March 11, 1198: Death of Princess Marie of the Franks, Countess of Champagne

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Count Henri I of Champagne, Count Henri II of Champagne, Countess of Champagne, Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, King Henry II of England, King John of England, King Louis VII of France, King Philippe II Auguste of France, Marie of the Franks, Regent

Marie of the Franks (1145 – March 11, 1198) was a Frankish princess who became Countess of Champagne by marriage to Henri I, Count of Champagne. She was regent of the county of Champagne three times: during the absence of her spouse between 1179 and 1181; during the minority of her son Henry II, Count of Champagne in 1181–1187; and finally during the absence of her son between 1190 and 1197.

Marie’s birth was hailed as a “miracle” by Bernard of Clairvaux, an answer to his prayer to bless the marriage between her mother Eleanor of Aquitaine and her father, King Louis VII of the Franks. She was just two years old when her parents led the Second Crusade to the Holy Land. Not long after their return in 1152, when Marie was seven, her parents’ marriage was annulled. Custody of Marie and her younger sister, Alix, was awarded to their father, since they were at that time the only heirs to the hrone.

Both Louis and Eleanor remarried quickly. Eleanor married King Henry II of the English and became Queen of the English. King Louis VII remarried first Constance of Castile (d. 1160) and then Adele of Champagne on 13 November 13, 1160. Marie had numerous half-siblings on both her mother’s and father’s side, including the eventual kings Philippe II Augusté of France and John and Richard I of England.

Her half brother, King John, changed the English Royal title to King of England and her half brother King Philippe II Augusté changed the Frankish Royal title to King of France.

Marriage

In 1153, Marie was betrothed to Count Henri of Champagne by her father King Louis VII. These betrothals were arranged based on the intervention of Bernard of Clairvaux, as reported in the contemporary chronicle of Radulfus Niger. After her betrothal, Marie was sent to live with the Viscountess Elizabeth of Mareuil-sy-Aÿ and then to the abbey of Avenay in Champagne for her Latin-based education. In 1159, Marie married Henri I, Count of Champagne.

Henri I, Count of Champagne was the eldest son of Count Theobald II of Champagne, who was also count of Blois, and his wife, Matilda of Carinthia.

Regencies

Marie became regent for Champagne when her husband Henri I went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land from 1179 until 1181. While her husband was away, Marie’s father died and her half-brother, King Philippe II Augusté, became King of France. He confiscated his mother’s dower lands and married Isabelle of Hainaut, who was previously betrothed to Marie’s eldest son. This prompted Marie to join a party of disgruntled nobles—including the queen mother Adela of Champagne and the archbishop of Reims—in plotting unsuccessfully against Philippe II Augustus. Eventually, relations between Marie and her royal brother improved. Marie’s husband died soon after his return from the Holy Land in 1181, leaving her again as regent for her young son Count Henri of Champagne.

Marie, who had retired to the nunnery of Château de Fontaines-les-Nonnes near Meaux (1187–1190), served again as regent for Champagne as her son Henry II joined the Third Crusade from 1190 to 1197. He remained in the Levant, marrying Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem in 1192. Over the course of her regencies, Champagne was transformed from a patchwork of territories into a significant principality.

Death

Marie died on March 11, 1198, not long after hearing the news of her son’s death. She was buried in Meaux Cathedral.

December 1, 1241: Death of Isabella of England, Holy Roman Empress

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Emperor Friedrich II, Gloucester Castle, Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empress, Isabella of Angouleme, Isabella of England, King Alexander II of Scotland, King Henry III of England, King John of England, Pierre II of Courtenay

Isabella of England (1214 – December 1, 1241) was an English princess of the House of Plantagenet. She became Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Sicily, Italy and Germany from 1235 until her death as the third wife of Emperor Friedrich II.

Birth and early years

Isabella was born around 1214 as the fourth child and second daughter of John, King of England and his second wife Isabella of Angoulême. Isabella of Angoulême was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice of Courtenay, who was a sister of Pierre II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople.

Alice and Pierre II were grandchildren of King Louis VI of France through their father Pierre I of Courtenay.

Isabella’s exact date of birth is unknown, and the year is calculated based on the fact that Matthew Paris reported that the princess got married at the age of 21. By the time Isabella was born, her parents’ marriage had already started to unravel, and the princess spent most of the time with her mother.

After the death of King John in 1216, Isabella remained in the full care of her mother and was with her until 1220, when Isabella of Angouleme remarried Count Hugh X of Lusignan and left the English court.

The princess was raised from an early age by the “nurse and governess” Margaret Biset, who received for her services from 1219, by order of her brother King Henry III, one penny a day “from the hands of the Viscount Hereford”; she remained within Isabella’s household and accompanied her to Germany sixteen years later, when the princess married.

The services of the rest of the princess’s servants (cook, stableman and others) were also paid by her brother, and by his order, when some of Isabella’s servants retired from her service, they were assigned a generous pension.

The first years of Isabella’s life were spent in Gloucester Castle. Later, when the problems that accompanied the early years of the her brother’s reign ended, she was transported to the court, at first located in Woodstock and then in Westminster. From time to time, the princess with her family visited other royal residences: Winchester, Marlborough, Northampton, York and others.

Youth

In June 1220 or 1221 Isabella’s older sister, Joan, was betrothed to King Alexander II of Scotland, and according to the marriage contract, if Joan did not have time to return to England by Michael’s Day (September 29), within two weeks after that, the Scottish King was to marry Isabella.

Twice over the next ten years, King Henry III tried to marry off his sister (probably Isabella): first, in 1225, were negotiations for a marriage with King Heinrich (VII) of Germany (who ten years later became Isabella’s stepson) and then to King Louis IX of France.

Once the princess got older, the more she loved privacy. In November 1229, with the permission of her brother, she departed for Marlborough Castle, which became her residence; at this time, reconstruction was being completed in the castle, and King Henry III ordered the constable of the castle to allow his sister to choose any quarters she wanted.

The relationship between brother and sister was very warm, and the King visited Isabella several times: he visited Marlborough during the celebration of the wedding of “the maiden Catherine” who served Isabella, and also visited his sister in 1231 and 1232 at Gloucester Castle.

On November 13, 1232, King Henry III sent his personal tailor to his sister to make her a new full wardrobe. The King also celebrated Christmas with Isabella that year; he sent her three of the best dishes from his table and presented many gifts, and then for several months he sent her the items needed to equip the princess’s own chapel.

Provisions for Isabella and her guests were provided by “two or three worthy men” from Gloucester, while wine and venison were regularly sent to his sister by the King, who also provided one of his fish suppliers for use by Isabella. The royal chaplain, Warin, who served Isabella, was also granted to his sister by the King. In the summer of 1232, Isabella returned to Marlborough Castle.

In 1234, Isabella left seclusion and settled in the Tower of London. In November, the twice-widowed Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor at a friendly meeting at Rieti, received the advice of Pope Gregory IX to ask Isabella’s hand, and in February 1235 he sent an embassy to King Henry III headed by his chancellor Pietro della Vigna.

The marriage of Isabella and Emperor Friedrich II was designed to strengthen the political alliance of England and the Holy Roman Empire against France. After three days of discussion, King Henry III agreed to the marriage; Isabella was brought from her quarters in the Tower to the Palace of Westminster, where she met with the ambassadors, who “declared her the most worthy of the imperial brides”, put a wedding ring on her finger and greeted her as their Empress.

On February 23, 1235, an agreement was signed, according to which King Henry III provided his sister with a dowry of 30,000 marks (an amount sought by the Emperor in order to fund his wars in northern Italy), which was to be paid within two years, and as a wedding gift he gave her all the necessary utensils, jewelry, horses and rich clothes, all made according to the latest German fashion; also, the princess received patent letters from the Emperor, giving Isabella, as Queen of Sicily and Holy Roman Empress the possession of the lands due to her.

On 27 February both parties signed the marriage contract: the marriage of the English princess with the Holy Roman Emperor was greeted with enthusiasm by both King Henry III and by the common people, although the latter was greatly disappointed by the enormous “help” required of him on this occasion: the King had to levy an unpopular tax of two marks of silver per hide in order to afford Isabella’s dowry.

In early May 1235, Archbishop Heinrich I of Cologne and Duke Heinrch I of Brabant arrived in England to fetch the bride to her new homeland; Isabella departed from London on May 7 under the care and tutelage of the Bishop of Exeter, William Briwere.

The princess’s brothers accompanied her from Canterbury to Sandwich, from where Isabella sailed on May 11; four days later they landed at Antwerp. Before Isabella’s departure from England, the Emperor’s ambassadors swore to King Henry III that if the Emperor died before marriage to the princess could be completed, she would return home without hindrance and in complete safety.

It was rumored that on the way, the Emperor’s enemies, allied with the French king, tried to kidnap Isabella, but the escort provided by Emperor Friedrich II was able to protect the princess. On May 22 or 24, Isabella arrived in Cologne and stayed at the house of provost of St. Gereon, where the princess had to spend six weeks, while the Emperor was at war with his own son.

Empress

After a six-week wait, Emperor Friedrich II summoned his bride to Worms, where their official wedding took place and Isabella was crowned at Worms Cathedral by Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz. Researchers disagree on the date of this double event: Alison Weir and Mary Anne Everett Green date it July 20, 1235; Kate Norgate, author of the article on Isabella in the Dictionary of National Biography, writes about Sunday 15 July, while James Panton lists both dates as possible.

Wedding celebrations lasted for four days, and, as they say, they attended “four kings, eleven dukes, counts and margraves, thirty or fewer prelates and minor nobles”. On 14 August, Emperor Friedrich II called an assembly to which representatives from all over the Empire were invited; they met the new empress and brought her their congratulations.

Isabella (or Elizabeth, as some of her husband’s subjects called her) seems to have been a very dignified and beautiful woman. Emperor Friedrich II was delighted with his new wife, but immediately after the wedding he got rid of the Isabella’s English entourage “of both sexes”, leaving only her nurse Margaret Biset and one maid with her, and transferred her to seclusion in Hagenau, where the couple spent most of the winter.

Earlier, the English embassy, which arrived with Isabella, left for their homeland; they brought gifts to their king from the emperor, among whom were three living leopards —animals depicted on the coat of arms of the English king.

Soon after the wedding, Emperor Friedrich II was forced to leave and leave his wife in the care of his son Conrad. In early 1236, Isabella and her husband visited Ravenna; part of the year the imperial couple spent in Italy, after which they returned to Germany.

Already being married, Isabella continued to maintain a relationship with her brother King Henry III: they maintained a regular correspondence, in which they communicated as warmly as strict etiquette allowed. Warm correspondence with the English king was conducted by the Emperor himself, but the name of his wife was mentioned in these letters occasionally and only regarding political issues.

In July, Emperor Friedrich II was preparing for a military campaign and was forced to leave his wife in Germany for almost a year.

By Michael’s Day, Emperor Friedrich II returned to Lombardy, where he summoned his wife and where he spent the winter with her. In September 1238, the emperor sent his wife to Andria, where Isabella remained until December, when the archbishop of Palermo escorted her back to Lombardy.

In early 1239, Isabella spent some time in Noventa Padovana while her husband was in Padua; in February 1240 she returned to southern Italy, where the emperor soon arrived. Emperor Friedrich II, it seems, respected and loved his wife, but in a quite strange manner: taking care of her safety and surrounding her with luxury and splendor, but keeping at a distance from himself and in company of his “harem”, which included women from Arabia; in addition, James Panton writes that the empress was forbidden to communicate with all men, except for the black eunuchs around her.

Isabella’s brother King Henry III complained that his sister was never allowed to “wear her crown” publicly or appear as empress at public meetings. In 1241, when her second brother, Richard of Cornwall, went to visit Friedrich on his way back from the Holy Land, only “after a few days” he was able “with the permission of the emperor and of his own free will” to visit his sister’s chambers. Friedrich did not allow Isabella to meet her brother at court.

Isabella died in childbirth at Foggia near Naples in 1241. Alison Weir dated Isabella’s death between December 1–6. While Kate Norgate and Mary Anne Everett Green believe that she died on December 1.

Friedrich II at the time of his wife’s death was in Faenza, and Isabella’s dying words were a request to her husband to continue to maintain friendly relations with her brother King Henry III. Isabella was buried with full honors at Andria Cathedral near Bari beside Friedrich II’s previous wife, Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem.

King Henry III was deeply saddened and shocked by his sister’s death. He ordered his almoner to distribute, “for the soul of the empress, our late sister,” over £200 in alms at Oxford and Ospringe; the same amount was distributed in London and Windsor. Matthew Paris lamented the death of Isabella, calling her “the glory and hope of England”.

August 24, 1200: King John of England marries Isabella, Countess of Angoulême

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Arthur of Brittany, Count of La Marche, Henry III of England, Hugh IX of Lusignan, Hugh X of Lusignan, Isabella of Angouleme, Isabella of Gloucester, King John of England, King Philippe II of France, Richard I of England

Isabella (c. 1186/ 1188 – June 4, 1246) was Queen of England, as the second wife of King John of England, from 1200 to 1216, and Countess of Angoulême in her own right from 1202 until her death in 1246.

Isabella was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice of Courtenay, who was a sister of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople. Alice and Peter II were grandchildren of King Louis VI of France through their father Peter I of Courtenay.

Isabella became Countess of Angoulême in her own right on June 16, 1202, by which time she was already queen of England.

When King Richard I of England died, his younger brother John, claimed the throne as the son of King Henry II of England. The other to claim the throne of England was Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, nephew of John and the son of John’s older brother. Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany.

Neither side was keen to continue the conflict, and following a papal truce the two leaders met in January 1200 to negotiate possible terms for peace. From John’s perspective, what then followed represented an opportunity to stabilize control over his continental possessions and produce a lasting peace with Philippe II of France in Paris.

John and Philippe II negotiated the May 1200 Treaty of Le Goulet; by this treaty, Philippe II recognized John as the rightful heir to Richard in respect to his French possessions, temporarily abandoning the wider claims of his client, Arthur of Brittany.

John, in turn, abandoned Richard’s former policy of containing Philippe II through alliances with Flanders and Boulogne, and accepted Philippe II’s right as the legitimate feudal overlord of John’s lands in France. John’s policy earned him the disrespectful title of “John Softsword” from some English chroniclers, who contrasted his behaviour with his more aggressive brother, Richard.

In order to remarry, John first needed to abandon his wife Isabella, Countess of Gloucester; the King accomplished this by arguing that he had failed to get the necessary papal dispensation to marry the Countess in the first place—as a cousin, John could not have legally wedded her without this.

It remains unclear why John chose to marry Isabella of Angoulême. Contemporary chroniclers argued that John had fallen deeply in love with her, and John may have been motivated by desire for an apparently beautiful, if rather young, girl.

On the other hand, the Angoumois lands that came with her were strategically vital to John: by marrying Isabella, John was acquiring a key land route between Poitou and Gascony, which significantly strengthened his grip on Aquitaine.

Isabella, however, was already engaged to Hugh IX of Lusignan, an important member of a key Poitou noble family and brother of Raoul I, Count of Eu, who possessed lands along the sensitive eastern Normandy border.

Just as John stood to benefit strategically from marrying Isabella, so the marriage threatened the interests of the Lusignans, whose own lands currently provided the key route for royal goods and troops across Aquitaine. Rather than negotiating some form of compensation, John treated Hugh “with contempt”; this resulted in a Lusignan uprising that was promptly crushed by John, who also intervened to suppress Raoul in Normandy.

King John officially married Isabella, Countess of Angoulême on August 24, 1200.

As a result of John’s temerity in taking her as his second wife, King Philippe II of France confiscated all of their French lands. War recommenced in the aftermath of John’s decision to marry Isabella of Angoulême.

At the time of her marriage to John, the blonde-haired blue-eyed Isabella was already renowned by some for her beauty and has sometimes been called the Helen of the Middle Ages by historians. Isabella was much younger than her husband and possessed a volatile temper similar to his own.

King John was infatuated with his young, beautiful wife; however, his acquisition of her had at least as much to do with spiting his enemies as romantic love.

It was said that he neglected his state affairs to spend time with Isabella, often remaining in bed with her until noon. However, these were rumors spread by John’s enemies to discredit him as a weak and grossly irresponsible ruler, given that at the time John was engaging in a desperate war against King Philippe II of France to hold on to the remaining Plantagenet duchies. The common people began to term her a “siren” or “Messalina” for her allure. Her mother-in-law, Eleanor of Aquitaine, readily accepted her as John’s wife.

On October 1, 1207, at Winchester Castle, Isabella gave birth to a son and heir, the future King Henry III of England, who was named after his grandfather King Henry II. He was quickly followed by another son, Richard, and three daughters: Joan, Isabella and Eleanor. All five children survived into adulthood and made illustrious marriages; all but Joan produced offspring of their own.

Isabella had five children by the king, including his heir, later Henry III.

Second marriage

When King John died on October 19, 1216, Isabella’s first act was to arrange the speedy coronation of her nine-year-old son at the city of Gloucester on October 28. As the royal crown had recently been lost in the Wash, along with the rest of King John’s treasure, she supplied her own golden circlet to be used in lieu of a crown.

The following July, less than a year after his crowning as King Henry III of England, she left him in the care of his regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and returned to France to assume control of her inheritance of Angoulême.

In the spring of 1220, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, “le Brun”, Seigneur de Luisignan, Count of La Marche, the son of her former fiancé, Hugh IX, to whom she had been betrothed before her marriage to King John. It had been previously arranged that her eldest daughter Joan should marry Hugh, and the little girl was being brought up at the Lusignan court in preparation for her marriage.

Hugh, however, upon seeing Isabella, whose beauty had not diminished, preferred the girl’s mother. Joan was provided with another husband, King Alexander II of Scotland, whom she wed in 1221.

Isabella and Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, had another nine children.

Isabella encouraged her son, King Henry III in his invasion of Normandy in 1230, but then did not provide him the support she had promised.

Some of Isabella’s contemporaries, as well as later writers, claim that Isabella formed a conspiracy against King Louis IX of France in 1241, after being publicly snubbed by his mother, Blanche of Castile, for whom she harbored a deep-seated hatred.

In 1244 two royal cooks were arrested for attempting to poison the King Louis IX; upon questioning they confessed to having been in Isabella’s pay.

After the plot had failed, Isabella was accused of attempting to poison the king. Before Isabella could be taken into custody, she sought refuge in Fontevraud Abbey, where she died two years later, on June 4, 1246. However, none of this can be confirmed.

By Isabella’s own prior arrangement, she was first buried in the abbey’s churchyard as an act of repentance for her many misdeeds. On a visit to Fontevraud, her son King Henry III of England was shocked to find her buried outside the abbey and ordered her immediately moved inside. She was finally placed beside Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Afterwards, most of her many Lusignan children, having few prospects in France, set sail for England and the court of Henry, their half-brother.

June 15, 1215: King John of England signs the Magna Carta at Runnymede

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Henry II of England, John Lackland, King John of England, Lord of Ireland, Magna Carta, Rebel Barons, Runnymede

John (December 2504, 1166 – October 19, 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216.

John was the youngest of the four surviving sons of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was nicknamed John Lackland because he was not expected to inherit significant lands.

John lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philippe II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century.

The baronial revolt at the end of John’s reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

John held a council in London in January 1215 to discuss potential reforms and sponsored discussions in Oxford between his agents and the rebels during the spring. He appears to have been playing for time until Pope Innocent III could send letters giving him explicit papal support.

This was particularly important for John, as a way of pressuring the barons but also as a way of controlling Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the meantime, John began to recruit fresh mercenary forces from Poitou, although some were later sent back to avoid giving the impression that John was escalating the conflict. The King announced his intent to become a crusader, a move which gave him additional political protection under church law.

Letters of support from the Pope arrived in April but by then the rebel barons had organised. They congregated at Northampton in May and renounced their feudal ties to John, appointing Robert fitz Walter as their military leader. This self-proclaimed “Army of God” marched on London, taking the capital as well as Lincoln and Exeter. John’s efforts to appear moderate and conciliatory had been largely successful, but once the rebels held London they attracted a fresh wave of defectors from John’s royalist faction. John instructed Langton to organise peace talks with the rebel barons.

John met the rebel leaders at Runnymede, near Windsor Castle, on June 15, 1215. Langton’s efforts at mediation created a charter capturing the proposed peace agreement; it was later renamed Magna Carta, or “Great Charter”.

The charter went beyond simply addressing specific baronial complaints, and formed a wider proposal for political reform, albeit one focusing on the rights of free men, not serfs and unfree labour. It promised the protection of church rights, protection from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, new taxation only with baronial consent and limitations on scutage and other feudal payments. A council of twenty-five barons would be created to monitor and ensure John’s future adherence to the charter, whilst the rebel army would stand down and London would be surrendered to the King.

Neither John nor the rebel barons seriously attempted to implement the peace accord. The rebel barons suspected that the proposed baronial council would be unacceptable to John and that he would challenge the legality of the charter; they packed the baronial council with their own hardliners and refused to demobilise their forces or surrender London as agreed.

Despite his promises to the contrary, John appealed to Pope Innocent III for help, observing that the charter compromised the Pope’s rights under the 1213 agreement that had appointed him John’s feudal lord. Innocent obliged; he declared the charter “not only shameful and demeaning, but illegal and unjust” and excommunicated the rebel barons. The failure of the agreement led rapidly to the First Barons’ War.

June 14, 1216: Prince Louis of France Captures Winchester

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Earl of Pembroke, King John of England, King Louis VIII of France, King Philippe II of France, Louis the Lion, Pope Innocent III., The First Barons War, Treaty of Lambeth, Winchester

Louis VIII (September 2, 1187 – November 8,1226), nicknamed The Lion was King of France from 1223 to 1226. From 1216 to 1217, he invaded and claimed the Kingdom of England. Louis participated in the Albigensian Crusade in southern France, driving it to its successful and deadly conclusion. He was the only surviving son of King Philippe II of France by his first wife, Isabelle of Hainaut, from whom he inherited the County of Artois.

In 1215, the English barons rebelled against the unpopular King John in the First Barons’ War. Following a request from some of the rebellious English barons, the prince sailed to England despite discouragement from his father Philippe II and Pope Innocent III.

The barons offered the throne to Prince Louis, who landed unopposed on the Isle of Thanet in eastern Kent, England, at the head of an army on May 21, 1216.

There was little resistance when the prince entered London, and he was proclaimed King Louis of England at Old St Paul’s Cathedral with great pomp and celebration in the presence of all of London. Even though he was not crowned, many nobles, as well as King Alexander II of Scotland on behalf of his English possessions, gathered to give homage.

On June 14, 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom. But just when it seemed that England was his, King John’s death in October 1216 caused many of the rebellious barons to desert Louis in favour of John’s nine-year-old son, the new king, Henry III.

With the Earl of Pembroke acting as regent, a call for the English “to defend our land” against the French led to a reversal of fortunes on the battlefield. After his army was beaten at the Battle of Lincoln on May 20, 1217 and his naval forces were defeated at the Battle of Sandwich on August 24, 1217, Louis was forced to make peace on English terms. In 1216 and 1217, Prince Louis also tried to conquer Dover Castle, but without success.

The principal provisions of the Treaty of Lambeth were an amnesty for English rebels, a pledge from Louis not to attack England again, and 10,000 marks to be given to Louis. In return for this payment, Louis agreed he had never been the legitimate King of England.

November 16, 1272: Death of King Henry III of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine. Part I.

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/he First Barons War, Cardinal Guala, Duke of Aquitaine, Henry III of England, King John of England, King Louis VIII of France, Lord of Ireland, Pope Honorius III, Prince Louis of France, William Marshal

Henry III (October 1, 1207 – November 16, 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine in the middle of the First Barons’ War.

Cardinal Guala declared the war against the rebel barons to be a religious crusade and Henry’s forces, led by William Marshal, defeated the rebels at the battles of Lincoln and Sandwich in 1217. From 1216 to 1217, Prince Louis, the future King Louis VIII of France (1187 – 1226), invaded and claimed the Kingdom of England.

In September 1216, John marched from the Cotswolds, feigned an offensive to relieve the besieged Windsor Castle, and attacked eastwards around London to Cambridge to separate the rebel-held areas of Lincolnshire and East Anglia. From there he travelled north to relieve the rebel siege at Lincoln and back east to Lynn, probably to order further supplies from the continent. In Lynn, John contracted dysentery.

John’s illness eventually grew worse and by the time he reached Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, he was unable to travel any farther; he died on the night of 18/19 October. Numerous—probably fictitious—accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a “surfeit of peaches”. His body was escorted south by a company of mercenaries and he was buried in Worcester Cathedral in front of the altar of St Wulfstan. A new sarcophagus with an effigy was made for him in 1232, in which his remains now rest.

In his will, John ordered that his niece Eleanor, who might have had a claim to the throne of his successor, Henry III, never be released from prison

Henry was staying safely at Corfe Castle in Dorset with his mother when King John died. On his deathbed, John appointed a council of thirteen executors to help Henry reclaim the kingdom, and requested that his son be placed into the guardianship of William Marshal, one of the most famous knights in England.

The loyalist leaders decided to crown Henry immediately to reinforce his claim to the throne. William knighted the boy, and Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, the papal legate to England, then oversaw his coronation at Gloucester Cathedral on October 28, 1216. The royal crown had been either lost or sold during the civil war or possibly lost in The Wash, so instead the ceremony used a simple gold corolla belonging to Queen Isabella. Henry later underwent a second coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 17, 1220.

The young King inherited a difficult situation, with over half of England occupied by the rebels and most of his father’s continental possessions still in French hands. He had substantial support from Cardinal Guala who intended to win the civil war for Henry and punish the rebels. Guala set about strengthening the ties between England and the Papacy, starting with the coronation itself, where Henry gave homage to the Papacy, recognising Pope Honorius III as his feudal lord.

Pope Honorius declared that Henry was his vassal and ward, and that the legate had complete authority to protect Henry and his kingdom. As an additional measure, Henry took the cross, declaring himself a crusader and so entitled to special protection from Rome.

Prince Louis negotiated terms with Cardinal Guala, under which he would renounce his claim to the English throne; in return, his followers would be given back their lands, any sentences of excommunication would be lifted and Henry’s government would promise to enforce the Magna Carta.

The proposed agreement soon began to unravel amid claims from some loyalists that it was too generous towards the rebels, particularly the clergy who had joined the rebellion. In the absence of a settlement, Louis remained in London with his remaining forces.

On August 24, 1217, a French fleet arrived off the coast of Sandwich, bringing Louis soldiers, siege engines and fresh supplies. Hubert de Burgh, Henry’s justiciar, set sail to intercept it, resulting in the Battle of Sandwich. De Burgh’s fleet scattered the French and captured their flagship, commanded by Eustace the Monk, who was promptly executed. When the news reached Louis, he entered into fresh peace negotiations.

Henry, Isabella, Louis, Guala and William came to agreement on the final Treaty of Lambeth, also known as the Treaty of Kingston, on 12 and 13 September. The treaty was similar to the first peace offer, but excluded the rebel clergy, whose lands and appointments remained forfeit. Louis accepted a gift of £6,666 to speed his departure from England, and promised to try to persuade King Philippe II to return Henry’s lands in France. Louis left England as agreed and joined the Albigensian Crusade in the south of France.

Henry assumed formal control of his government in January 1227, although some contemporaries argued that he was legally still a minor until his 21st birthday the following year. The King richly rewarded Hubert de Burgh for his service during his minority years, making him the Earl of Kent and giving him extensive lands across England and Wales. Despite coming of age, Henry III remained heavily influenced by his advisers for the first few years of his rule and retained Hubert as his justiciar to run the government, granting him the position for life.

The Kingdom of Ireland: Part I.

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2nd Earl of Pembroke, Empress Matilda, High King of Ireland, King Henry II of England, King John of England, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Ireland, Pope Adrian IV, Pope Lucius III, Richard de Clare, Strongbow, William FitzAldem

From the Emperor’s Desk: I’m Irish and in honour of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow I’m going to do a several part series on the Kingdom of Ireland, starting with the Lordship of Ireland in Part I.

A monarchical system of government existed in Ireland from ancient times until—for what became the Republic of Ireland—the early twentieth century. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, remains under a monarchical system of government. The Gaelic kingdoms of Ireland ended with the Norman invasion of Ireland, when the kingdom became a fief of the Holy See under the Lordship of the King of England.

Royal Standard of Ireland (1542–1801)

Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (of the first creation), Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland (1130 – 1176) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman notable for his leading role in the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Like his father, Richard fitz Gilbert has since become commonly known by his nickname Strongbow. As the son of the first ‘earl’, he succeeded to his father’s estates in 1148, but was deprived of the title by King Henry II of England in 1154 for siding with King Stephen of England against Henry’s mother, the Empress Matilda.

In 1155, three years after the Synod of Kells, the Papal Bull Laudabiliter was issued by Pope Adrian IV, (the only Englishman to have served in that office) which was addressed to the Angevin King Henry II of England. It urged Henry to invade Ireland to bring its church under the Roman system and to conduct a general reform of governance and society throughout the island. The existence of the bull has been disputed by scholars over the centuries; no copy is extant but scholars cite the many references to it as early as the 13th century to support the validity of its existence.

In the 1160s the King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, was deposed by the High King of Ireland, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair. Diarmait turned to Henry for assistance in 1167, and the English King agreed to allow Diarmait to recruit mercenaries within his empire. Henry II of England invaded Ireland to control Strongbow, who he feared was becoming a threat to the stability of his own kingdom on its western fringes.

Henry undertook a wave of castle-building during his visit in 1171 to protect his new territories—the Anglo-Normans had superior military technologies to the Irish, and castles gave them a significant advantage. Henry hoped for a longer-term political solution, similar to his approach in Wales and Scotland, and in 1175 he agreed to the Treaty of Windsor, under which Rory O’Connor would be recognised as the High King of Ireland, giving homage to Henry and maintaining stability on the ground on his behalf.

This policy proved unsuccessful, as O’Connor was unable to exert sufficient influence and force in areas such as Munster: Henry instead intervened more directly, establishing a system of local fiefs of his own through a conference held in Oxford in 1177.

John, King of England and Lord of Ireland

At the Oxford parliament in May 1177, Henry replaced William FitzAldelm and granted his youngest son, John Lackland, his Irish lands, so becoming the Lord of Ireland (Dominus Hiberniae) in when he was 10 years old, with the territory being known in English as the Lordship of Ireland. Henry had wanted John to be crowned King of Ireland on his first visit in 1185, but Pope Lucius III specifically refused permission, citing the dubious nature of a claim supposedly provided by Pope Adrian IV years earlier.

Following the deaths of John’s older brothers (Henry the Young King, King Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey of Brittany) he became King of England in 1199, and so the Lordship of Ireland, instead of being a separate country ruled by a junior Norman prince, came under the direct rule of the Angevin crown. In the legal terminology of John’s successors, the “lordship of Ireland” referred to the sovereignty vested in the Crown of England; the corresponding territory was referred to as the “land of Ireland”.

The kings of England claimed lordship over the whole island, but in reality the king’s rule only ever extended to parts of the island. The rest of the island—known as Gaelic Ireland—remained under the control of various Gaelic Irish kingdoms or chiefdoms, who were often at war with the Anglo-Normans.

The area under English rule and law grew and shrank over time, and reached its greatest extent in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The lordship then went into decline, brought on by its invasion by Scotland in 1315–18, the Great Famine of 1315–17, and the Black Death of the 1340s. The fluid political situation and English feudal system allowed a great deal of autonomy for the Anglo-Norman lords in Ireland, who carved out earldoms for themselves and had almost as much authority as some of the native Gaelic kings. Some Anglo-Normans became Gaelicised and rebelled against the English administration.

English monarchs continued to use the title “Lord of Ireland” to refer to their position of conquered lands on the island of Ireland. The title was changed by the Crown of Ireland Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1542 which we’ll discuss in part II tomorrow.

History of the Titles of the Prince of Wales. Conclusion.

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Earl of Chester, Henry IV of England, King Edward I of England, King Edward II of England, King John of England, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, titles

The Earl of Chester

The County of Cheshire was the seat from which powerful Earls (or “Counts” from the Norman-French) of Chester rose from the late eleventh century. The Earls held land all over England, comprising ‘the honour of Chester’ and by the late twelfth century the earls had established a position of power as quasi-princely rulers of Cheshire that led to the later establishment of the County Palatine of Chester and Flint. The Earls of Chester held so much power that the Magna Carta set down by King John did not apply to Cheshire and the sixth earl was compelled to issue his own versions.

HRH The Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester

The earldom passed to the Crown by escheat in 1237 on the death of John the Scot, Earl of Huntingdon, seventh and last of the Earls. William III de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle, claimed the earldom as husband of Christina, the senior co-heir, but the king persuaded them to quitclaim their rights in 1241 in exchange for modest lands elsewhere. The other co-heiresses did likewise. It was annexed to the Crown in 1246. King Henry III then passed the Lordship of Chester, but not the title of Earl, to his son, the Lord Edward, in 1254; and as King Edward I, this son in turn conferred the title and lands of the Earldom on his son, Edward, the first English Prince of Wales (future Edward II of England).

Earldom of Chester

The establishment of royal control of the Earldom of Chester made possible King Edward I’s conquest of north Wales, and Chester played a vital part as a supply base during the Welsh Wars (1275–84), so the separate organisation of a county palatine was preserved. This continued until the time of King Henry VIII. Since 1301, the Earldom of Chester has always been conferred jointly with the title Prince of Wales.

Chester was Briefly promoted to a principality in 1398 by King Richard II, who titled himself “Prince of Chester.” It was reduced to an earldom again in 1399 by King Henry IV. Whereas the Sovereign’s eldest son is born Duke of Cornwall, he must be made or created Earl of Chester it is not an hereditary title similarly to the title Prince of Wales; which also is not hereditary.

Prince of Wales

For most of the post-Roman period, Wales was divided into several smaller states. Before the Norman conquest of England, the most powerful Welsh ruler at any given time was generally known as King of the Britons. In the 12th and 13th centuries, this title evolved into Prince of Wales (see Brut y Tywysogion). In Latin, the new title was Princeps Walliae, and in Welsh it was Tywysog Cymru. The literal translation of Tywysog is “leader”. (The verb tywys means “to lead”.)

Only a handful of native princes had their claim to the overlordship of Wales recognised by the English Crown. The first known to have used such a title was Owain Gwynedd, adopting the title Prince of the Welsh around 1165 after earlier using rex Waliae (“King of Wales”). His grandson Llywelyn the Great is not known to have used the title “Prince of Wales” as such, although his use, from around 1230, of the style “Prince of Aberffraw, Lord of Snowdon” was tantamount to a proclamation of authority over most of Wales, and he did use the title “Prince of North Wales” as did his predecessor Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd.

In 1240, the title was theoretically inherited by his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn, though he is not known to have used it. Instead he styled himself as “Prince of Wales” around 1244, the first Welsh prince to do so. In 1246, his nephew Llywelyn ap Gruffudd succeeded to the throne of Gwynedd, and used the style as early as 1258. In 1267, with the signing of the Treaty of Montgomery, he was recognised by both King Henry III of England and the representative of the Papacy as Prince of Wales. In 1282, Llywelyn was killed during Edward I of England’s invasion of Wales and although his brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd succeeded to the Welsh princeship, issuing documents as prince, his principality was not recognised by the English Crown.

Three Welshmen, however, claimed the title of Prince of Wales after 1283.

The first was Madog ap Llywelyn, a member of the House of Gwynedd, who led a nationwide revolt in 1294-5, defeating English forces in battle near Denbigh and seizing Caernarfon Castle. His revolt was suppressed, however, after the Battle of Maes Moydog in March 1295, and the prince was imprisoned in London.

In the 1370s, Owain Lawgoch (“Red Hand”), an English-born descendant of one of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd’s brothers, claimed the title of Prince of Wales, but was assassinated in France in 1378 before he could return to Wales to claim his inheritance.

It is Owain Glyndŵr, however, whom many Welsh people regard as having been the last native Prince. On 16 September 1400, he was proclaimed Prince of Wales by his supporters, and held parliaments at Harlech Castle and elsewhere during his revolt, which encompassed all of Wales. It was not until 1409 that his revolt in quest of Welsh independence was suppressed by Henry IV.

As title of heir apparent

The tradition of conferring the title “Prince of Wales” on the heir apparent of the monarch is usually considered to have begun in 1301, when King Edward I of England invested his son Edward of Caernarfon with the title at a Parliament held in Lincoln. According to legend, the king had promised the Welsh that he would name “a prince born in Wales, who did not speak a word of English” and then produced his infant son, who had been born at Caernarfon, to their surprise. However, the story may well be apocryphal, as it can only be traced to the 16th century, and, in the time of Edward I, the English aristocracy spoke Norman French, not English (some versions of the legend include lack of knowledge in both languages as a requirement, and one reported version has the very specific phrase “born on Welsh soil and speaking no other language”).

William Camden wrote in his 1607 work Britannia that originally the title “Prince of Wales” was not conferred automatically upon the eldest living son of the King of England because Edward II (who had been the first English Prince of Wales) neglected to invest his eldest son, the future Edward III, with that title. It was Edward III who revived the practice of naming the eldest son Prince of Wales, which was then maintained by his successors:

Nevertheless, according to conventional wisdom, since 1301 the Prince of Wales has usually been the eldest living son (if and only if he is also the heir apparent) of the King or Queen Regnant of England (subsequently of Great Britain, 1707, and of the United Kingdom, 1801). That he is also the heir apparent is important. Following the death of Prince Arthur, the Prince of Wales, Henry VII invested his second son, the future Henry VIII, with the title—although only after it was clear that Arthur’s wife, Catherine of Aragon, was not pregnant; when Frederick, Prince of Wales died while his father reigned, George II created Frederick’s son George (the king’s grandson and new heir apparent) Prince of Wales. The title is not automatic and is not heritable; it merges into the Crown when a prince accedes to the throne, or lapses on his death leaving the sovereign free to re-grant it to the new heir apparent (such as the late prince’s son or brother). Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales on 26 July 1958, some six years after he became heir apparent, and had to wait another 11 years for his investiture, on 1 July 1969.

The title Prince of Wales is always conferred along with the Earldom of Chester. The convention began in 1399; all previous Princes of Wales also received the earldom, but separately from the title of Prince. Prior to 1272 a hereditary and not necessarily royal Earldom of Chester had already been created several times, eventually merging in the Crown each time. The earldom was recreated, merging in the Crown in 1307 and again in 1327. Its creations since have been associated with the creations of the Prince of Wales.

The name Louis and the British Monarchy

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Adela of Normandy, Alexander II of Scotland, Alfonso VIII of Castile, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eleanor of England, Isabelle of Hainaut, King Henry II of England, King John of England, King Louis VIII of France, King Philippe II of France, King Richard I of England, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of France, Prince Louis of Cambridge, The Barons War, William the Conqueror

Though I’m a bit late with this, I wanted to look at the name Louis given to the new Prince born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It isn’t a name that has a large history within the British Royal Family (this includes both England and Scotland), Louis has never been used as a first name in the British Royal Family, but it does have some history as a secondary name and a name associated, or connected to, other relatives of the British Royal Family.

Today will be Part I of examining the name Louis and it’s association with the British Royal Family. The name Louis has a long tradition within the French Monarchy and various German States in its long history of monarchy.


Before I get into detail about that, did you know there was almost a King Louis of England? The future King Louis VIII of France (1223-1226) laid claim to the English throne in 1216-1217 during the First Barons’ War of 1215–17. Here is his story.

King Louis VIII of France

Throughout the reign of King John of England he has a tumultuous relationship with the English Barons. Things ignited in 1215 when King John marched against Alexander II of Scotland, who had allied himself with the rebel cause. In a swift turn of events John took back Alexander II’s possessions in northern England and in a rapid campaign and pushed up towards Edinburgh. This was all accomplished over a ten-day period.

The rebel barons responded to John’s actions by inviting the French prince Louis to lead them. Louis was the son of King Philippe II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut. Louis laid claim to the English throne by virtue of his marriage to Blanche of Castile. Blanche was the daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, (Eleanor was the sixth child and second daughter of Henry II of England, and Eleanor of Aquitaine and the sister of King Richard I and King John of England) thus making Blanche of Castile a granddaughter of Henry II of England and nice of King Richard I and King John. In those days succession to the thrones of many European countries were often claimed by husbands in right of their wives who were technically in the line of succession but often did not have succession rights themselves. However, Louis was also the great-great-great grandson of William I “the Conqueror,” King of England via William’s daughter Adela of Normandy.

King John of England

Prince Louis’ father, Philippe II of France, may have provided him with private support but refused to openly support Louis. The reason for the lack of public support was that Pope Innocent III excommunicated Louis for taking part in the war against John. Louis’ planned arrival in England presented a significant problem for John, as the prince would bring with him naval vessels and siege engines essential to the rebel cause. Once John contained Alexander II in Scotland, he marched south to deal with the challenge of the coming invasion.

Prince Louis intended to land in the south of England in May 1216, and John assembled a naval force to intercept him. Unfortunately for John, his fleet was dispersed by bad storms and Louis landed unopposed in Kent. John hesitated and decided not to attack Louis immediately, either due to the risks of open battle or over concerns about the loyalty of his own men. Louis and the rebel barons advanced west and John retreated, spending the summer reorganising his defences across the rest of the kingdom. John saw several of his military household desert to the rebels, including his half-brother, William Longespée. By the end of the summer the rebels had regained the south-east of England and parts of the north.

The barons offered the throne to Prince Louis, who landed unopposed on the Isle of Thanet in eastern Kent, England, at the head of an army on May 21, 1216. There was little resistance when the prince entered London, and Louis was proclaimed “King of England” at Old St Paul’s Cathedral with great pomp and celebration in the presence of all of London on June 2, 1216. Even though he was not crowned, many nobles, as well as King Alexander II of Scotland on behalf of his English possessions, gathered to give homage. By June 14, 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom.

With full control of England within his grasp, suddenly it all slipped away from Louis. King John died on the night of 18/19 October. Numerous – probably fictitious – accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a “surfeit of peaches”. With King John suddenly and unexpected gone, so was the motivation for the revolt. The Barons swiftly deserted Louis in favour of John’s nine-year-old son, the new king, Henry III.

The Earl of Pembroke was now acting regent, called for the English “to defend our land” against the French. Louis’ army was beaten at the Battle of Lincoln on May 20, 1217 and his naval forces were defeated at the Battle of Sandwich in August of 1217. Then after a failed attempt to conquer Dover Castle, Louis was forced to make peace on English terms.

The principal provisions of the Treaty of Lambeth were an amnesty for English rebels, a pledge from Louis not to attack England again, and 10,000 marks to be given to Louis. In return for this payment, Louis agreed that he never had been the legitimate king of England. Despite his losses in England, his military prowess earned him the epithet “Louis the Lion.” On July 14, 1223 Philippe II of France died and Louis the Lion became King Louis VIII of France.


This does not end the association between the name Louis and the British monarchy. Join me later this week for Part II.



8oo Year Anniversary of the Death of King John of England.

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dysentery, History, King John of England, King of England, King of the English, Middle Ages, Ttiles

On this day, 800 years ago, October 19, 1216 King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry III. King John has gone down in English history as one of England’s ineffective kings. Jim Bradbury, British historian specializing in the military history of the Middle Ages, states that the current consensus among historians was that John was a “hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general”, albeit,  with “distasteful, even dangerous personality traits”, including pettiness, spitefulness and cruelty.”

His cause of death at the age of 49 after a reign plagued with numerous battles was dysentery. A condition highly curable today but often fatal in the Middle Ages. Shortly after his death rumors began circulating that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a “surfeit of peaches”.His body was buried in Worcester Cathedral in front of the altar of St Wulfstan.  A new sarcophagus with an effigy was made for him  in 1232 in which his remains now rest.

An interesting factoid is that during the reign of King John the title of the monarch officially changed from “King of the English” to “King of England.” The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan (924-927) until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum (King of the English). Canute II the Great, King of Denmark, was the first king to call himself “King of England”. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum (King of the English) remained standard, with occasional use of Rex Anglie (King of England).  From the time of King John onward all other titles were eschewed in favor of Rex or Regina Anglie .(King of England).