The Deeds of Philip Augustus

An English Translation of Rigord's "Gesta Phillipi Augusti"

Rigord, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin,Sean L. Field, Larry F. Field

• Editore: Cornell University Press
• Anno: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781501763168
• Argomento: History
• Categoria: European Medieval History

The first full English translation of Rigord's Gesta Philippi Augusti, The Deeds of Philip Augustus makes available to Anglophone readers the most important narrative account of the reign of King Philip II of France (r. 1180–1223), a critical source about this pivotal figure in the development of the medieval French monarchy and an intriguing window into many aspects of the broader twelfth century.

Rigord wrote his chronicle in Latin, covering the first two-thirds of Philip II's reign, including such events as Philip's fateful expulsion of the Jews in 1182, his departure on the Third Crusade in 1190, his governmental innovations, and his victory over King John of England. As Philip II transformed French royal power, Rigord transformed contemporary writing about the nature of that power. Presented in a lively and readable translation framed by an introduction that contextualizes the text and accompanied by annotations, maps, and illustrations, The Deeds of Philip Augustus makes one of the most important documents of twelfth-century France available to a wide new readership.

The Deeds of Philip Augustus, by Rigord

To his most fair and beloved lord Louis,¹ illustrious son of Philip [II] by the grace of God ever Augustus king of the Franks, a youth of royal lineage destined for honor and glory,² master Rigord, a Goth in origin,³ a doctor by calling, historian of the king of the Franks, the least of the clergy of the Blessed Denis the Areopagite,⁴ wishes life and salvation from Him through whom kings reign.⁵

Holy mother church is glad and rejoices⁶ in the Lord, because the Lord visiting will visit⁷ his people and will have mercy on his servants.⁸ The voice of rejoicing and salvation resounds everywhere in the tabernacles⁹ of the Franks, for they see that their king, the son of the king Augustus, raised from the cradle in the dwelling of wisdom, ascends to the royal throne of full-grown wisdom, and with divine grace smiling upon his efforts, drawing upon heaven, prepares for himself a throne of judgment and justice.¹⁰ Oh, what a solemn and royal wedding of our Solomon! Oh, what a union, than which there is no happier on earth, when a king cleaves to himself the cohort of wisdom, and wisdom in return undertakes the office of king, in accordance with the divine oracle of Plato who foretold that the whole world would be blessed either when wise men began to rule or when kings began to be wise!¹¹ And how admirable the maturity of this royal youth who, though still young in years, is now in some sense older than himself and ready for honor, for he has matured into virtue. His understanding outpaces his years, and his mind embraces vigorous reasoning. Indeed, with regal magnificence, impatient with the waste of ill-borne, ignoble delay, he does not wait for great accomplishments slowly born of the years, since to the Caesars virtue comes early. Now I seem to see in the days of this most wise and gentle prince the restoration both of peace to the poor and of the respect formerly shown to churches, when power will have been vested in him for the judgment of wickedness,¹² and his ways will have been honed by knowledge to a model of uprightness, when, that is, he will understand and be able to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.¹³ Then indeed he, the foundation of morals and the glory of knights, will show himself the example of the former and the sword of the latter, with no less praise for the one as for the other, for he will gloriously triumph over other foes when, through the armor of wisdom, he will have triumphed over sin; that is, preserving on one hand the freedom of his mind, and on the other the safe condition of the kingdom. Whatever is praiseworthy of the mind, the hand, or the tongue, his wisdom in his days will bring to the peak of praise.

Map 1. France during the reign of Philip II. © M. Cecilia Gaposchkin

Map 2. Enlargement of the Île-de-France and the Vexin. © M. Cecilia Gaposchkin

Therefore, O youth “descended from royal lineage,”¹⁴ it is because you study and love literature that I have made so bold as to submit my writing to your most fair good judgment, and I have determined that you must first see and read, just as I have fashioned it, a certain modest product of my nightly study, concerning the deeds of your most glorious father, Philip, ever Augustus. And I have done this with two goals in mind; that you may comprehend absolutely my devotion to the kingdom of the Franks and to your glorious father, and that you may have always before your eyes, as though in a mirror, the laudable deeds of such a prince as an example of virtue.¹⁵ For although the offspring of a brave man may come to know the aspect of warfare while still in his mother’s arms, and in obedience to nature learn to love the inspiration of fear, still he may be inspired to virtue no less by means of examples.

Therefore, famous youth, I ask that you take joyfully from the hands of your cleric this little work announcing your father’s virtue. For though I may have written it in a rough, inelegant fashion, and with a vocabulary unequal to the subject, still in this humble speech you will be able to behold truth, and in truth, virtue. Let royal youth not reject royal courses raised to him as a toast, even if they are in vessels of common ware, but clean. Therefore, royal offspring, keep in mind and keep cultivating “the glories of heroes and your father’s deeds, so you can know what virtue is.”¹⁶ And we may rejoice to engender in you the virtue of your august family, so that

Now when the strength of years has made you a man¹⁷

A world by your father’s virtues pacified you can¹⁸

rule gloriously in the kiss of justice and peace.

At the close of this letter let us beseech the mercy of the Savior, so that “He in whose hand are all powers and rights of kingdoms, may look kindly on the empire of the Franks,”¹⁹ and through the intervention of his glorious martyr and our blessed patron Denis and his companions, with the same grace with which He has happily raised you into boyhood, may He more happily move you through young manhood and by the pull of time through progressive accomplishments, according to your prayers, may He most happily perfect you into consummate adulthood to the praise and glory²⁰ of his name and the defense of his holy Church.

Here begins the prologue to the book of the deeds of King Philip Augustus “Given by God.”²¹

As I was undertaking the task of writing a book about the deeds of Philip Augustus, the most Christian king of the Franks, many obstacles converged upon me: a general need or lack of resources, obtaining food, the press of business, a plain writing style, and a mind less tuned to such a thing. And especially because “when something novel is recited to numerous listeners, they often divide into different camps. One person applauds and says what he hears is worthy of praise, while another, led either by ignorance or the prick of envy or wicked with burning hate, maligns even what is well said. And it is a wonder that human kind has been so corrupted from its original state—insofar as God made good all created things—that it is more ready to condemn than to foster, and finds it easier to take something unclear and misconstrue it to its detriment than to place it in a better light.”²² Rumor wildly swings to both sides, and the tongues of deceit speak evil about good things and good about evil. For virtue always endures envy and is subjected to the venomous howls of rivals. If, in setting out to write the deeds of the most Christian King Philip, I strictly relate each and every fact about his virtues, I will be thought to flatter. But if I leave some things out because they might seem unbelievable, my modesty will stifle his due praise. Dreading just this, “I decided to suppress this work,” the product of ten years’ labor, “or destroy it altogether, to bury it in darkness, at least while I lived.”

“At last,” responding to the prayers of the venerable father Hugh, blessed abbot of Sain...

Indice dei contenuti

• List of Illustrations
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Cast of Characters
• Chronology
• Introduction
• The Deeds of Philip Augustus, by Rigord
• Translator’s Postscript
• Further Reading
• Index