Prof. Martha Carlin
Week 9: Tuesday
CAPETIAN FRANCE AND THE LOW COUNTRIES, 987-1314
Main goals of Capetian kings of France (click here for maps of Capetian France):
to consolidate their control over their home
territory,
the Ile-de-France (the region around Paris)
to bring additional territories under their control
to consolidate their sovereignty over the great
feudal principalities of France
Royal strategies for achieving these goals included:
useful marriages
production of sons for 11 consecutive generations
general cooperation and loyalty within the royal
family
mostly favorable relations with church and papacy
1137-1180 Louis
VII
married Eleanor,
duchess of Aquitaine (marriage dissolved 1152;
Eleanor then married
Henry Plantagenet, count of Anjou, who in 1154 became King Henry II
of England)
went on 2nd Crusade (with Eleanor)
tried to break up Henry II's Angevin "empire" by instigating rebellion
by Henry's sons
expanded royal justice in France
1180-1223 Philip
II "Augustus"
main goals: break-up of Angevin "empire" and extension of French royal
power
instigated rebellions by Henry II's sons against their father
abandoned 3rd Crusade to attack Richard I ("the Lionheart")'s
French
possessions
took Normandy and Anjou from John (1203-4)
successful at Bouvines against John's allies, Germany and Flanders
(1214),
making
French monarchy the strongest in Europe
employed salaried administrators (baillis) rather than local nobles for
local governance
enhanced Paris with walls, paving, and great fortress (the Louvre)
1226-1270 Louis
IX (canonized as St. Louis in 1297)
main goal: patronage of Church, Christianity, and Crusades
exemplary private life: pious, peaceable, modest, loved and publicly
honored
his
mother, Blanche
of
Castile [1188-1252], and wife, Marguerite
of
Provence
patron of the University of Paris and of the Franciscans and Dominicans
builder
of the Sainte-Chapelle (click here for views of the exterior,
upper
chapel, and lower
chapel),
to house a relic of the Crown of
Thorns (shown here in a window
as held by the king)
personally led two Crusades (both expensive failures;
captured in first and died in second)
renowned as dispenser of justice
very anti-Jewish; tried to have Jewish children converted to
Christianity
1285-1314 Philip
IV "the Fair" ("le Bel")
main goals: expulsion of Edward
I of England from Gascony; control of French
church
and papacy (vs. Pope
Boniface VIII)
achieved canonization of his grandfather, Louis IX (1297)
taxed French clergy to pay for war with England
attempted to gain control of Flanders, but failed at Courtrai (1302)
called first French representative assembly, Estates-General (1302)
accused Pope Boniface VIII of scandalous crimes and had him seized;
arranged
for
election of French-friendly successor (Clement V), who moved seat
of
papacy from
Rome to Avignon
accused Knights Templars (wealthy military order) of scandalous crimes,
and had them
arrested, convicted, and executed;
seized their French assets
arrested the Jews of France, confiscated their possesions, and expelled
them from France
Online readings:
Rigord, Deeds of Philip II "Augustus," 1190s (selections)Online readings:
Jean, sire de Joinville (1224-1318), Life of St. Louis
Philip IV ("the Fair") rejects papal authority, 1297
Boniface VIII threatens to depose Philip IV, 1302
Accusation by Philip IV’s lawyer against Boniface VIII, 1303
