After decades of conflicts with the House of Plantagenet, Philip succeeded in putting an end to the Angevin Empire by defeating a coalition of his rivals at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

[11] In declining health, Louis VII had 14-year-old Philip crowned and anointed as king at Reims on 1 November 1179 by Archbishop William of the White Hands.

[16] His mother and four uncles, all of whom exercised enormous influence over Louis, were extremely unhappy with his attainment of the throne since Philip had taken the royal seal from his father.

By this stage, Philip had managed to counter the ambitions of the count by breaking his alliances with Duke Henry I of Brabant and the Archbishop of Cologne, Philipp von Heinsberg.

[citation needed] Philip pushed the case further when King Béla III of Hungary asked for the widow's hand in marriage, and thus her dowry had to be returned, to which Henry finally agreed.

Finally, by the Treaty of Azay-le-Rideau (4 July 1189), Henry was forced to renew his own homage, confirm the cession of Issoudun to Philip (along with Graçay), and renounce his claim to suzerainty over Auvergne.

[34] At first, the French and English crusaders travelled together, but the armies split at Lyon after Richard decided to go by sea from Marseille, whereas Philip took the overland route through the Alps to Genoa.

Philip decided to return to France to settle the issue of succession in Flanders, a decision that displeased Richard, who said, "It is a shame and a disgrace on my lord if he goes away without having finished the business that brought him hither.

"[This quote needs a citation] On 31 July 1191, the French army of 10,000 men (along with 5,000 silver marks to pay the soldiers) remained in Outremer under the command of Duke Hugh III of Burgundy.

[41] To prevent Richard from spoiling their plans, Philip and John attempted to bribe Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in order to keep the English king captive for a little while longer.

[41] Philip had spent this time consolidating his territorial gains and by now controlled much of Normandy east of the Seine, while remaining within striking distance of Rouen.

[42] Fleeing back to Normandy, Philip avenged himself on the English by attacking the forces of John and the Earl of Arundel, seizing their baggage train.

[42] Philip now pressed his advantage in northeastern Normandy, where he conducted a raid at Dieppe, burning the English ships in the harbor while repulsing an attack by Richard at the same time.

[44] The same year, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI died[45] and was succeeded by Otto IV, Richard's nephew, who put additional pressure on Philip.

This was the state of affairs when Philip launched his campaign of 1198 with an attack on Vexin that was pushed back and then compounded by the Flemish invasion of Artois which diverted his attention elsewhere.

This agreement did not bring warfare to an end in France, however, since John's mismanagement of Aquitaine led the province to rebel later in 1200, a disturbance that Philip secretly encouraged.

Philip, again acting as John's liege lord over his French lands, summoned him to appear before the Court of the Twelve Peers of France to answer for Arthur's murder.

Pushed by his barons, John eventually launched an invasion of northern France in 1206, disembarking with his army at La Rochelle during one of Philip's absences, but the campaign ended in disaster.

After backing out of a conference that he himself had demanded, John eventually bargained at Thouars for a two-year truce, the price of which was his agreement to the chief provisions of the judgment of the Court of Peers, including a loss of his patrimony.

In order to secure the cooperation of all his vassals in his plans for the invasion, Philip denounced John as an enemy of the Church, thereby justifying his attack as motivated solely by religious scruples.

The only exception was Count Ferdinand of Flanders, who refused out of anger over the loss of the towns of Aire and Saint-Omer that had been captured by Philip's son Louis the Lion.

Philip was eager to prove his loyalty to Rome and thus secure papal support for his planned invasion, announced at Soissons a reconciliation with his estranged wife Ingeborg of Denmark, which the popes had been promoting.

The Count of Flanders had denied Philip's right to declare war on England while King John was still excommunicated, and that his disobedience needed to be punished.

Hardly had the siege begun when Philip learnt that the English fleet had captured a number of his ships at Damme and that the rest were so closely blockaded in its harbour that it was impossible for them to escape.

It was not until John had been disappointed in his hope for an easy victory after being driven from Roche-au-Moine and had retreated to his transports that the Imperial Army, with Otto at its head, assembled in the Low Countries.

[53] Philip returned to Paris triumphant, marching his captive prisoners behind him in a long procession, as his grateful subjects came out to greet the victorious king.

Count Ferdinand remained imprisoned following his defeat, while King John's attempt to rebuild the Angevin Empire ended in complete failure.

The Franco-Danish churchman William of Æbelholt intervened on Ingeborg's side, drawing up a genealogy of the Danish kings to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity.

In 1224, the French poet Henry d'Andeli wrote of the great wine-tasting competition that Philip II Augustus commissioned, the Battle of the Wines.

Philip II fell ill in September 1222 and had a will made, but carried on with his itinerary, but travelling in hot weather the next summer resulted in a fever.