This is the first major study in English of the reign of Philip Augustus who ruled France from 1180 - 1223. Outshone for posterity, by his flamboyant contemporaries, the Angevin family of Henry II and his feuding sons, Philip was in fact far more successful than any of them, astutely playing them off against each other and recovering for the French crown their vast estates in Northern France including Normandy itself. As well as reasserting the power of the Capetian monarchy, he was also leader of the Third Crusade. Drawing together all the threads in the life of one of France's most forceful rulers, this new study offers a study of the nature of monarchy in late medieval Europe as well as an insight into a subtle and secretive personality.
- ISBN10 0582060591
- ISBN13 9780582060593
- Publish Date 11 November 1997
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 4 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Imprint Routledge
- Format Paperback
- Pages 400
- Language English