Philip Augustus triumphs at Bouvines

July 27, 1214

On a sweltering Sunday in Flanders, the French king's infantry and knights routed a coalition of Otto IV, King John, and the Flemish counts. Bouvines ended Angevin ambitions in France, doomed John's continental claims, and let Philip style himself Augustus without irony. The battle confirmed France as western Europe's foremost military power and pushed John's furious barons toward the confrontation at Runnymede.