But, beautiful as it has been preserved in growing old, it is difficult not to sigh, not to wax indignant, before the numberless degradations and mutilations which time and men have both caused the venerable monument to suffer, without respect for Charlemagne, who laid its first stone, or for
Philip Augustus, who laid the last.
Historians mark the reign of
Philip Augustus (between 1180 and 1223) as a particularly rich era.
The result is some valuable reassessments, notably in the area of strategy: Church stresses that, while
Philip Augustus was focused on Normandy, John considered Poitou to be at least as important, an imbalance having much to do with John's lack of success in holding on to and then recovering the northern French domains of his family.
These were reinforced by marital pacts: Henry married Louis's daughter Marie (from the kings first marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine), while in 1160, Louis took as his third wife Henry's sister, Adele, who became the mother of
Philip Augustus. Despite the ensuing tangle of relationships which made Henry both son-in-law and brother-in-law to his sovereign and which were potentially in breach of canon law, family alliances underscored a soothing of political tensions.
In an ordinance concerning the coronation of his son
Philip Augustus, it is declared that the mantle, the chaussures, and the oriflamme are to be sown with fleur-de-lis, as described by the poet Rigord:
Legend has it that in the 13th century
Philip Augustus of France held the first-ever wine-tasting competition.
Individual writings include "Medieval Jewish Models of Marriage", "The Many Loves of
Philip Augustus", "The Dilemma of the Widow of Property for Late Medieval London", and more concerning definitions of marriage, sexuality, and legislation of property and propriety alike.
Baldwin, The Government of
Philip Augustus (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1986); J.A.
He goes on to consider the spatial determinants of the city, describing the succession of walls which enclosed it, from the
Philip Augustus wall of the thirteenth century to the Thiers wall of the nineteenth, as well as the constant expansion of the city as it spilled over these artificial barriers to its growth.
Looked at from the viewpoint that she adopts, it is difficult to calibrate to what extent Church attempts at enforcement in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had been any different from what happened later, except for a few notorious cases such as that of
Philip Augustus and Ingeborg of Denmark in which it was papal claims to authority over the entire world which were really at stake.
Guernsey's historical link with the English Crown began in 1204 when King John lost Normandy to King
Philip Augustus of France.
(7) Louis's son
Philip Augustus, who ascended to the throne in 1179, truly solidified Capetian monarchical power.
Philip Augustus - son of Louis VII whose reign as king of France saw wars with the English that regained control of Normandy and Anjou and most of Poitou (1165-1223)