Queer Places:
Fleury Abbey, Place de l'Abbaye, 45730 Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Francia
Philip I (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous,
was King of the Franks from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of
the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began
a modest recovery from the low it reached in the reign of his father and he
added to the royal demesne the Vexin
and Bourges. In 1100, Ivo of Chartres, who became bishop of Chartres in 1090,
complained bitterly in a letter to Pope Urban II about a certain promiscuous
youth named Jean II
being made the bishop of Orleans despite his reputation for sexual looseness
and the fact that he was underage. Jean’s sexual affairs had brought him such
notoriety, in fact, that he had gained the nickname Flora, after a well-known
local courtesan, and had become the subject of a number of lewd street songs.
In an attempt to head off Jean’s elevation to bishop, Ivo had previously sent
samples of the lurid lyrics of the songs to the archbishop of Lyons, the papal
legate, but to no avail. The installation of Jean, bishop of Orleans,
consecrated on March 1, 1098, had been arranged by Jean’s then lover,
Raoul II, Archbishop of
Tours from 1086 to 1117, who had obligingly crowned
Philip I of France on Christmas Day in defiance of a papal interdict placed on Philip for “immoral behavior.” In exchange for the favor, Philip agreed to arrange a bishopric for Jean, who it so happens had also been a previous lover of the king.
Philip, himself, had boasted of the affair to Ivo.
Oddly, Ivo’s objections seem to have had less to do with Jean’s sexual activities than his youth.
Pope Urban, however, did not consider this as a decisive fact: Jean ruled as bishop for almost forty years, and Raoul continued to be well known and respected.
Philip was born 23 May 1052 at Champagne-et-Fontaine, the son of Henry I
and his wife Anne of Kiev.
Unusually for the time in Western Europe, his name was of Greek origin, being
bestowed upon him by his mother. Although he was crowned king at the age of
seven,[4]
until age fourteen (1066) his mother acted as regent, the first queen of
France ever to do so. Baldwin V of Flanders also acted as co-regent.
Following the death of Baldwin VI of Flanders, Robert the Frisian seized
Flanders. Baldwin's wife, Richilda requested aid from Philip, who defeated
Robert at the battle of Cassel in 1071.
Philip first married Bertha in 1072.
Although the marriage produced the necessary heir, Philip fell in love with
Bertrade de Montfort, the wife of Fulk IV, Count of Anjou. He repudiated
Bertha (claiming she was too fat) and married Bertrade on 15 May 1092.
In 1094, he was excommunicated by Hugh of Die, for the first time;
after a long silence, Pope Urban II repeated the excommunication at the
Council of Clermont in November 1095.
Several times the ban was lifted as Philip promised to part with Bertrade, but
he always returned to her, but in 1104 Philip made a public penance and must
have kept his involvement with Bertrade discreet.
In France, the king was opposed by Bishop Ivo of Chartres, a famous jurist.
Philip appointed Alberic first Constable of France in 1060. A great part of
his reign, like his father's, was spent putting down revolts by his
power-hungry vassals. In 1077, he made peace with William the Conqueror, who
gave up attempting the conquest of Brittany.
In 1082, Philip I expanded his demesne with the annexation of the Vexin. Then
in 1100, he took control of Bourges.
It was at the aforementioned Council of Clermont that the First Crusade was
launched. Philip at first did not personally support it because of his
conflict with Urban II. Philip's brother Hugh of Vermandois, however, was a
major participant.
Philip died in the castle of Melun and was buried per his request at the
monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire
– and not in St Denis among his forefathers. He was succeeded by his son,
Louis VI, whose succession was, however, not uncontested. According to Abbot
Suger:
… King Philip daily grew feebler. For after he had abducted the
Countess of Anjou, he could achieve nothing worthy of the royal dignity;
consumed by desire for the lady he had seized, he gave himself up entirely
to the satisfaction of his passion. So he lost interest in the affairs of
state and, relaxing too much, took no care for his body, well-made and
handsome though it was. The only thing that maintained the strength of the
state was the fear and love felt for his son and successor. When he was
almost sixty, he ceased to be king, breathing his last breath at the
castle of Melun-sur-Seine, in the presence of the [future king] Louis...
They carried the body in a great procession to the noble monastery of
St-Benoît-sur-Loire, where King Philip wished to be buried; there are
those who say they heard from his own mouth that he deliberately chose not
to be buried among his royal ancestors in the church of St. Denis because
he had not treated that church as well as they had, and because among
those of so many noble kings, his own tomb would not have counted for
much.
Philip‘s children with Bertha were:
- Constance (1078 – 14 September 1126), married Hugh I of Champagne
before 1097
and then, after her divorce, to Bohemund I of Antioch in 1106.
- Louis VI of France (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137).
- Henry (1083 – died young).
Philip‘s children with Bertrade were:
- Philip, Count of Mantes (1093 – fl. 1123),
married Elizabeth, daughter of Guy III of Montlhéry
- Fleury, Seigneur of Nangis (1095 – July 1119)
- Cecile (1097 – 1145), married Tancred, Prince of Galilee
and then, after his death, to Pons of Tripoli.
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_I_of_France#References