Philip I (1040 – 1109)
PoD: The Hundred Years War begins with Alfred the Great, who after crushing the Vikings, claimed the French crown and invaded France. However, ITTL, the war is going on for more than a century and the western part of France is ruled by the Anglosaxons.
Philip I (23 May 1040 – 1 July 1109), called the Brave, was King of the Franks from 1065 to 1109.
Life
Early Years
Philip was born 23 May 1040 at Champagne-et-Fontaine, the son of Henry I and his wife Anne of Kiev. Unusual for the time in Western Europe, his name was of Greek origin, being bestowed upon him by his mother.
The year of Philip's birth is not recorded in the medieval documentation. According to one of the authors of the Anonymous Chronicle of Troyes, who met the monarch and was present at his death, he died at age 62 after reigning 44 years. This indicates that he was born in the second half of 1047 or in the first half of 1048. However, Ettiene of Lyon wrote that Philip was 69 when he died, but that would place his birth around 1040.
All the children of King Henry I, according to the Anonymous Chronicle , were educated in the liberal arts, and Phillip and his brother Hugh were also trained in arms, the "art of running horses in the French usage", and hunting. The cleric Fulk was in charge of Philip's early education. Once king, Philip appointed him Bishop of Orleans and referred to him as magistro nostro, viro nobile et Deum timenti ("our master, a noble man who fears God"). Philip Alfonso probably spent long periods with of Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais, where, with Fulk, the son of Geoffrey, he learned the art of war and what was expected of a knight.
Ascension to the Throne and Anglosaxon invasions (1086–1109)
After his coronation in January 1066, Philip had to confront the expansionist desires of King Harold Godwinson of England. However, the untimely death of the English king (December 24, 1072) gave way to a civil war (1072-1074) between his brothers Tostig, Earl of Northumbria (c. 1026 – 25 September 1073), Gyrth, Earl of East Anglia (c. 1032 – 1 July 1101) and Leofwine Earl of Kent (c. 1035 – 13 February 1074). Phillip took advantage of this situation and, determined to end the English dominion over half of France, struck deep into the lands held by the invaders. In 1074 he conquered the strategic fortress of Poitiers. This opened the way to the conquest of most of the Duchies of Gascony and Aquitaine by 1085.
By 1086, King Gyrth crossed the Channel and landed in Normandy with a great army. After gathering forces with the local lords at Caen, they marched toward Caen, which was then under French siege. There, on 23 October 1086, they faced the troops of Philip I. The battle ended with the defeat of the French king, who withdrew to Paris to defend the city, but Gyrth did not take advantage of the victory since he had to rush back to England because of the death of his elder son. The defeat marked the end of the French offensive as the military initiative was taken by the Anglosaxons and Philip I had to remain on the defensive. Nevertheless, he was able to retain Paris, the main target of the Anglosaxon attacks.
In 1088 Gyrth crossed the Channel for the second time, but was defeated at the siege of Blois and some feudal lords in England used the opportunity to rebel to force the king to accept their demands. Gyrth would not return, then, to France until 1090, after crushing and deposing the most conspicuous leaders of the revolt. Phillip used this time to conquer the Vexin. In June 1090, Gyrth launched his third attack, deposed the duke of Normandy and put into line the French Anglosaxon lords; then he completely crushed Phillip I and recovered most of Aquitaine. When Gascony was lost in 1094, the French king fell into despair, only partially healed by the successful defence of Orleans in June of that year, when Thibaut, Seigneur de Montmorency, responsible for defending the city, defeated the Anglosaxon army that had advanced against him in the Battle of Villemaury on 21 October.
In 1097, there was a fourth Anglosaxon invasion. Philip received the news when he was on his way to Flanders to seize the county as Robert II of Flanders was away on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Once again, Gyrth's objective was Orleans, and he defeated the French forces at the Battle of Bonneval on 15 August, thus confirming the decline of the reign of Phillip I that had begun in 1086 with the defeat at Caen. By 1099, Gyrth had conquered a large number of the castles that defended Orleans and the surrounding areas and, in the following year, he tried unsuccessfully to seize the city.
In 1102 Philip I sent troops to help Orleans, but the campaign ended without a clear winner. The same year, he undertook the refortification of the area to protect the city. while trying to prepare for an eventual loss of Orleans. In 1104, 1105, and 1106, the king made several incursions into Maine and Touraine, reaching Le Mans in 1106. In 1108, King Edmund of England, son and heir of the late Gyrth, retaliated and attacked French territories, but this time the chosen city was not Orleans but Bourges. The armies clashed in the Battle of Bourges on 29 May 1108 and the French troops suffered another defeat, which opened a period of crisis in France that was to last for the next thirty years.
Death and Burial
Philip died in the castle of Melun and was buried at the monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire – and not in St Denis among his forefathers, thus fulfilling the wishes of the monarch. He was succeeded by his son, Louis VI. The mortal remains of the king were deposited in a stone sepulcher, which was placed at the feet of the church of the Royal Monastery, until the reign of Philip IV, who deemed it unseemly that his ancestor was buried at the foot of the temple and ordered the tomb to be moved inside and placed in the church's transept.
Philip I (23 May 1040 – 1 July 1109), called the Brave, was King of the Franks from 1065 to 1109.
Life
Early Years
Philip was born 23 May 1040 at Champagne-et-Fontaine, the son of Henry I and his wife Anne of Kiev. Unusual for the time in Western Europe, his name was of Greek origin, being bestowed upon him by his mother.
The year of Philip's birth is not recorded in the medieval documentation. According to one of the authors of the Anonymous Chronicle of Troyes, who met the monarch and was present at his death, he died at age 62 after reigning 44 years. This indicates that he was born in the second half of 1047 or in the first half of 1048. However, Ettiene of Lyon wrote that Philip was 69 when he died, but that would place his birth around 1040.
All the children of King Henry I, according to the Anonymous Chronicle , were educated in the liberal arts, and Phillip and his brother Hugh were also trained in arms, the "art of running horses in the French usage", and hunting. The cleric Fulk was in charge of Philip's early education. Once king, Philip appointed him Bishop of Orleans and referred to him as magistro nostro, viro nobile et Deum timenti ("our master, a noble man who fears God"). Philip Alfonso probably spent long periods with of Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais, where, with Fulk, the son of Geoffrey, he learned the art of war and what was expected of a knight.
Ascension to the Throne and Anglosaxon invasions (1086–1109)
After his coronation in January 1066, Philip had to confront the expansionist desires of King Harold Godwinson of England. However, the untimely death of the English king (December 24, 1072) gave way to a civil war (1072-1074) between his brothers Tostig, Earl of Northumbria (c. 1026 – 25 September 1073), Gyrth, Earl of East Anglia (c. 1032 – 1 July 1101) and Leofwine Earl of Kent (c. 1035 – 13 February 1074). Phillip took advantage of this situation and, determined to end the English dominion over half of France, struck deep into the lands held by the invaders. In 1074 he conquered the strategic fortress of Poitiers. This opened the way to the conquest of most of the Duchies of Gascony and Aquitaine by 1085.
By 1086, King Gyrth crossed the Channel and landed in Normandy with a great army. After gathering forces with the local lords at Caen, they marched toward Caen, which was then under French siege. There, on 23 October 1086, they faced the troops of Philip I. The battle ended with the defeat of the French king, who withdrew to Paris to defend the city, but Gyrth did not take advantage of the victory since he had to rush back to England because of the death of his elder son. The defeat marked the end of the French offensive as the military initiative was taken by the Anglosaxons and Philip I had to remain on the defensive. Nevertheless, he was able to retain Paris, the main target of the Anglosaxon attacks.
In 1088 Gyrth crossed the Channel for the second time, but was defeated at the siege of Blois and some feudal lords in England used the opportunity to rebel to force the king to accept their demands. Gyrth would not return, then, to France until 1090, after crushing and deposing the most conspicuous leaders of the revolt. Phillip used this time to conquer the Vexin. In June 1090, Gyrth launched his third attack, deposed the duke of Normandy and put into line the French Anglosaxon lords; then he completely crushed Phillip I and recovered most of Aquitaine. When Gascony was lost in 1094, the French king fell into despair, only partially healed by the successful defence of Orleans in June of that year, when Thibaut, Seigneur de Montmorency, responsible for defending the city, defeated the Anglosaxon army that had advanced against him in the Battle of Villemaury on 21 October.
In 1097, there was a fourth Anglosaxon invasion. Philip received the news when he was on his way to Flanders to seize the county as Robert II of Flanders was away on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Once again, Gyrth's objective was Orleans, and he defeated the French forces at the Battle of Bonneval on 15 August, thus confirming the decline of the reign of Phillip I that had begun in 1086 with the defeat at Caen. By 1099, Gyrth had conquered a large number of the castles that defended Orleans and the surrounding areas and, in the following year, he tried unsuccessfully to seize the city.
In 1102 Philip I sent troops to help Orleans, but the campaign ended without a clear winner. The same year, he undertook the refortification of the area to protect the city. while trying to prepare for an eventual loss of Orleans. In 1104, 1105, and 1106, the king made several incursions into Maine and Touraine, reaching Le Mans in 1106. In 1108, King Edmund of England, son and heir of the late Gyrth, retaliated and attacked French territories, but this time the chosen city was not Orleans but Bourges. The armies clashed in the Battle of Bourges on 29 May 1108 and the French troops suffered another defeat, which opened a period of crisis in France that was to last for the next thirty years.
Death and Burial
Philip died in the castle of Melun and was buried at the monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire – and not in St Denis among his forefathers, thus fulfilling the wishes of the monarch. He was succeeded by his son, Louis VI. The mortal remains of the king were deposited in a stone sepulcher, which was placed at the feet of the church of the Royal Monastery, until the reign of Philip IV, who deemed it unseemly that his ancestor was buried at the foot of the temple and ordered the tomb to be moved inside and placed in the church's transept.
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