one move was his enemy in the next.
c)	As he overran more land so he acquired more revenue.The Angevin lands were under so much pressure from his attacks that John could not raise their revenue.
d)	The arguments of his vassals and of Henry and his sons. He used their domestic troubles effectively.

The royal domain had been trebled. Philip increased the power of the crown over his vassals and over the royal domain by concentrating on his position as feudal overlord and by extending the scope of his administration, justice, and finance to cover all his subjects not just his tenants-in-chief, i.e., by becoming a ‘national’ monarch.

B. Feudal Monarchy

‘Feudal monarchy’ according to HWC Davis does not just mean ‘medieval monarchy’. In feudal monarchy , as under William I in England, the king owns all the land and received services and casualties from it. There was no allodial land, family lands which owed no services. William had established this in 1066. Philip II was still in the process of establishing himself as a feudal monarch by conquering land and by enforcing his rights as overlord.

1)	In 1185 Philip issued a decree which said that the king was always lord and could be no man’s vassal.
2)	He concentrated on enforcing feudal casualties. In 1192 he insisted that the new count of Flanders pay his relief.
3)	His judgement v John in 1202 stressed his position as feudal overlord.
4)	In 1209 he established inheritance rules for the whole kingdom.
5)	In 1212 he stated he would take hostages for his barons’ good behaviour.

By these means and by his conquests he kept control of his barons and established himself as a feudal monarch.

C. Administration, Justice and Finance.

As Philip conquered lands he developed a system to administer them.

Administration:-	He copied the English system used in Normandy. His Ordinance for Government in 1190 during his absence on crusade explained it. In each area of royal lands there was a regional governor or bailli (like a sheriff). This baillie controlled 6 provosts who were local governors and judicial officers. There were set dates for the rendering of accounts and for hearing appeals. Thus, unlike counts, the baillies were responsible to the royal court, just like sheriffs in England and Scotland. The royal domain was new, larger and better run than ever before. Specialised departments for finance and for justice began to appear in Paris along with a secretariat.
Finance:-	Half the money Philip raised came from royal domain in 1202-3. This must have increased by 1205. Philip used this revenue for his wars. Consequently, he had no need to raise aids, scutages etc. His wars were self-financing. This meant he had less opposition to face than John I had. He had no need to call great councils to grant aids etc. To raise revenue Philip did sometimes collect money instead of military service. He also sold licences to Jews to lend money. He also raised revenue by selling charters and protection for towns. Towns, given these privileges, in newly conquered areas helped to spread support for royal power. Philip thus also encouraged trade and industry. Towns wanted peace and strong central government in order to pursue their commerce. The Hanseatic League, a trading alliance of North German towns were granted privileges in Paris. The Champagne fairs were still active linking the trade of northern Europe with the Mediterranean. Generally the economy prospered. This was an age of building great gothic cathedrals.
Justice:-	Philip established that important lords must attend the royal court and accept its jurisdiction. Royal officials found more pretexts for the royal court to hear cases from these lords’ lands. Gradually Philip built up a loyal core of servants from lowly origins to run his government. More justice required more officials. This work in government, justice and finance increased the king’s ability to rule effectively all his subjects, not just his feudal vassals.They were thus slowly becoming ‘national’ monarchs and not just feudal monarchs.

D. Others

1)	Albigensian Crusade. 1207-1215 The Pope Innocent III launched a crusade against Albigensian heretics in the south of France. Philip remained aloof and wisely concentrated on the Angevins in the North. In 1215, however, he had to accept the crusade’s leader, Simon de Montfort , as count of Toulouse.
2)	Ingeborg of Denmark In 1196 Philip argued with Innocent III over his second wife Ingeborg of Denmark. He divorced her, illegally, to marry Agnes of Meran.
3)	Church courts Philip insisted on his control of the church and in 1205/6 he ordered that priests who committed murder should first be defrocked by a church court and then punished by a royal court.
4)	The Third Crusade 1190-1192 Philip quarrelled with Richard I and attacked Richard’s lands while he was in prison in Austria.

E Conclusion

How inevitable was the growth of royal power in France?

R Fawtier tended to believe it was inevitable. The Capetians were powerful lords in Northern France and they alone could claim, as kings, overlordship over other lords. Henry II, for instance, could not claim overlordship and so he could never have united France. The Capetians never planned to conquer all France or turn it all into royal domain but their rise was almost inevitable because they were overlords. Others have argued that the Angevin Empire was too large to be run effectively and that even Henry and Richard had struggled to keep it intact. It was inevitable that it would fail to survive a concerted attack.

E Hallam, more recently, has argued that the Capetians in fact were very weak and not all that wealthy. It was therefore, remarkable that Philip II achieved what he did. Philip had the ability to profit from events. Also underlying trends helped him. As the economy grew the nobility suffered since they were not involved in trade. Many also still divided their estates between heirs. The crown did not and so became more powerful. Philip was therefore helped by circumstances. Moreover, no previous French kings had succeeded against the Angevin Empire and so it can in no way be regarded as inevitable that it would crumble. It fell because of Philip’s abilities.

Philip gave the crown its force and its power. He was a soldier and a cunning diplomat more than an administrator and legislator.