{{no footnotes, date=November 2012
Philip of Chieti (1263–1308) was the 8th and youngest child of
Guy, Count of Flanders
Guy of Dampierre (french: Gui de Dampierre; nl, Gwijde van Dampierre) ( – 7 March 1305, Compiègne) was the Count of Flanders (1251–1305) and Marquis of Namur (1264–1305). He was a prisoner of the French when his Flemings defeated the ...
and his first wife
Matilda of Béthune
Matilda of Béthune (died 8 November 1264), was a noblewoman from Artois who became countess of Flanders by marriage to Guy, Count of Flanders, and heiress to her father's titles as Lady of Béthune, of Dendermonde, of Richebourg and of Warneto ...
.
Philip was destined for a career in the church and studied for that purpose in Paris, where he met
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...
. Charles, the younger brother of King
Louis IX of France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...
, had just acquired the crown of Naples, and Philip traveled with him in his service to southern Italy. There he married in 1284 with Matilda of Courtenay (1254–1303), only child of the late Raoul de Courtenay, who had been made Count of Chieti and Loreto by Charles of Anjou as a reward for his part in the conquest of Naples.
Philip lived a good life as count of Chieti and Teano, until news reached him of the great Flemish victory in the Battle of the Golden Spurs. He was allowed by Charles of Anjou to travel to Flanders to support his family, but he had to abandon his titles in Italy.
When he returned to Flanders, he took over the regency over Flanders from his younger brother
John I, Marquis of Namur
John I (1267 – 31 January 1330) was the count of Namur from 1305 to 1330. He was a member of the House of Dampierre, the son of Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders and Marquis of Namur, and his second wife Isabelle of Luxembourg. John was the ...
, as his father and two elder brothers were still imprisoned in France. One of his first acts was the establishment of Flemish
Bishoprics
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...
. The existing Bishoprics of Arras, Cambrai and Tournai were still under the influence of France, and excommunicated many Flemish nobles to break their resistance. Therefore Philip of Chieti sent his request to Pope Boniface VIII, well knowing that the Pope was in conflict with the King of France over his
bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions,
includin ...
,
Unam Sanctam
' is a papal bull that was issued by Pope Boniface VIII on 18 November 1302. It laid down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Catholic Church, the necessity of belonging to it for eternal salvation, the position of the Pope as supreme hea ...
. Unfortunately for Philip, Boniface died soon after.
On 18 August 1304, King Philip IV of France launched a new attack against Flanders, one week after the Flemish defeat in the
Battle of Zierikzee
The battle of Zierikzee was a naval battle between a Flemish fleet and an allied Franco- Hollandic fleet which took place on 10 and 11 August 1304. The battle, fought near the town of Zierikzee, ended in a Franco-Dutch victory. The battle is part ...
, in which
Guy of Namur
Guy of Dampierre, Count of Zeeland, also called Guy of Namur ( nl, region=BE, Gwijde van Namen, label=Flemish) (ca. 1272 – 13 October 1311 in Pavia), was a Flemish noble who was the Lord of Ronse and later the self-proclaimed Count of Zeela ...
was taken prisoner and
John III, Lord of Renesse
Jan van Renesse (1249 – 16 August 1304) was a member of the Zeeland nobility. Together with Wolfert van Borselen he co-led a party favoring Flanders and against Holland, with considerable influence in Zeeland. With the support of Edward I of Engl ...
killed.
Philip of Chieti took command over a strong Flemish army to stop the French invasion and fought the inconclusive
Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle
The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle (or Pevelenberg) was fought on 18 August 1304 between the French and the Flemish. The French were led by their king, Philip IV.
Prelude
The French king wanted revenge for the defeat in Battle of the Golden Sp ...
.
When the
Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge
The Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge was a peace treaty signed on 23 June 1305 between King Philip IV of France and Robert III of Flanders. The treaty was signed at Athis-sur-Orge after the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle and concluded the Franco-Flemish Wa ...
was signed on 23 June 1305, his elder brother
Robert III, Count of Flanders
Robert III (1249 – 17 September 1322), also called Robert of Béthune and nicknamed The Lion of Flanders (''De Leeuw van Vlaanderen''), was the Count of Nevers from 1273 and Count of Flanders from 1305 until his death.
History
Robert was the o ...
was released from captivity. Philip of Chieti transferred the regency to his brother and returned to Italy. Here he lived in poverty with his second wife Pérenelle de Milly and three small children. He died in November 1308 and was buried in Naples.