FILIPPO AUGUSTO - Seal (1286), Paris, National Archives.
upon the death of Agnese, the sovereign restored Ingeborg to her rights. It was the hoped-for invasion of England, with the need for the Danish alliance that it entailed, that carried the practical weight which the Pope’s word had been unable to obtain. There was also conflict between king and pope over the imperial crown: F. A. supported the Swabian, his namesake, while the Pope supported Ottone di Brunswick. In 1214, at Bouvines, F. A. nevertheless broke the power of Ottone, allied with his rebellious feudatories. In the last years of his reign, he linked his name to the crusade against the Albigensians and to the concluding episode of the long struggle with the rival Plantagenet dynasty: the expedition to England of his son Luigi. With extreme duplicity, he publicly disavowed the dauphin, while secretly assisting his undertaking. And Luigi, husband of the niece of Giovanni senza Terra, entered London in triumph, while the defeated king died. The English, however, recovering their solidarity, compelled the invader to return to France. A few years later, F. A. died, on 14 July 1223, the architect, if ever there was one, despite all his faults, of French unity around the monarchy.
Pier Fausto Palumbo