November 18, 1180: Accession of Philippe II of France

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Angevin Empire, Ingeborg of Denmark, John of England, King of the Franks, Philip II of France, Pope Celestine III, Prince Louis of France, Valdemar I of Denmark

Philippe II Auguste (August 23, 1165 – July 14, 1223) King of France from November 18, 1180 to 1223. Philippe was thecof King Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed Dieudonné (God-given) because he was a first son and born late in his father’s life. Philippe was given the epithet “Augustus” by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the crown lands of France so remarkably. Philippe II’s predecessors had been known as Kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philippe became the first French monarch to style himself “King of France”.

After a twelve-year struggle with the Plantagenet dynasty in the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214, Philippe succeeded in breaking up the large Angevin Empire presided over by the crown of England and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. This victory would have a lasting impact on western European politics: the authority of the French king became unchallenged, while the English King John was forced by his barons to assent to Magna Carta and deal with a rebellion against him aided by Philippe’s son Prince Louis, the First Barons’ War. The military actions surrounding the Albigensian Crusade helped prepare the expansion of France southward. Philippe did not participate directly in these actions, but he allowed his vassals and knights to help carry them out.

Philippe II transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns free themselves from seigneurial authority, granting privileges and liberties to the emergent bourgeoisie. He built a great wall around Paris (“the Wall of Philippe II Augustus”), re-organized the French government and brought financial stability to his country.

He was married on April 28, 1180 to Isabelle of Hainaut, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders, who brought the County of Artois as her dowry.

Marital problems

After the early death of Isabella of Hainaut in childbirth in 1190, Philippe decided to marry again. On August 15, 1193, he married Ingeborg, daughter of King Valdemar I of Denmark. She was renamed Isambour, and Stephen of Tournai described her as “very kind, young of age but old of wisdom.”

Philippe, however, discovered on their wedding night that she had terribly bad breath, and he refused to allow her to be crowned queen. Ingeborg protested at this treatment; Philippe’s response was to confine her to a convent. He then asked Pope Celestine III for an annulment on the grounds of non-consummation and consanguinity. Philippe had not reckoned with Isambour, however; she insisted that the marriage had been consummated, and that she was his wife and the rightful Queen of France. The Franco-Danish churchman William of Paris intervened on the side of Ingeborg, drawing up a genealogy of the Danish kings to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity.

In the meantime, Philippe had sought a new bride. Initial agreement had been reached for him to marry Margaret of Geneva, daughter of William I, Count of Geneva, but the young bride’s journey to Paris was interrupted by Thomas, Count of Savoy, who kidnapped Philippe’s intended new queen and married her himself instead, claiming that Philippe was already bound in marriage. Philippe finally achieved a third marriage in June 1196, when he was married to Agnes of Merania from Dalmatia. Their children were Marie and Philippe, Count of Clermont, and, by marriage, Count of Boulogne.

Pope Innocent III declared Philippe Augustus’ marriage to Agnes of Merania null and void, as he was still married to Ingeborg. He ordered the king to part from Agnes, and when he did not, the Pope placed France under an interdict in 1199. This continued until September 7, 1200. Due to pressure from the Pope and from Ingeborg’s brother King Valdemar II of Denmark, Philippe finally took Isambour back as his wife in 1201, but it would not be until 1213 that she would be recognized at court as Queen.

Philippe II fell ill in September 1222 and had a will made, but carried on with his itinerary. Hot weather the next summer worsened his fever, but a brief remission prompted him to travel to Paris on July 13 1223, against the advice of his physician. He died en route the next day, in Mantes-la-Jolie, at the age of 58.

His body was carried to Paris on a bier. He was interred in the Basilica of St Denis in the presence of his son and successor by Isabella of Hainaut, Louis VIII, as well as his illegitimate son Philippe I, Count of Boulogne and John of Brienne, the King of Jerusalem.

January 17, 1991: Death of King Olav V of Norway

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Christian X of Denmark, Gustaf V of Sweden, Haakon VII of Norway, Ingeborg of Denmark, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King Harald V of Norway, Kingdom of Norway, Olav V of Norway, Princess Märtha of Sweden

Olav was born Prince Alexander Edward Christian Frederik in Appleton House on the royal Sandringham Estate, Flitcham, United Kingdom. His parents were Prince Carl, second son of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (later King Frederik VIII), and Princess Maud, youngest daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who was the eldest son of Britain’s Queen Victoria. When Olav’s father was elected king of Norway, he took the name Haakon VII, and on the day he was inaugurated, he gave his son the Norwegian name Olav after Olaf II Haakonsson.

He became heir apparent to the Norwegian throne when his father was elected King of Norway in 1905. He was the first heir to the Norwegian throne to be brought up in Norway since Olav IV in the fourteenth century, and his parents made sure he was given as Norwegian an upbringing as possible. In preparation for his future role, he attended both civilian and military schools. In 1929, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden. During World War II his leadership was much appreciated and he was appointed Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944. At his death in 1991, he was the last surviving grandchild of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark.

Owing to his considerate, down-to-earth style, King Olav was immensely popular, resulting in the nickname Folkekongen (“The People’s King”). In a 2005 poll by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Olav was voted “Norwegian of the Century”.

Princess Märtha of Sweden

On March 21, 1929 in Oslo, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden, the second child of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Her father was the younger brother of King Gustav V of Sweden, making her a first cousin twice removed of the present King of Sweden, and her mother was the younger sister of King Christian X of Denmark and of King Haakon VII of Norway. with whom he had two daughters, Ragnhild and Astrid and one son, Harald (future King Harald V of Norway)

As exiles during World War II, Crown Princess Märtha and the royal children lived in Washington, D.C., where she struck up a close friendship with Franklin D. Roosevelt. She died in 1954, before her husband ascended the throne.

During the summer of 1990, the King suffered from health problems, but recovered somewhat during Christmas the same year. At the age of 87, on 17 January 1991, while residing in the Royal Lodge Kongsseteren in Oslo, he became ill and died in the evening of a myocardial infarction. An interview given by King Harald V and hints in a biography by Jo Benkow, who was the President of the Storting at that time, mention the possibility that King Olav suffered great trauma upon learning of the outbreak of the first Gulf War, which began the day of his death. Olav’s son Harald V succeeded him as King.