Philip II., better known as PHILIP-AUGUSTUS, king of France, was the son of Louis VII. and Alix of Champagne, and was born in August 1165. He was crowned joint-king in 1179, during the lifetime of his father, succeeded him in 1180, and proved one of the greatest monarchs of the Capet dynasty, while he confirmed his hold of the throne by marriage with Isabella of Hainault, the last direct descendant of the Carlovingians. His first war, made upon the Count of Flanders, gave him the county of Vermandois and the city of Amiens. He rigorously punished heretics and despoiled the Jews, and reduced the rebellious Duke of Burgundy to submission. He supported the sons of Henry II. of England in their rebellions against their father, and gained Berri by cession in 1189. On the accession of Richard to the throne Philip and he set out together on the third crusade; but they quarrelled while wintering in Sicily. After staying but three months in Syria he returned to France, having taken a solemn oath not to molest Richard's dominions; but no sooner had he returned than he made a bargain with the faithless coward John for the partition of Richard's territories in France. The fiery Richard's sudden return occasioned an exhausting war, which was closed through the mediation of Pope Innocent early in 1199. Richard died within two months after; but war with England blazed out anew, on account of the rival claims of John and his nephew Arthur of Brittany to the French heritage of King Richard, which consisted chiefly of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. Philip embraced the cause of Arthur, but was for a while fully occupied by his quarrel with the pope. He had put away his second wife, Ingeborg of Denmark, in order to marry the beautiful Agnes of Meran, but the terror of the thunders of the Vatican forced him to replace Ingeborg upon her throne. The murder of Arthur again gave him the excuse he sought. Richard's great fortress of Château Gaillard fell early in 1204, and Philip passed in triumph over Normandy. Before the end of that year he had added to his dominions Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Touraine, with part of Poitou, as well as the overlordship of Brittany, hitherto a fief of Normandy. Philip took no active part in the war against the Albigensians, but devoted himself to consolidating his dominions. The great victory of Bouvines (29th August 1214) over the Flemish, the English, and the Emperor Otho established his throne securely, and the rest of his reign he was able to devote to reforms of justice and to the building and fortifying of the city of Paris. Notre Dame and the great court of peers remained lasting monuments of this great king's administration. He died at Mantes, July 14, 1223.
See works by Capefigue (3d ed. 2 vols. Paris, 1842), Mazabran (Lille, 1878), and Davidsohn (Stuttgart, 1888).