(1144-1191). The son of Thierry d’Alsace, count of Flanders, Philippe d’Alsace assumed power in the county when his father went to Palestine in 1157. He promoted clearance and new settlements and furthered the cities’ economic interests while refusing them any role in the governance of Flanders. His marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Raoul V de Vermandois, was childless, but he became count of Vermandois in 1163 and thereby ruled the largest territory ever held by a Flemish count.
The bonds between the count of Flanders and the French crown became intimate under Philippe. His heir was the son of his sister Marguerite, wife of Baudouin V of Hainaut.
As head of the regency for the young king Philip Augustus, Philippe d’Alsace arranged for the king to marry his niece, Isabelle de Hainaut, in 1180, with Artois as her dowry. When his own wife, Elizabeth, died in 1182, Philippe d’Alsace refused to give up her lands in the Vermandois and so damaged his relations with the crown. In 1185, with the Treaty of Boves, the count had to give in, and he lost practical influence in Vermandois. When Queen Isabelle died in 1190, the county of Artois, her dowry, passed to her child, the future Louis VIII.
Philippe d’Alsace joined the Third Crusade and died in Palestine in 1191. He was succeeded by his nephew Baudouin of Hainaut, who became Baudouin VIII of Flanders.
David M. Nicholas
[See also: ARTOIS; FLANDERS: PHILIP II AUGUSTUS; VERMANDOIS]
Caenegem, R. C.van. “Criminal Law in England and Flanders Under King Henry II and Count Philip of Alsace.” Actes du Congres de Naples (1980) de la Soclete Itallenne d’Hlstolre du Droit (1980):231-54.
Verhulst, Aadrian, and T. de Hemptinne. “Le chancelier de Flandre sous les comtes de la maison d’Alsace.” Bulletin de la Commission Royale d’Histoire 141 (1975):267-311.
Werveke, Hans van. Een Vlaamse graaf van Europees formaat: Filips van de Elzas. Haarlem: Fibula-Van Dishoeck, 1976.
World History
