[Dana Carleton Munro, The Middle Ages, 395-1272 (New York: The Century Company, 1921), pp. 272-283]
Small Beginnings. At the beginning of the twelfth century the king of France had very little power; and what he had was limited almost entirely to the country about Paris and about Orleans with the territory between. Even within this small extent his power was by no means undisputed. He had to build the Grand Chatelet to protect the plain of St. Denis against one unruly vassal, the Montmorency. Another vassal who held Montlhery was, as we have seen, a constant thorn in the flesh. A third, Thomas de Marle, was so dangerous a tyrant that the papal legate organized a crusade against him, which checked him only for the moment. When the conditions in the king's own territory were such, it is natural that he should have been able to exercise very little authority in other parts of the kingdom, particularly as several of the dukes and counts held fiefs both stronger and more extensive than his own domains.
Development of Great Fiefs. This was a result of the evolution that had been taking place in French feudalism. In place of many petty fiefs loosely bound together, such as had existed in the tenth century, a comparatively few great territorial powers had been formed [e. g., Normandy, Flanders, Anjou, Burgundy, Aquitaine]. In each of these the chief lord, a duke or a count, was intent upon consolidating his power by reducing rebellious vassals and by keeping the peace. These tasks were made easier because the first crusade had attracted many of the unruly classes to expend their energies in the East. The truce of God, abortive as it proved, had also helped somewhat. Consequently, France was gradually being divided into large states possessing a common dialect and a certain sense of unity. Except in a few of the strongest and most advantageously situated fiefs, the movement had begun at the opening of the twelfth century, but it was destined to be one of the most noteworthy features of the immediate future.
Consolidation of Domain. Naturally, the king attempted to bring about this same unity in his own lands. Here, as elsewhere, the two great necessities were the restraint of turbulent vassals and the establishment of peace, and the two tasks were closely connected. Louis was indefatigable. In spite of his corpulence, which caused him to be called "Louis the Fat," he was ever ready for feats of arms and always in the forefront of an attack. In fact, the nicknames "Wideawake" and "Fighter" represent more accurately his subiects estimate of him. Frequently he was called upon to protect some monastery or town from the depredations of his unruly vassals, and he was never called upon in vain. He would drive off the oppressor and burn his castle. In these petty wars he had the support of the clergy and the fighting men from the towns. For his subjects felt, in the words of Suger, his biographer, that "he studied the peace and comfort of plowmen, laborers, and poor folks, a thing long unwonted." He chose for his officials men of humble birth and especially members of the clergy; of these the chief was Suger, of whom more anon. Although it was a difficult task, he finally succeeded in putting down disorder and in making his power effective in his own domain.
Growth of Prestige. He also attempted to increase the royal prestige throughout the kingdom, and, in spite of some failures, he actually did succeed. The greatest danger to the royal power arose from the union of Normandy, a French fief, with England. Louis tried to check Henry I by supporting a pretender in Normandy; but he was no match for the English king, with whom he waged war for almost a quarter of a century. He was freed from this danger only by the death of Henry and by the civil war that followed in England. In other fiefs he was more fortunate in his rare attempts to assert his power as suzerain. When Henry V of Germany threatened an invasion of France, almost all of the great lords in the north rallied to its defense and placed themselves temporarily under the king's orders. This was the first occasion in many a decade when a French king had been so clearly recognized as the national leader. Probably it was the prestige then won, as well as his own experience of Louis' strength, that led William of Aquitaine to choose Louis' son as the husband of his heiress Eleanor. This happened just before the king's death in 1137, so that he was not able to enjoy the new strength and prestige that ensued for the monarchy from the addition of this duchy.
Early Years of Louis VII. His successor, Louis VII, has frequently been represented as weak and over-pious, so that his reign was a long calamity for France. This has been due to too hasty generalization, for in his early years Louis was ambitious, energetic, rash, and certainly not over-pious. He was only sixteen and was passionately in love with his young bride. She had been educated to have little respect for the clergy and to take joy in living this life as a good thing in itself. This was one of the new ideas that were to dominate much of the thought of the twelfth century, and Eleanor by her training and position was one of its foremost exponents. Under her influence Louis braved the pope and a feudal coalition. He was successful in fighting, but was placed under an interdict, so that he finally had to make terms. In other respects he was successful, and he was able to acquire some fortresses on the Norman frontier which his father had long coveted. The first eight years of his reign were fortunate ones, in spite of the interdict, and gave promise of a strong and successful government.
Second Crusade. All of this was lost by the second crusade. On Christmas day, 1145, Louis announced to his barons that he had decided to take the cross to aid the crusaders, who had been weakened by the loss of Edessa. At first the news was received with little enthusiasm. But when in the following year Bernard of Clairvaux lent his powerful voice there was a rush to take the cross. He wrote to the pope: "I have opened my mouth, I have spoken, and at once the crusaders have been an infinite multitude. Villages and towns are deserted. You would scarcely find one man among seven women. Everywhere are widows whose husbands are still living." Unfortunately for Louis, these statements were not accurate; many women went on the crusade. Foremost of all was Eleanor, who had burned with zeal for adventure and from whom Louis had been unwilling to be parted. On the crusade they became bitterly estranged. At Antioch Eleanor compromised herself with her uncle, who was the prince of that city, and when Louis wished to proceed to Jerusalem refused to accompany him, alleging that she could no longer be his wife because they were related within the forbidden degrees. Louis forced her to accompany him, but from that time the hostility between them increased. The ill success of the crusade caused for Louis a great loss of prestige.
Suger. Fortunately, the kingdom was well administered during his absence by Suger. This man was of peasant origin and had been educated at the monastery of St. Denis with Louis VII; and the two, as boys, had become friends. He had risen by his ability to the position of abbot, and as St. Denis was one of the leading monasteries he had great power and wealth. He showed himself to be an able administrator, increasing the resources of the abbey by his daring economic innovations, such as freeing his serfs and founding a ville neuve. He also did much to reconstruct and beautify the buildings, for he was an enthusiastic patron of art. In his habits he was but little given to the asceticism that was so characteristic of other leading monks of the age. His biographer said: "His food was neither coarse nor luxurious.... He tasted a little of everything that was served to him.... His bed was neither too hard nor too soft." The same golden mean was shown in his associations with men; he won the good will of all, reformers like Bernard of Clairvaux, courtiers of high rank, even notorious evil livers. Under Louis VI he had been one of the chief ministers. His influence was eclipsed for a time under Louis VII by the ascendancy of Eleanor, but when the king went on the crusade he left Suger as regent. All disorder was sternly suppressed; all the royal income was either sent to the king or saved for his return, as Suger paid the expenses of government out of his own income. In addition he busied himself in repairing and beautifying the royal residences at his own expense. He had been opposed to the crusade, but after its failure proposed to finance a new one out of his own funds. For, in spite of his vow of poverty as a monk, his remarkable business ability had secured to him as abbot an income that was almost incredible for that age. He died before he could begin the crusade.
Loss of Aquitaine. As long as he lived he prevented Louis from divorcing Eleanor, because he was determined that the king should not part with her dowry, Aquitaine. "But," as his biographer wrote, "scarcely was this man taken from the midst of the living before France suffered grievously from his death. Thus we see it to-day, through the lack of such a councilor, despoiled of the duchy of Aquitaine, one of its most important provinces." For Eleanor married Henry of Anjou about two months after her divorce from Louis, and he at once claimed Aquitaine. Louis formed a coalition against him, so that his position was very precarious. But the king no longer showed the energy that had marked his early years, and after two years of combat was glad to make peace, giving up the few conquests that he had made. A few months later Henry succeeded to the crown of England.
Louis and Henry. The French lands that Henry held were several times as extensive as those subject to the king, and Henry was an abler and stronger ruler than Louis. Consequently, for the ensuing quarter of a century the latter was constantly threatened, as Henry was intent upon rounding out his fiefs by annexing border-lands, and upon pressing his claims to Languedoc and Toulouse, which ran counter to the claims of his overlord, the French king. Henry's troubles with Thomas Becket checked him for a time. The revolt of his sons, encouraged by Louis, gave the French monarch an opportunity which he was too weak to use. Yet the net result of the indecisive wars was small. Henry did extend his rule, but Louis managed to keep almost all that he still had after the loss of Eleanor's dowry.
Development of the Royal Power. In some respects he did strengthen the royal power. He gave ! an asylum to Pope Alexander III when Frederic Barbarossa was supporting a rival, and thereby gained prestige, since Alexander was eventually recognized as the legitimate pope. He e aided bishops and abbots when their feudal lords oppressed f them, and he granted privileges to monasteries, in the south especially, which enabled the latter to become more independent of the temporal authority of the local lords. He had little real power to aid these distant monasteries, but the extent of the royal prestige is attested by the correspondence which they carried on with the king, seeking his support. The petty nobles sought to free themselves from their duties to the local lords by becoming liege men of the king. Louis gave charters to many cities, created vines Removes, and encouraged the formation of communes in episcopal cities, claiming that all such communes were under his own jurisdiction. He had become very pious, and was zealously supported by the clergy and common people, who in turn looked to him for support against the oppression of their feudal tyrants.
Succession of Philip Augustus. His first two wives had given birth only to daughters. One of these had been married to the oldest son of Henry II when the ages of the bride and groom together amounted to only nine years, and Henry trusted that his son might succeed to the throne of France. Great was Louis' joy, therefore, when his third wife bore him a son. In a charter the king recorded his gratitude to God and "how frightened he was at the number of his daughters and with what longing he and his people had desired the advent of a child belonging to a more noble sex. "The son was very different from his father. He was crowned king about a year before the latter's death, but Louis was already partially paralyzed and incapable of ruling. His wife and her four brothers, the archbishop of Reims, the count of Champagne, the count of Blois and Chartres, and the count of Sancerre, were managing the government. Philip was only fourteen, but he was determined to rule. He seized his mother's castles, and in order to get support married the niece of the count of Flanders, who gave Artois, a rich dowry, with the bride.
First Conquests. The count of Flanders had counted upon gaining power by this marriage, but he soon found that he had been duped, as Philip intended to be absolute and felt no gratitude. Consequently the count formed a coalition with the queen-mother and her brothers, which threatened serious disaster to Philip. But after five years of intermittent strife he succeeded in crushing the coalition and extorted Vermandois from the count of Flanders as the price of peace. He was able to do this partly through the support of Henry II, who had befriended him. But no sooner was the victory won than he began to intrigue against Henry, supporting the rebellious sons. Henry tried to keep the peace, and even gave up some fortresses to Philip. But the latter was insatiable, even braving a threatened interdict, until he had aided Richard and John to defeat their father and the old king had died broken-hearted.
Third Crusade. The interdict had been threatened by the Church because Philip, Henry, and Richard had all taken a vow to go on the crusade, and this war delayed the accomplishment of the vow. The need was urgent: Jerusalem had been captured by Saladin in 1187 and the Christians in the Holy Land were in desperate straits. After Henry's death Philip and Richard set out on the crusade. They soon became bitter enemies, and Philip, whose heart was not in the cause, started back as soon as Acre was taken, having spent only a little over three months in Syria. He was anxious to take advantage of the death of the count of Flanders, who had died at Acre, in order to add to his domain, and also he thought to profit by Richard's absence. The latter made Philip take an oath not to make any attack on his lands, but as he knew Philip intimately, he did not expect the oath to be kept.
War with Richard. In fact, as soon as Philip returned home he began to calumniate Richard, pretending to have left Syria for fear of being poisoned by him, and dwelling upon Richard's friendship with the infidel Saladin. He did not content himself with calumnies, but entered into an alliance with Henry VI of Germany and with John, Richard's brother, so that he might be the more free to attack him. Very apropos came the news of Richard's capture by the duke of Austria, as he was returning home from the crusade. Philip endeavored to have Henry VI, to whom the duke had been compelled to hand over Richard, keep him in prison. Meanwhile he attacked Richard's possessions. When Henry released Richard for a ransom of £Ioo,ooo, Philip wrote to John: "Look out for yourself now; the devil is loose." Then ensued five years of warfare between the two kings, mainly waged by mercenaries, who were pitiless in their plundering. Richard had the greater wealth and could hire more men; and he won victory after victory, so that when a truce was finally made, in 1199, Philip had to give up almost all of his conquests. He was overjoyed when he learned, a few weeks later, of Richard's death.
Interdict of 1200. He at once espoused the cause of Arthur, John's nephew, and war soon broke out again. But it lasted only about a year, after which a peace was made, favorable to Philip and securing for him some additional territory, but not as much as he had hoped to gain. For he had been obliged to make peace because of a new danger. France had been placed under an interdict early in the year1200, and his subjects were murmuring. The cause of the laying of the interdict was Philip's treatment of his wife, Ingeborg. She was a young Danish princess whom Philip had married in 1193. He had met and married her the same day, and had seemed delighted with her and her beauty. The following day at her coronation he showed great aversion for her, and soon wanted to send her back to Denmark. The reasons for his change are entirely unknown; some contemporaries attributed it to magic. Ingeborg's conduct was irreproachable, and Philip never gave any explanation, although he attributed the fault to her. He secured a divorce from his bishops on a false statement of consanguinity. Ingeborg appealed to Rome. The pope was a man of little strength of character, and, although he protested feebly against the divorce, he took no decided action. After three years, during which Ingeborg, who refused to go home, was kept in confinement, Philip married Agnes of Meran. When Innocent III became pope he took up Ingeborg's defense. As Philip refused to send Agnes away and to take back Ingeborg, Innocent ordered an interdict to be laid upon France. It was a particularly severe one, and although many of the bishops, and even of the monks, refused to observe it, it was a very great hardship for the people. After about eight months Philip made a show of yielding, and was publicly reconciled with Ingeborg; but he did not take her back as his wife and still kept Agnes. The affair dragged on. Innocent threatened; Philip demanded that he and Ingeborg should be divorced by the pope; nothing was done, and Ingeborg remained a prisoner. But Philip had been freed from the interdict and was able to work at his other plans.
Philip and John. Foremost among these was the conquest of the French lands held by John. And the latter played into Philip's hands by alienating his own vassals both in England and France, so that when the storm broke in the latter country he could not count upon active support from the former. As a result he lost most of his French possessions But Philip was not content with this victory. Since the beginning of his war with Richard he had nourished the idea of an invasion of England. It was to get the support of a Danish fleet for this purpose that he had married Ingeborg; and it was when the project again seemed feasible that she was finally reinstated as his queen, if not as his wife. For in 1213, when John was struggling with Innocent Philip thought the opportunity for his invasion had come, and in order to secure Innocent's favor submitted to his will by taking back Ingeborg, after twenty years of injury and imprisonment. He was the more ready to do this because Agnes had been dead for a dozen years and he had found no one who was willing to give him his daughter in marriage while the cause of Ingeborg was still unsettled. It is pleasant to know that the blameless queen lived a quarter of a century longer and received fitting honor not only from Philip, but also from his son and grandson. By the reconciliation with Ingeborg Philip secured the pope's favor, and was preparing by his orders to lead a crusade against England when he learned that he had been duped by Innocent, who had used him in order to force John to submission.
Battle of Bounnes, 1214. Only one of the vassals had refused to furnish aid to Philip for the invasion of England; this was the count of Flanders. Flanders had long been favorable to the Angevin kings, as it had close associations with England, from which it received the wool for its manufactures of cloth. Now Philip determined to punish the count, and in doing so provoked a strife which exposed him to the greatest peril. For the count allied himself with England, and the lords of Lorraine and Holland and Otto of Germany soon joined in the coalition against Philip. The plan was to attack him in the north and in the southwest at the same time. John hoped to regain his lost possessions, and was prodigal of English money to buy support. He landed at La Rochelle in the middle of February, 1214, and at first had great success, as the nobles of Aquitaine renewed their allegiance to him and many castles opened their gates without contest. But in July his army fled before the smaller host of Philip's son Louis, whom he had left to check John while he himself hastened to meet the enemy in the north. John did not recover from this rout. Later in the month Philip fought the emperor Otto and his allies at Bouvines, and won a signal victory, capturing the most prominent of his rebellious barons, including the count of Flanders. This battle crushed all John's hopes and made Philip stronger than ever before.
Increase of Royal Power. In addition to the conquests that he had made, Philip had added largely to his feudal holdings by skilful diplomacy. The prestige of the crown had become so great that less powerful lords in many parts of France sought to place themselves directly under the suzerainty of the king, and even the great peers sought his confirmation of their charters. Before his death in 1223, Philip Augustus not only had a greater extent of territory but also more actual authority than any one of his vassals. By crushing the coalition in 1214 he had made himself the real power in France. He favored the clergy, but kept them under his control and checked the tendency of the ecclesiastical courts to extend their power. He insisted that they must be subordinate to the royal courts in all matters where the two jurisdictions conflicted, and in some parts of his kingdom took from them all interference in matters of feudal law. He favored the citizens and founded communes by which his royal income might be increased. He employed the burgesses as his officials to a greater extent than the preceding French monarchs had done, and when he went on the crusade intrusted to six burgesses of Paris the charge of the royal treasure and great seal. In many other ways he favored Paris and its merchants. He also protected foreign merchants in France, even in times of war. He followed this policy partly to check the feudal nobles who might be dangerous, but mainly to add to his income. In order to maintain a standing army of mercenaries, he allowed the cities to pay money in place of the military service that they owed. His greatest innovation was the appointment of baillis. Before his reign the various parts of the kingdom had been under the immediate control of prevots, local nobles usually, who used their office to exploit both king and people. In order to check their exactions Philip appointed baillis, who had virtually the same duties as the itinerant justices in England. They were frequently transferred from one part of the country to another, and had to report three times each year to the king's court at Paris. As far as possible the king kept a close watch upon them and checked any injustice. In the newly acquired territories he did not introduce his baillis at once, but in the period of transition employed local nobles who bore the title of se14echal. By these various measures Philip increased the royal income, obtained the favor of the third estate, and checked the power of nobility and clergy.
Acquisition of Languedoc and Aquitaine. Through the Albigensian crusade the French kings were able to add Languedoc to the royal domain. Louis VIII (1223-1226) son of Philip Augustus, took part in the crusade under the leadership of Simon de WIontfort. When Simon's son Amaury was unable to hold the county, he made over his claim to Louis. The latter died too soon to secure possession, but in 1229 Raymond of Toulouse found himself unable to keep up the strife any longer and made his peace by resigning part of his cxm territory to the king, becoming a vassal for the remainder, and betrothing his heiress to a brother of the king. From this time all Languedoc was a part of the kingdom. All Aquitaine was secured later, partly by a triumphal expedition of Louis VIII, but finally by the success of Louis IX over Henry III of England, who, after trying to win back the territory that John had lost, had to surrender the part of Poitou that was still under the English sovereignty.
Feudal Coalitions. Louis VIII, who had been a faithful aid to his father and had shown real ability, lived only three years and then was succeeded by Louis IX, a boy of twelve. The great feudal nobles who had been repressed by his grandfather and father hoped to achieve their independence in the reign of a child, whose mother, Blanche of Castile, was a foreigner and much disliked. One coalition after another was formed. The basest calumnies were spread broadcast concerning the queen. But Blanche was a very able woman and had the hearty support of the mass of the clergy and of the townspeople. She succeeded in crushing all the coalitions, although they included most of the great lords in the north and were supported by the English. Fortunately f or Louis, the weakness of the English regents, and later of Henry III himself, prevented this aid from being efficacious; and the feudal lords had been so weakened by the policy of Philip Augustus that they did not have either the strength or the influence that their predecessors had enjoyed. Nothing could better mark the growth of the royal power than the weakness of those lords who had formerly held it in check.
Character of Louis IX. His mother not only overcame all these coalitions and preserved the power for Louis IX, but she also educated him carefully so that he might rule effectively and wisely. He was brave, prudent, just, and religious. His real strength of character, his impetuousity in youth, his valor as a soldier, have been obscured to some extent by his reputation as a saint. For he was canonized shortly after his death, and in connection with the canonization were related many anecdotes stressing his humility, charity, and other Christian virtues. Fortunately, it is possible through the writings of his friend and companion, Joinville, to form a more correct judgment of the strongest monarch of his age. The latter admired the king, but did not hesitate to poke fun at him occasionally, and sometimes gave him sage advice. The biography written by such a friend gives a wonderfully lifelike picture of Louis: as a lover, stealing interviews with his bride while the attendants watched to warn the young couple of the approach of the queen-mother; as a judge, seated at the foot of the oak in the forest of Vincennes, hearing any cases that might be brought to him; as a soldier, impetuously leaping into the sea in order to be the first in the fight at Damietta ---all in all very human and very lovable.
Government of Louis. His ability, good sense, and moderation made him a successful ruler. He was anxious to act justly toward every one, and insisted that others also should do justice. He kept his vassals in order, repressing all evil deeds on their part as far as lay in his power. He continued and developed the methods that Philip Augustus had established. He revered the Church, and protected it whenever necessary. But he insisted upon the supremacy of the royal courts, and took certain classes of cases away from the ecclesiastical tribunals. He was not subservient to the Church when its claims came into conflict with the royal authority or when he thought that it was following a wrong policy. For so religious a ruler in the Middle Ages he was remarkably independent. And he did not take advantage of the weakness of the empire during the interregnum, nor of Henry III when the latter's subjects were in rebellion. In fact, he voluntarily, as victor, made a peace that was advantageous to the English king, in order to shun any cause for contest in the future. He won the respect of all his contemporaries and the love of his subjects. The latter was the easier to win because he had sufficient income for ordinary expenses, and had to resort to taxation only for special undertakings.
Crusades. Such were his two crusades. He was filled with religious zeal for the cause of the cross, and was anxious to check the advance of the Mongols. But he had no clear ideas as to conditions in the Orient, and his expeditions were failures. He first took the cross in 1244, in spite of the opposition of his mother, whose advice he usually heeded. After long preparation he set sail in 1248 for Cyprus, where he wintered; then he proceeded to Damietta, which he captured. Next he marched southward along the Nile, to capture Cairo. But the army only reached Mansurah, where a desperate battle was fought. The crusaders lost heavily and soon were obliged to retreat. Although very ill, Louis guarded the rear, and was captured. He agreed to pay an enormous ransom, and went to the Holy Land, where he spent four years, and then returned reluctantly to France in 1254. The losses had been so great and the failures so ignominious that all were discouraged except Louis, who never put aside his cross. But he was not able to arrange a second expedition until 1270. Then he was induced to go to Tunis instead of to Egypt or Syria. It is probable that this was due to the influence of his brother Charles of Anjou, ruler of Sicily, who was in alliance with the sultan of Egypt and consequently diverted the crusade. Louis was led to believe that the ruler of Tunis was willing to become a Christian, and he was eager to become "the godfather of such a godson." Consequently the crusading fleet went to Tunis, where Louis was stricken with the plague and died.
France in 1270. At his death France was by far the strongest kingdom in Europe and the king's power was supreme. The feudal lords had been shorn of many of their prerogatives; the Church was firmly checked from encroachments on the royal authority; the cities were being fostered and were loyal. The country was rapidly becoming unified under the excellent administration of the king, and its inhabitants were proud to be known as Frenchmen. Local differences, which had long been so prominent, still persisted, and were destined to be vital factors for centuries; but there was also a feeling of patriotism and common nationality.