Philip II Augustus inherited a domain that made him at least the equal of such lords as
those who ruled Flanders, Burgundy, or Normandy. His wealth and power were
nevertheless dwarfed by the French resources of Henry II of England, who held
Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Poitou, and the mouvance of most of southwestern France.
Philip, however, secured Artois from Flanders as his wife’s dowry, and in a series of
steps acquired the counties of Amiens, Valois, and Vermandois following a disputed
succession. His legal proceedings against King John of England in 1203 led to his
conquest of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine. Louis VIII occupied Poitou in 1224 and laid
the groundwork for the settlement of 1229 that secured lower Languedoc for the crown.
In just twenty-five years, the territorial extent of the royal domain had increased
explosively.
Louis VIII granted out much of the new territory other than Normandy and Languedoc
as apanages to his younger sons, but dynastic marriages and fortuitous deaths brought
much of this land back into royal hands along with additional territories like the county of
Toulouse (1271). Philip IV, by marrying the heiress of Champagne, added that county to
the domain of his successors. The accession of Philip VI in 1328 returned to the crown
the vast holdings of the Valois family. Serious reversals during the Hundred Years’ War
reduced the domain substantially, but the crown finally made good these losses, seizing
the last of Aquitaine in 1453 and the duchy of Burgundy in 1477. In 1481, the king
regained the lands of the house of Anjou, including Provence, which lay outside the
medieval French kingdom. The marriage of successive kings to the heiress of Brittany
finally brought that stubbornly autonomous region under royal control.
This superficial survey of the most important territorial acquisitions does not take into
account the steady gains of royal jurisdiction, the acquisition of scattered rights and
properties all over France, and the administrative improvements that steadily augmented
royal wealth and power throughout the 13th and early 14th centuries.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
[See also: APANAGE; CAPETIAN DYNASTY; ROYAL ADMINISTRATION
AND FINANCE]
Fawtier, Robert. The Capetian Kings of France, trans. L.Butler and R.J.Adam. London: Macmillan,
1960.
Lot, Ferdinand, and Robert Fawtier. Histoire des institutions françaises au moyen âge. 3 vols.
Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1958, Vol. 2: Institutions royales.
Newman, William M. Le domaine royal sous les premiers capétiens (987–1180). Paris: Sirey,
1937.
ROYAUMONT
. The Cistercian abbey of Royaumont (Oise) was founded in 1228 by King Louis IX in
fulfillment of his father’s will. Although Louis VIII had stipulated a Victorine
foundation, the execution of the will redirected the endowment to the Cistercians, perhaps
as a result of the influence of the queen regent, Blanche of Castile. The new abbey was
richly endowed by Louis and his noblemen, which permitted the rapid construction of the
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