Neither Bewitched nor Beguiled: Philip Augustus's Alleged Impotence and Innocent III's Response
Thus the author of the Gesta Innocentii described the reaction of Philip II Augustus (1180–1223) to his long-awaited bride on August 15, 1193, in the cathedral of Amiens, a reaction that would cause extended annulment proceedings spanning two pontificates over a period of almost twenty years and resulting in extensive papal intervention, especially that of Innocent III (1198–1216). We learn further from the Gesta that, to avoid scandal, some at the French court counseled postponement of the divorce, based initially on the grounds of affinity between Ingeborg and Philip's first wife. Still others encouraged the king to consummate his marriage, which the king attempted to do at Saint-Maur des Fosse, near Paris, where the Danish woman had been taken. All we know of that following fateful wedding night was that, after entering the conjugal bed, Philip soon departed and could barely hear about his wife thereafter. Whereas Ingeborg steadfastly claimed that her marriage had indeed been consummated, Philip mainta...