OLD DUFFER'S BOOK CORNER:

Philip Augustus

Jim Bradbury for Longman

Jim Bradbury has endeavoured to write a summary history of the life of this highly important king. A summary history for those of you who do not know is like a Richard Berg game, you plunder other's more detailed work to produce a synthesis from which the reader may depart into more detailed waters (if he wishes). Out from the detail arise a number of key features of Philip's life: the Crusades, the constant weakening of the Plantagenets and the Flemish (actually everyone), his divorce, the road to Bouvines and the French invasion of England - was Louis VIII the only French king of England? I am not sure however that those who write summaries should be quite as fast and loose with opinions as is Mr Bradbury.

In military matters Gillingham and Verbruggen will be vastly more useful. However, in his partisan approach Bradbury does seek to defeat the view that Philip was some ghastly little sneak who got the better of better men. It can be no coincidence that his nickname - Augustus, came from Octavian who had the same sort of hard-nosed good sense. The book offers an opportunity to reveal a new Vasey's Law of Names, French kings called Philip are only any good if they have an even number (which explains why we have no Philip VII): Philip I (fat and randy), Philip II (vast increase in demesne), Philip III (dies quickly), Philip IV (a vastly powerful king, a veritable Stentor), Philip V (one of his cursed sons), Philip VI (well OK he did get the 100 Wars going but he survived it as well). By the way Kings called John are always a bad idea in England or France (three of them all disasters, though Jean Ier was a bit too young to do much, assuming my memory that he was the son of Louis le Hutin is correct).

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© Copyright 1998 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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