tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8683681702039130081.post8178229457981072372..comments2023-12-06T09:36:49.503-08:00Comments on Defending the Crusader Kingdoms: Philip II of France in the Holy LandHelena P. Schraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8683681702039130081.post-51096913881130707062018-04-02T22:31:25.609-07:002018-04-02T22:31:25.609-07:00The barons of Anjou, Maine, Touraine and Aquitaine...The barons of Anjou, Maine, Touraine and Aquitaine preferred Philip to John, whose word was even less trustworthy. Philip of France would deprive you of your fiefs or imprison or exile you ( as for the Dammartin brothers) but John would beat you to death (if you were his nephew) or starve you to death.Shinjineehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12322077659283076892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8683681702039130081.post-71135039594976525322018-04-02T22:27:52.227-07:002018-04-02T22:27:52.227-07:00Me, neither. Unfortunately, John was even more dis...Me, neither. Unfortunately, John was even more dishonorable<br /> Philip's coup in marrying his son to Eleanor's granddaughter served only to legitimize the Capetian coquest of Normandy and subsequent takeover of the rest including Aquitaine after Eleanor's death. As far as the vassals were concerned, the future kings of France had the blood of their ancient dukes and were infinitely preferable to the kinslaying and POW starving John. These prisoners were the leading barons and knights of Poitou and Aquitaine. I think itsi not surprising that these regions fought fiercely against Edward III and his son a century and half later. Long held memories...Shinjineehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12322077659283076892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8683681702039130081.post-38210487130638698282018-04-02T22:16:32.944-07:002018-04-02T22:16:32.944-07:00He reminds me of Ferdinand the Catholic of Aragon ...He reminds me of Ferdinand the Catholic of Aragon who lived three hundred years later. Neither king believed in God nor had a fear of divine punishment. This was an advantage for them in a God-fearing age.<br /><br />Philip was lucky in Richard's capture, in Richard's death without a direct heir, in John's own sins which turned his vassals against him, and in the timing of the Albigensian Crusade. <br /><br />He used that to distract potentially rebellious vassals and to destroy the power of the Counts of Toulouse and Kings of Aragon in southern France. He also had a very strong and shrewd daughter in law in the seriously underrated Blanche of Castile. <br /><br />And, of course, in France, strict agnatic primogeniture was applied to the French royal succession, leading to reduced internecine feuds among the Capetians in the 1200s and 1300s.<br /><br /> It also helped Louis VIII and his sons that Philip II's younger son Hurepel was arguably illegitimate (legitimated by Papal Bull). His threat to Blanche's regency was limited by this and his father's failure to wed him to Eleanor of Brittany.<br /><br />Finally, there was the sheer incompetence of two Angevin kings John and Henry III, followed by the too trusting Edward I. John was good at stealing from others, not at building up legitimacy for himself and his son. Without the support of William Marshal and others, his young son's reign would have foundered. (I'm strongly opposed to John, his son and even his grandson to some extent). I think that despite Philip Augustus's own distasteful qualities, he, his son Louis VIII, and grandson Louis IX were better rulers compared to their Plantagenet contemporaries. ( And I say this despite their awful treatment of the Jews, Cathars, and other sects).Shinjineehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12322077659283076892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8683681702039130081.post-16262661151254596922016-10-28T17:04:15.848-07:002016-10-28T17:04:15.848-07:00No, never cared for someone I couldn't trust t...No, never cared for someone I couldn't trust to keep his word.Mystic Scholarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07593826779432906953noreply@blogger.com