Anglo-French War (1213–1214)

The Anglo-French War was a major medieval conflict that pitted the Kingdom of France against the Kingdom of England and various other states. It was fought in an attempt to curb the rising power of King Philip II of France and regain the Angevin continental possessions King John of England lost to him a decade earlier. It is widely regarded as the very first anti-French coalition war and came to an end at the decisive Battle of Bouvines at which Philip defeated England and its allies.

The Duchy of Normandy, once a site of conflict between Richard I of England and Philip II, grew to be one of the hot spots of medieval Anglo-French wars as the King of England had to defend a continental holding that was so close to Paris. In 1202, Philip II launched an invasion of Normandy that culminated in the six-month Siege of Château Gaillard, which led to the conquest of the duchy and of neighbouring territories.

In 1214, when Pope Innocent III assembled an alliance of states against France, John agreed. The allies met Philip near Bouvines and were soundly defeated. The French victory resulted in the conquest of Flanders and put an end to further attempts from John to regain his lost territories.

This conflict was an episode of a century-long struggle between the House of Capet and the House of Plantagenet over the Angevin domains in France, which started with Henry II's accession to the English throne in 1154 and his rivalry with Louis VII and ended with Louis IX's triumph over Henry III at the Battle of Taillebourg in 1242.