Marriage of King Philippe II Augusté of France and Princess Ingebog of Denmark

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Agnes of Merania, Annulment, Divorce, Ingebog of Denmark, King Philip II of France, Pope Celestine III, Pope Innocent III., Sophie of Minsk, Thomas of Savoy, Valdemar I of Denmark

From the Emperor’s Desk: I wanted to include a mention of King Philippe II Augusté’s next marriage after the death of his first wife, but I thought it deserved its own post.

After the early death of Isabella of Hainaut in childbirth in 1190, King Philippe II Augusté of France decided to marry again. He married Ingebog of Denmark a daughter of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sofia of Minsk.

Sophia of Minsk was the daughter of Richeza of Poland, Dowager Queen of Sweden, from her second marriage to a man called “Valador”, King in Poloni Land. The identity of her father is uncertain, it was either Volodar of Minsk or Vladimir Vsevolodich, Prince of Novgorod and son of Vsevolod of Pskov. Both of them are of the Rurikid dynasty.

Political reasons for this royal marriage are disputed, but Philippe probably wanted to gain better relations with Denmark because the countries had been on different sides in the schism of the future succession to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire.

King Philippe II Augusté received 10,000 marks of silver as a dowry and the King met her at Amiens on August 15, 1193 and they were married that same day. At the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, Archbishop Guillaume of Reims crowned both Philippe II Augusté and Ingeborg King and Queen of France.

During the ceremony, Philippe was pale, nervous, and could not wait for the ceremony to end. Following the ceremony, he had Ingeborg sent to the convent of Saint-Maur-des-Fosses and asked Pope Celestine III for an annulment on the grounds of non-consummation. Philippe had not reckoned with Ingeborg, 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 Æbelholt intervened on Ingeborg’s side, 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, daughter of Count William I of Geneva, but the young bride’s journey to Paris was interrupted by Thomas, Count of Savoy, who kidnapped Philippe’s intended new wife and married her 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.

Pope Innocent III declared Philippe Augusté’s 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, Ingeborg’s brother King Valdemar II of Denmark and ultimately Agnes’ death in 1201, Philippe finally took Ingeborg back as his wife, but it would not be until 1213 that she would be recognized at court as Queen.

Philippe’s reconciliation with Ingeborg was not out of altruism because he wished to press his claims to the throne of the Kingdom of England through his ties to the Danish crown. Later, on his deathbed in 1223, he is said to have told his son King Louis VIII to treat her well. Later, both King Louis VIII and King Louis IX acknowledged Ingeborg as a legitimate queen.

After this time, Ingeborg spent most of her time in a priory of Saint-Jean-de-l’Ile which she had founded. It was close to Corbeil on an island in Essonne. She survived her husband by more than 14 years. Ingeborg of Denmark died in either 1237 or 1238 and was buried in the Church of the Order of St John in Corbeil.

March 15, 1190: Death of Princess Isabella of Hainault, Queen of France

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Adèle of Champagne, Archbishop William of the White Hand, Baldwin V of Flanders, Henri of Champagne, King Louis VII of the Franks, King Philip II of France, King Richard I of the English, Pope Clement III, Princess Isabella of Hainault, Queen of France, The Third Crusade

Isabella of Hainault (April 5, 1170 – March 15, 1190) was a Queen of France as the first wife of King Philippe II Augusté of France She was also formally ruling Countess of Artois de jure between 1180 and 1190.

Early life

Isabella was born in Valenciennes on April 5, 1170, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders. When she was just one year old, her father had her betrothed to Henri, the future Count of Champagne. He was the nephew of Adèle of Champagne, the Queen of the Franks the third wife of King Louis VII of the Franks. She was regent of France from 1190 to 1191 while her son Philippe II Augusté participated in the Third Crusade.

Princess Isabella of Hainault, Queen of France

In 1179, both their fathers swore that they would proceed with the marriage, to Henri of Champagne but her father later agreed to her marrying King Philippe II Augusté.

Queen of France

King Louis VII intended to make Philippe co-ruler with him as soon as possible, in accordance with the traditions of the House of Capet, but these plans were delayed when Philippe became ill after a hunting trip. His father went on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket to pray for Philippe’s recovery and was told that his son had indeed recovered. However, on his way back to Paris, the king suffered a stroke.

In declining health, King Louis VII had his 14-year-old son crowned and anointed as king at Reims on November 1, 1179 by Archbishop William of the White Hands.

The ten year old Isabella married Philippe Augusté on April 28, 1180 at Bapaume, and brought as her dowry the County of Artois. The marriage was arranged by her maternal uncle Philippe, Count of Flanders, who was advisor to the King. The wedding did not please the queen dowager, for it meant the rejection of her nephew and the lessening of her brothers’ influence.

From the time of his coronation, all real power was transferred to Philippe, as his father’s health slowly declined. The great nobles were discontented with Philip’s advantageous marriage. His mother and four uncles, all of whom exercised enormous influence over Louis, were extremely unhappy with his attainment of the throne since Philip had taken the royal seal from his father. King Louis VII died on September 18, 1180.

Isabelle was crowned Queen of France at Saint Denis on May 28, 1180. As Baldwin V rightly claimed his daughter to be a descendant of Charlemagne, the chroniclers of the time saw in this marriage a union of the Carolingian and Capetian dynasties.

King Philippe II Augusté of France

Though Isabella received extravagant praise from certain annalists, she initially failed to win Philippe Augusté’s affections owing to her inability to provide him with an heir, although she was only 14 years old at the time. Meanwhile, in 1184, Philippe II Augusté was waging war against Flanders; angered at seeing his wife’s father Baldwin support his enemies, he called a council at Sens for the purpose of repudiating her.

According to Gislebert of Mons, Isabella then appeared barefooted and dressed as a penitent in the town’s churches, thus gaining the sympathy of the people. Her appeals angered them so much that they went to the palace and started shouting loud enough to be heard inside. Robert, the king’s uncle, successfully interposed; no repudiation followed, for repudiating her would also have meant the loss of Artois.

Finally, on September 5, 1187, she gave birth to the desired son, Louis.

Death

Isabella’s second pregnancy was extremely difficult. On March 14, 1190, she gave birth to twin boys named Robért (who died the same day) and Philippe (who died 3 days afterwards, on March 17). Owing to complications in childbirth, she died in Paris the next day (March 15), aged not quite 20, and was buried in the cathedral of Notre-Dame.

She was mourned greatly in the capital, having been a popular queen. Her husband was not with her when she died, nor did he attend the funeral, as he was away in Normandy campaigning against King Richard I of the English. When Philippe II Augusté learnt of her death, he hastily signed a truce with Richard and returned to Paris, where he confirmed the placement of her tomb and spent several days in mourning before returning to Normandy the following week. In a letter to Pope Clement III, he wrote that he greatly missed his late wife.

Isabella’s son Louis succeeded her as Count of Artois. Her dowry of Artois eventually returned to the French crown following the death of her husband, when her son Louis became king.

Appearance

“Queen Isabelle, she of noble form and lovely eyes.” In 1858, Isabelle’s body was exhumed and measured at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. At 90 cm from pelvis to feet, she would have stood about 1.72-1.75 m, (5’8″-5’9″) tall. It was during this exhumation that a silver seal (now in the British Museum) was discovered in the queen’s coffin. Little used during her lifetime, it is one of the few medieval seals with a royal connection to survive from the Middle Ages.

By any other name. Part I

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England, King John of England, King Philip II of France, King Phillippe II of France, King Richard III of England, King Stephen, Magna Carta, Pope Innocent III.

In my discussions in the past over the subject of royal names I have come to learn that in each country there are those names that have become taboo. In other words, there are those names that probably will not be used again due to their association with bad monarchs that last carried the name. Today I will look at some examples.

A couple of the names that comes to mind for the Kings and Queens of the UK is John and Stephen. There has only been one each. It seems very doubtful that there will be other kings of the United kingdom by those names. Stephen, who usurped the throne from his cousin, the Empress Matilda, and plunged the country into civil war, was an able soldier but a weak and indecisive administrator who lost Normandy to Matilda. John is famous, or is that infamous, for being forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. John had a poor relationship with the nobles, lost Normandy to Philippe II of France and was excommunicated by the powerful Pope Innocent III.

King Richard III has also been a king who has had poor reputation. He is one of the top suspects for the murder of his nephews, King Edward V and Prince Richard, Duke of York and with the help of William Shakespeare’s play that doesn’t paint him in a positive light, he is still a much maligned king despite the attempts of the Richard III society to redeem him.

 So, no Stephen II or John II or even a Richard IV. Those are the three names that I do not suspect we will see again in the United Kingdom. This will be a short series but I will continue by looking at some other monarchies were certain names may have fallen out of favor.

 

Part II next week!