ABSTRACT
Philip Augustus, by the end of the first decade of the thirteenth century, had established a power and authority greater than that of any previous Capetian king. He was at the height of his capacities, though his achievements were yet to reach their peak. In the first decade of the thirteenth century, the papacy was probably the main political threat to Philip. He was involved in the encouragement of Church reform and often co-operated with the papacy, though he was inclined to follow in the steps of reform rather than initiate it, which he did not see as his province. The Christian elements in Philip’s position were strong: French kingship was traditionally seen as sacred, the king naturally as a ‘protector of the Church’. His treatment of the Jews was seen by his own supporters as favoured by the Church and by Paris, as the result of ‘a holy severity’, and was part of a then approved Christian attitude.
