Philip of Dreux

Philip of Dreux
Bishop of Beauvais
Reign	1175–1217
Predecessor	Bartholomew of Montcornet
Successor	Milo of Nanteuil
Born	1158
Died	4 November 1217 (aged 68–69)
Burial	Beauvais Cathedral
House	House of Dreux
Father	Robert I
Mother	Agnes de Baudemont, Countess of Braine

Philip of Dreux (Philippe de Dreux) (1158–1217) was a French nobleman, Bishop of Beauvais, and figure of the Third Crusade.

He was an active soldier, an ally in the field of Philip Augustus, the French king and his cousin,^[1] making him an opponent in campaigns in France and elsewhere of Richard I of England. He was in also in demand as a priest, to make and break marriages. He presided over that of Conrad of Montferrat at the siege of Acre, marrying him to Isabella I of Jerusalem, daughter of Amalric I, whose marriage he annulled.^[2] He was also party to the annulment of the marriage between Philip Augustus and Ingeborg of Denmark.^[3]

Life

He was son of Robert I of Dreux, and brother of Robert II of Dreux.

He first campaigned in Palestine in 1180, in an expedition headed by Henry II of Champagne and Peter I of Courtenay. This attack on Saladin's holdings was ineffectual.^[4]

Robert II and Philip of Dreux arrived with forces in Palestine in 1189.^[5]

Richard Lionheart bore him a consistent enmity after the Crusade; Philip of Dreux had been one of those relaying the rumour that Richard was responsible for the killing of Conrad of Montferrat.^[6][7][8] Subsequently Philip had gone to Germany, when Richard was imprisoned, to advocate against setting him free.^[9] There, Philip encouraged Richard's captors to treat him poorly, earning the lifelong hatred of Richard, who considered him "a robber and an incendiary".^[10]

He was captured by Angevin forces under the mercenary leader Mercadier in a Normandy campaign, in 1197.^[11] Richard was still refusing to release him a year later,^[12] and again early in 1199.^[13] When Peter of Capua (who was trying to enlist Richard for the Fourth Crusade) insisted that Richard release Philip, Richard exploded and threatened to castrate Peter, so intense was his hatred of his prisoner Philip.^[14] Pope Celestine III was unsympathetic to Philip, confined at Rouen and then, after an escape attempt, at Chinon. He was freed only after Richard’s death in 1199,^[15] with Richard's successor, John agreeing to exchange him for the captured bishop-elect of Cambrai in 1200.^[16]

In 1210 he was in action against the Cathars in southern France, with Renaud de Mouçon, bishop of Chartres, in support of Simon de Montfort.^[17][18]

He drew support from Philip Augustus in his conflict against Renaud de Dammartin, leading to Renaud's 1212 alliance with John.^[19] Philip was later a combatant on the victorious French side in 1214 at the Battle of Bouvines.^[20][21] He took a mace to William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury, at an important moment in the battle, leading to the Earl’s capture.^[22]

In his last year as bishop he founded the Pentemont Abbey, a Cistercian convent whose later buildings in Paris remain to the present day.^[23]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Philip of Dreux

16. Henry I of France               8. Philip I of France                       17. Anne of Kiev               4. Louis VI of France                             18. Floris I, Count of Holland               9. Bertha of Holland                       19. Gertrude of Saxony               2. Robert I of Dreux                                   20. Amadeus II, Count of Savoy               10. Humbert II, Count of Savoy                       21. Joan of Geneva               5. Adelaide of Maurienne                             22. William I, Count of Burgundy               11. Gisela of Burgundy                       23. Etiennete               1. Philip of Dreux                                         12. Andre de Baudément                       6. Guy de Baudement                             13. Agnes                       3. Agnes de Baudemont, Countess of Braine                                   7. Alix, Dame de Braine

References

• Peter Boyle (2005), Blondel's Song
• Jim Bradbury (1998), Philip Augustus
• John Gillingham (2nd edition 1989), Richard the Lionheart
• Steven Runciman (Penguin edition 1990), A History of the Crusades (three volumes)

Notes

1. Bradbury, p. 198.
2. Boyle, p. 63.
3. Boyle, p. 205.
4. Runciman II, p. 421.
5. http://www.packrat-pro.com/crusades/crusade3.htm
6. Bradbury p. 94.
7. Boyle, p. 100.
8. Runciman III, pp. 64-5.
9. Bradbury, p. 122, p. 201.
10. Phillips, Jonathan. The Fourth Crusade and the Siege of Constantinople. 2004. page 9.
11. Gillingham, p. 268.
12. Gillingham, p. 274.
13. Bradbury, p. 125.
14. Phillips, Jonathan. The Fourth Crusade and the Siege of Constantinople. 2004. page 9.
15. Bradbury, p. 122-3.
16. Bradbury, p. 133.
17. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1210chartres.html
18. http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/historiaalbigensis.htm
19. Bradbury, p. 291.
20. Boyle, p. 257.
21. Bradbury, p. 301.
22. Bradbury, p. 307.
23. Delettre, Abbé (1843). Histoire du Diocèse de Beauvais, depuis son établissement au 3me siècle jusqu'au 2 septembre 1792, Second Volume. Beauvais: Desjardins. p. 237.

External links