The most considerable additions to the royal domains were
made by Philip II, called Augustus. We have already referred to his contest
with Pope Innocent III and to his participation in the Third Crusade. The
English king, John, was Philip's vassal for Normandy and other provinces in
France. A quarrel between the two rulers gave Philip an opportunity to declare
John's fiefs forfeited by feudal law. Philip then seized all the English
possessions north of the river Loire. The loss of these possessions abroad had
the result of separating England almost completely from Continental interests;
for France it meant a great increase in territory and population. Philip made
Paris his chief residence, and that city henceforth became the capital of
France.
LOUIS IX, THE SAINT, 1226-1276 A.D.
During the long reign of Philip's grandson, Louis IX, rich
districts to the west of the Rhone were added to the royal domains. This king,
whose Christian virtues led to his canonization, distinguished himself as an
administrator. His work in unifying France may be compared with that of Henry
II in England. He decreed that only the king's money was to circulate in the
provinces owned directly by himself, thus limiting the right of coinage enjoyed
by feudal lords. He restricted very greatly the right of private war and
forbade the use of judicial duels. Louis also provided that important cases
could be appealed from feudal courts to the king's judges, who sat in Paris and
followed in their decisions the principles of Roman law. In these and other
ways he laid the foundations of absolute monarchy in France.
