PHILIP I, KING OF FRANCE

Reigned from 1060–1108; b. 1052. The son of Henry I (1031–1060) and Anne of Kiev, Philip was consecrated king at Reims in 1059 prior to his father's death. Owing to Philip's accession to the French throne at a young age, Baldwin V of Flanders, his father's brother-in-law, served as regent from 1060 until 1066. In 1072, Philip married Bertha of Frisia, the mother of Louis VI, but he later repudiated her because of his affection for Bertrada of Montfort, wife of Fulk IV of Anjou in 1092. In 1095 at the Council of Clermont, urban ii excommunicated Philip over his marriage to Bertrada of Montfort, but support from French bishops, who were eager to limit papal interference in the French church, lessened the impact of the papal condemnation. Although most French bishops sided with Philip, the canonist Ivo of Chartres strongly voiced his opposition, which Philip ignored. Philip's antagonism toward the papacy continued throughout his reign. gregory vii's attempts to intervene in French episcopal elections, especially those that involved simony and lay investiture, met with stiff resistance from Philip. These issues reached a climax under Pope Urban II, who challenged the elections of the archbishop of Sens and the bishop of Orléans. In an age of religious reform, Philip's contemporaries often regarded him as no friend of ecclesiastical authority. Despite previous quarrels, Philip eventually came to terms with Pope Paschal II at the Council of Troyes (1107), where they reached an agreement over lay investiture. To enrich his own royal coffers, Philip plundered episcopal lands and religious houses. Yet, Philip provided for some monastic houses, especially those with Cluniac affiliations. In 1079, he reestablished his father's house of Saint-Martin-des-Champs as a Cluniac priory. He was buried at the abbey of Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire at Fleury.

Bibliography: suger, The Deeds of Louis the Fat, ed. and tr. r. c. cusimano and j. moorhead (Washington, DC 1992). r. fawtier, The Capetian Kings of France, tr. l. butler and r. j. adam (New York 1960). e. hallam, Capetian France, 987–1138 (London 1980). a. luchaire, Les Premiers Capetians (Paris 1901). a. fliche, Le Règne de Philippe Ier, roi de France, 1060–1108 (Paris 1912).

[p. d. watkins]