Area/Ruler: | Feudal France -Paris: Philip II of France |
Reigned: | 1180 AD - 1223 AD |
Denomination: | AR Denier parisis |
Mint: | Paris |
Obverse: | In centre; monogram "FRANCO" ("FRA" on first line, then "NCO" reversed on second line. "PHILIPUS REX" round outside. |
Reverse: | Cross. "PARISIS" (mint) |
Reference: | Duplessy 164 |
Weight: | 0.8 gms |
Diameter: | 19.2 mm |
PHILIP II (of France)
(1165-1223),
PHILIP II was king of France (1180-1223), one of the most powerful European monarchs of the Middle Ages. His full name was Philip Augustus. The son of King Louis VII, Philip was born on August 21, 1165, in Gonesse, near Paris. He became co-regent with his father in 1179. From 1181 to 1186 Philip combated a coalition of barons in Flanders, Burgundy, and Champagne and at their expense increased the royal domain. Philip allied himself with Richard, Duke of Aquitaine, who in 1189 became Richard I of England, and in 1190 the two kings embarked on the Third Crusade. The kings quarrelled, however, and Philip returned to France in 1191. Allied with Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI and Richard's brother, John, later king of England, Philip attacked Richard's territories in France. Richard returned in 1194 and went to war against Philip. By the time of Richard's death in 1199, Philip had been forced to surrender most of the territory he had annexed. Philip subsequently warred against John, who became king of England in 1199; between 1202 and 1205 Philip more than doubled his territory by annexing Normandy, Maine, Brittany, Anjou, Touraine, and Poitou. |