Philip II of France
Conflict with Richard the Lionheart, 1191–1199

The immediate cause of Philip's conflict with Richard the Lionheart stemmed from Richard's decision to break his betrothal with Philip's sister Alys at Messina in 1191. Some of Alys's dowry that had been given over to Richard during their engagement was part of the territory of Vexin. This should have reverted to Philip upon the end of the betrothal, but Philip, to prevent the collapse of the Crusade, agreed that this territory was to remain in Richard's hands and would be inherited by his male descendants. Should Richard die without an heir, the territory would return to Philip, and if Philip died without an heir, those lands would be considered a part of Normandy.

Returning to France in late 1191, Philip began plotting to find a way to have those territories restored to him. He was in a difficult situation, as he had taken an oath not to attack Richard's lands while he was away on a crusade. The Third Crusade ordained territory under the protection of the Church in any event. Philip was unsuccessful in requesting a release from his oath from Pope Celestine III, so he was forced to build his own casus belli.

On 20 January 1192, Philip met with William FitzRalph, Richard's seneschal for Normandy. Presenting some documents purporting to be from Richard, Philip claimed that the English king had agreed at Messina to hand disputed lands over to France. Not having heard anything directly from their sovereign, FitzRalph and the Norman barons rejected Philip's claim to Vexin. Philip at this time also began spreading rumors about Richard's action in the east to discredit the English king in the eyes of his subjects. Among the stories Philip invented included Richard being involved in treacherous communication with Saladin, alleging he had conspired to cause the fall of Gaza, Jaffa, and Ascalon, and that he had participated in the murder of Conrad of Montferrat. Finally, Philip made contact with John, Richard's brother, whom he convinced to join the conspiracy to overthrow the legitimate king of England.

At the start of 1193, John visited Philip in Paris, where he paid homage for Richard's continental lands. When word reached Philip that Richard had finished crusading and had been captured on his way back from the Holy Land, he promptly invaded Vexin. His first target was the fortress of Gisors, commanded by Gilbert de Vascoeuil, which surrendered without putting up a struggle. Philip then penetrated deep into Normandy, reaching as far as Dieppe. To keep the duplicitous John on his side, Philip entrusted him with the defence of the town of Évreux. Meanwhile, Philip was joined by Count Baldwin IX of Flanders, and together they laid siege to Rouen, the ducal capital of Normandy. Here, Philip's advance was halted by a defense led by the Earl of Leicester. Unable to penetrate this defense, Philip moved on.

At Mantes on 9 July 1193, Philip came to terms with Richard's ministers, who agreed that Philip could keep his gains and would be given some extra territories if he ceased all further aggressive actions in Normandy, along with the condition that Philip would hand back the captured territory if Richard would pay homage. To prevent Richard from spoiling their plans, Philip and John attempted to bribe Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in order to keep the English king captive for a little while longer. Henry refused, and Richard was released from captivity on 4 February 1194. By 13 March Richard had returned to England, and by 12 May he had set sail for Normandy with some 300 ships, eager to engage Philip in war.

Philip had spent this time consolidating his territorial gains and by now controlled much of Normandy east of the Seine, while remaining within striking distance of Rouen. His next objective was the castle of Verneuil, which had withstood an earlier siege. Once Richard arrived at Barfleur, he soon marched towards Verneuil. As his forces neared the castle, Philip, who had been unable to break through, decided to strike camp. Leaving a large force behind to prosecute the siege, he moved off towards Évreux, which John had handed over to his brother to prove his loyalty. Philip retook the town and sacked it, but during this time, his forces at Verneuil abandoned the siege, and Richard entered the castle unopposed on 30 May. Throughout June, while Philip's campaign ground to a halt in the north, Richard was taking a number of important fortresses to the south. Philip, eager to relieve the pressure off his allies in the south, marched to confront Richard's forces at Vendôme. Refusing to risk everything in a major battle, Philip retreated, only to have his rear guard caught at Fréteval on 3 July. This Battle of Fréteval turned into a general encounter in which Philip barely managed to avoid capture as his army was put to flight. Fleeing back to Normandy, Philip avenged himself on the English by attacking the forces of John and the Earl of Arundel, seizing their baggage train. By now both sides were tiring, and they agreed to the temporary Truce of Tillières.

The war resumed in 1195 when Philip once again besieged Verneuil. He continued the siege in secret as Richard arrived to negotiate in person; when Richard found out, he swore revenge and left. Philip now pressed his advantage in northeastern Normandy, where he conducted a raid at Dieppe, burning the English ships in the harbor while repulsing an attack by Richard at the same time. Philip now marched southward into the Berry region. His primary objective was the fortress of Issoudun, which had just been captured by Richard's mercenary commander, Mercadier. The French king took the town and was besieging the castle when Richard stormed through French lines and made his way in to reinforce the garrison, while at the same time, another army was approaching Philip's supply lines. Philip called off his attack, and another truce was agreed; the Treaty of Louviers.

The war slowly turned against Philip over the course of the next three years. Political and military conditions seemed promising at the start of 1196 when Richard's nephew Arthur I, Duke of Brittany ended up in Philip's hands, and he won the Siege of Aumale, but Philip's good fortune did not last. Richard won over a key ally, Baldwin of Flanders, in 1197. The same year, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI died and was succeeded by Otto IV, Richard's nephew, who put additional pressure on Philip. Finally, many Norman lords were switching sides and returning to Richard's camp. This was the state of affairs when Philip launched his campaign of 1198 with an attack on Vexin that was pushed back and then compounded by the Flemish invasion of Artois.

On 27 September, Richard entered Vexin, taking Courcelles-sur-Seine and Boury-en-Vexin before returning to Dangu. Philip, believing that Courcelles was still holding out, went to its relief. Discovering what was happening, Richard decided to attack the French king's forces, catching Philip by surprise. Philip's forces withdrew and attempted to reach the fortress of Gisors. Bunched together, the French knights with king Philip attempted to cross the Epte River on a bridge that promptly collapsed under their weight, almost drowning Philip in the process. He was dragged out of the river and shut himself up in Gisors, having successfully evaded Richard and reinforced the fortress.

Philip soon planned a new offensive, launching destructive raids into Normandy and again targeting Évreux. Richard countered Philip's thrust with a counterattack in Vexin, while Mercadier led a raid on Abbeville. By autumn 1198, Richard had regained almost all that had been lost in 1193. With the warring sides in a deadlock, Philip offered a truce so that discussions could begin towards a more permanent peace, with the offer that he would return all of the territories except for Gisors.

In mid-January 1199, the two kings met for a final meeting, Richard standing on the deck of a boat, and Philip standing on the banks of the Seine River. Shouting terms at each other, they could not reach an agreement on the terms of a permanent truce, but they did agree to further mediation, which resulted in a five-year truce that held. Later in 1199, Richard was killed during a siege involving one of his vassals.
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