This article refers to Philip, the co-King of France under Louis VI, and the second King of France named Philip. For his nephew, the third King of France named Philip, but the second so numbered, see Philip II of France

Philip II of France

Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...

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Philip (II) of France (29 August 1116 – 13 October 1131) was the first son of Louis VI of France

Louis VI of France

Louis VI , called the Fat , was King of France from 1108 until his death . Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".-Reign:...

 and his second wife Adélaide de Maurienne

Adélaide de Maurienne

Adelaide of Savoy was the second spouse but first Queen consort of Louis VI of France.-Biography:...

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The favourite son of his father as a child, Philip was enthroned alongside Louis VI as joint king in 1129. However, the young king gave his father little joy after that, refusing to pay attention to the old king or to follow the high standards that Louis himself followed. He became disobedient, refusing to heed scoldings or warnings; Walter Map

Walter Map

Walter Map was a medieval writer of works written in Latin. Only one work is attributed to Map with any certainty: De Nugis Curialium.-Life:...

 said that he "strayed from the paths of conduct travelled by his father and, by his overweening pride and tyrannical arrogance, made himself a burden to all."

Philip's brief period as king was ended two years after his coronation. Riding with a group of companions along the Seine, in the Parisian market section named the Greve, his running horse was tripped by a black pig which darted out of a dung heap on the quay. The horse fell forwards, and the young king was catapulted over its head. The fall "so dreadfully fractured his limbs that he died on the day following" without regaining consciousness. He was buried at St Denis

Saint Denis Basilica

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the commune of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The abbey church was created a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy...

, and succeeded as heir, and co-king, by his meek-mannered brother, Louis the Younger (now known as Louis VII

Louis VII of France

Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...

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If Philip had been little other than trouble and a problem to his family and kingdom whilst he had lived, his legacy would prove greater trouble still. Whilst he had lived, he had nurtured a dream of visiting Jerusalem and the tomb of Christ; when he died, his brother, Louis VII, vowed to go in Philip's place. This vow would provide a reason for Louis joining the disastrous Second Crusade

Second Crusade

The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

 and an excuse to abandon Antioch in favour of Jerusalem. The Crusade brought many deaths on both sides, and the abandonment of Antioch proved a strategic failure and a partial cause for the collapse of the marriage between Louis and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...

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Because he was co-king rather than a king in his own right, he is not generally given an number in the succession of kings of France.

Sources

Meade, Marion, Eleanor of Aquitaine