by Emily McMahon
June 4 2010

Marriage has long been serious business to royals, as unions and bloodlines led to territory, money, prestige, and power – or the lack thereof. For Phillip II Augustus, King of France from 1180-1223, his multiple unions led to several political, religious, and personal nightmares. Phillip’s marital adventures tied him to princesses from Denmark to Geneva to Bavaria, two popes, and accusations of bigamy and kidnapping.

Phillip’s father, Louis VII, had his own complicated marital history. Louis’s first wife was Eleanor of Aquitaine, a wealthy heiress whose considerable inheritance made her a highly desirable bride. However, Eleanor’s fiery personality was not compatible with Louis’s more pious, placid nature. A trip together to Jerusalem on the disastrous Second Crusade did not bring the the two closer together. Not only was the union unhappy, but it produced just two daughters after the couple had been together for several years. When the pair finally divorced, Eleanor quickly married Henry II of England and had several more children (and more marital discord).

Louis then married the less notable and more pliant Constance of Castile, who bore him two further daughters before dying in childbirth. Desperate for a son and heir, Louis married just five weeks after Constance’s death to Adela of Champagne who eventually became Phillip’s mother.

As Louis’s long-awaited heir, Phillip received his father’s full attention. Louis had Phillip crowned as a co-heir in 1179, when Phillip was fourteen. Louis was in poor health at the point after suffering a stroke. A marriage was planned for Phillip to Isabella of Hainaut, a Flemish heiress with several ties to the Latin Empire. The wedding between fifteen-year-old Phillip and ten-year-old Isabella took place in Baupaume on April 28, 1180. French nobles were unhappy that the King’s advisor, Phillip, Count of Flanders had obviously arranged the marriage for his own family’s gain, as Isabella was his niece. Isabella produced Phillip’s eventual heir, the future Louis VIII, seven years later.

Isabella’s second pregnancy was with twins, which was naturally not known at the time. After a difficult labor, Isabella died on the day after their birth on March 14, 1190. Her twin boys, Robert and Phillip, died four days later. Isabella’s death left Phillip a widower at 24. Her dower land of Artois was passed to her son.

Phillip left France for the Holy Land four months later as part of the Third Crusade. After falling very ill during the Siege of Acre during the summer of 1191, Phillip returned to France. Phillip’s departure annoyed Phillip’s battle companion Richard I of England, who felt that Phillip left before the battle was truly over. Phillip, in the meantime, was planning an assault on Richard’s lands in northern France. This eventually led to war and poor relations with the English for several years.

Phillip knew he needed to remarry. While Louis, his son, seemed well enough, his continued health was no guarantee. After his return from Crusade, Phillip arranged a marriage with Ingeborg, daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark. Ingeborg brought with her a sizable dowry, which Phillip intended on using to help finance his continued scuffles with Richard I. At this time, Phillip had gained a good amount of territory in northern France from Richard. Phillip was also under the impression that the Danes were supportive of his possible invasion of England, which they were still sore at losing to the Normans. The wedding of Phillip and Ingeborg took place on August 15, 1193.

Ingeborg is described by various contemporary writers as a model medieval woman – beautiful, pious, generous, and wise. But for reasons that are not clear, Phillip was repulsed by her and wanted an immediate separation. The events of their wedding night – and whether consummation took place – were hotly debated in the decades to come.
What was the problem? Although his hatred of Ingeborg was probably best understood by Phillip himself, there are several possible reasons. Phillip’s illness during the recent Third Crusade may have had some lasting physical effects. The events of the wedding night suggest that Phillip may have struggled with impotence; he also reportedly had recurrent hand tremors after his return to France. Phillip may not have been pleased with the lack of Danish support for his planned attack on England. While he had asked for military support from the Danes upon his marriage to Ingeborg, her brother Knud promised only 10,000 silver marks as a dowry.

Ingeborg’s and Phillip’s troubles may have also been a difference in personalities that did not improve as hoped.

Phillip began the process of trying to rid himself of Ingeborg almost as soon as the ink was dry on their marriage license. Phillip refused to have his wife crowned and tried to send her back to Denmark, but a furious Ingeborg hid at a convent in Soissons. Her husband was content to keep her out of his sight and confined her to the convent. Both appealed to Pope Celestine III – Phillip for an annulment and Ingeborg for her less than royal treatment.

Celestine was horrified by the sudden and unexpected blow up in France. Phillip tried to claim that he and Ingeborg were closely related to be married. William of Paris, a monk who served as sort of an ambassador between Denmark and France, composed a genealogy of Danish royalty proving that Ingeborg and Phillip were not closely related. Celestine sided with Ingeborg, as Celestine had Knud’s support out of their shared troubles with the Holy Roman Empire. When Phillip protested that the marriage had not been consummated, a furious Ingeborg insisted that it had. Phillip was surprised by his wife’s strong reactions, but had no plans in taking her back. Instead, he kept her confined in various locations and by November 1193, Phillip had convinced French prelates to declare the marriage null and void.

Ingeborg repeatedly tried to muster support for her cause. Knud could do little to help his sister, as he was dealing with a thwarted coup in Denmark. Celestine had sided with Ingeborg, but did not have much real power in France and he had more pressing problems in Portugal and the Holy Roman Empire. Though she was Phillip’s queen in the eyes of most of Europe, Ingeborg was a scorned woman and a virtual prisoner in her new land.

Considering himself rid of Ingeborg as his wife, Phillip began to search for a new bride. Being that most of the continent considered him married, this was not an easy task. By 1195, Philip had an agreement to marry Margaret, the daughter of William I, Count of Geneva. As Margaret began her journey to France, her train was attacked by Thomas I, Count of Savoy. Thomas kidnapped Margaret and married her himself shortly afterward. In defense of his actions and the “stealing” of the French King’s wife, Thomas claimed that Philip was already married. Thomas and Margaret later became parents of fourteen children.

A year later, Philip found yet another bride, the Bavarian Agnes of Merania, whose family had ties to Hungary and Poland. The two married in June 1196, when Agnes was about sixteen and Philip was in his 30s. The two were content with one another and Agnes quickly bore Marie, who became the Duchess of Brabant by marriage, and Philip, count of Clermont.

Meanwhile, Celestine III died in 1198 without granting Philip his annulment from Ingeborg. A still angry Ingeborg took the opportunity to appeal to the new pope, Innocent III. Bolder and more forceful than his predecessor, Innocent placed France under interdict (suspension of worship and sacraments) from 1199-1200. Philip lashed out at the clergy who observed the interdict by removing them from office. Innocent informed Philip that his third marriage to Agnes was invalid because the Church had never approved an annulment of the second. Innocent told Philip that the interdict would stand until Ingeborg was acknowledged as Philip’s true wife.

Philip agreed to Innocent’s demand in the fall of 1200, much to Agnes’s displeasure. Philip even formally received Ingeborg once during this time, but he did not resume marital relations with her – nor did he cut them off with Agnes. When Innocent found out that Philip had secretly kept Agnes in France (and Ingeborg in captivity), Innocent excommunicated Philip. Philip then sent Agnes away permanently to Poissy, where she died in July 1201. After her death, Philip appealed to Innocent to declare his children with Agnes as legitimate, which Innocent agreed.

While no longer a technical bigamist, Philip still longed to be rid of Ingeborg. After his children’s legitimization, Philip again attempted to obtain an annulment, this time on the grounds of witchcraft. Ingeborg had put some kind of spell on him on their wedding night, Philip argued, which had prevented consummation of the marriage. Ingeborg maintained her position that the marriage was fully consummated and Innocent didn’t buy the witchcraft story. Philip’s annulment was denied.

Innocent was now in much the same position as Celestine had been a decade earlier – while he could insist Philip and Ingeborg were legally married, he could do little to force Philip to physically take her back. Innocent continued to spiritually support Ingeborg by writing her encouraging letters. Innocent also kept insisting to Philip to accept Ingeborg as his queen, but he needed Philip’s support in yet another clash with the Holy Roman Empire.

Throughout the early 1200s, Philip continued to make his wife’s life difficult in hopes that she would agree to end their marriage. Ingeborg often had little food and few visitors. Philip claimed that he tried to meet with Ingeborg in 1207, but that she stubbornly refused. The parties remained at an impasse for several more years.

Ingeborg’s brother Knud had died in 1202, but their youngest brother, Valdemar II, resumed the cause for defending his sister’s honor. Valdemar repeatedly called upon Philip to resolve any differences he had with Ingeborg and take her back. Valdemar did manage to secure Ingeborg’s case for another hearing with Innocent. In 1212, Philip changed his wedding night story again, claiming that the couple did engage in but did not complete sexual intercourse.

By 1213, King John of England and Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, were in alliance against Innocent IV for their own respective reasons – John over a disagreement regarding the nomination for the Archbishop of Canterbury and Otto for his attempt at the Sicilian crown. Philip had been at odds with John for well over a decade and longed to plan an invasion of England as he did during Richard’s reign. With John distracted over the squabble with Innocent, Philip saw his chance. Philip threw his support behind Innocent and at Soissons, finally announced his reconciliation with Ingeborg. Philip still felt that taking his wife back would help encourage Danish support of his English invasion. In the end, John and Innocent resolved their disagreements before Philip could attack, but a later battle against both John and Otto in Flanders strengthened Philip’s power on the Continent.

Philip and Ingeborg appeared to have spent the last ten years of his life in relative peace. On his deathbed in 1223, Philip supposedly told his son Louis to treat Ingeborg well. Ingeborg enjoyed good relationships with both her stepson and step-grandson (Louis IX). Ingeborg died in 1237 or 1238 and was buried at a priory near Corbeil.

Philip’s son Louis succeeded him as Louis VIII and enjoyed a much more peaceful marital life.