Philip of Cognac

Who was Philip of Cognac?

Philip of Cognac was an illegitimate son of Richard I of England by an unidentified mother.

Philip had reached adulthood by the end of the 1190s. His father married him to his ward, Amelia, the heiress of Cognac in Charente. However, when she died without issue, Richard kept the castle, and handed it over to his seneschal, Robert of Thornham.

The king was mortally wounded during the suppression of a revolt by Viscount Aimar V of Limoges in 1199, and died without legitimate heirs. The chronicler Roger of Howden claimed that later that same year,

No other source corroborates this, or explicitly indicates that Aimar of Limoges's death was a violent one. However, Guiraut de Bornelh's planh for him, Planc e sospir, does suggest his death was unexpected.

A further reference to Philip is found in the Pipe Rolls for 1201 of his uncle, John of England: "Et Philippo f. R. Ricardi 1 m. de dono R.", but nothing later. It seems likely that he died early in the 13th century.