March 2, 979: Louis V Becomes King of West Francia

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Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, Bishop Guy of le Puy, Capetian, Carolingian, Emma of Italy, Hugh Capet, King Lothair II of Italy. , King Louis V of France, King of West Francia, Lothair II, Philippe II of France

Louis V (c. 966 or 967 – May 22, 987), also known as Louis the Do-Nothing (French: Louis le Fainéant), was a King of West Francia from 979 (co-reigning first with his father King Lothair II until 986) to his early death in 987. During his reign, the nobility essentially ruled the country. Dying childless, Louis V was the last Carolingian monarch in West Francia.

Youth

Louis was born c. 966. He was the eldest son of King Lothair II of West Francia, the Carolingian ruler of West Francia, and Queen Emma, daughter of King Lothair II of Italy and Empress Adelaide. Louis was associated with the government by his father in 978 and crowned co-king on June 8, 979 at the Abbey of Saint-Corneille in Compiègne by Archbishop Adalbero of Reims.

Marriage

In 982 at Vieille-Brioude, Haute-Loire, the fifteen-year-old Louis was married to the forty-year-old Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, sister of Count Geoffrey I and twice a widow from her previous marriages with Count Stephen of Gévaudan and Count Raymond of Toulouse, Prince of Gothia.

This union was purely political and arranged by the king – following the advice of Queen Emma and Count Geoffrey I – with the double purpose of restoring the Carolingian royal power in the south of the kingdom, and (according to Richerus) to obtain the support of the local southern lords in his fight against the Robertians. Being related by marriage to two of the most powerful southern comital families of the Kingdom, Lothair believed that he could confront the power of Hugh Capét.

Immediately after their wedding, Louis and Adelaide-Blanche were crowned King and Queen of Aquitaine by Adelaide’s brother Bishop Guy of le Puy. From the very beginning, however, the mismatched couple were unable to peacefully live together, not only due to the notorious age difference between them, but (according to Richerus) also because of Louis’ debauched lifestyle:

[…] They had almost no conjugal love; because Louis had barely reached puberty, and Adelaide was old, there was only incompatibility and disagreements between them. They did not share a common bedroom as they could not bear it; when they had to travel, each took a separate residence, and when they were forced to talk, their conversations were in the open air and were never long, but only lasted for a few words. They lived in this way for two years, until they obtained the divorce for their opposite characters. […] Louis, who did not have a tutor, indulged himself in all sorts of frivolity due to his young age.
In 984, after two years of childless union (and according to Rodulfus Glaber), Adelaide tricked her young husband into making a visit to Aquitaine, and once there, she left him and returned to her family, marrying shortly thereafter Count William I of Provence.

Reign

Upon his father’s death on March 2, 986, the already-crowned Louis V became the undisputed King of the Franks. At that time, however, there existed in the Frankish court two factions: one led by Archbishop Adalberon of Reims and Queen Emma, who, being strongly influenced by her mother Empress Adelaide, wanted the renewal of friendly relationships with the Ottonian dynasty; the other faction wanted to continue Lothair’s policy, and taking advantage of the minority of Emperor Otto III, wanted a policy of expansion to the east and the recovery of Lotharingia.

In addition, the young monarch inherited a battle between his father’s line of elected kings (which had been interrupted twice by Robertians and once by the Bosonids), and the Ottonian house of Emperor Otto I. As defender of Rome, Emperor Otto I had the power to name the clergy in Carolingian territory, and the clergy he had named were not supporting the Carolingians.

Initially, Queen Emma dominated the situation, but in the summer of 986 there was a reversal: the Anti-Ottonian party prevailed, after which she was forced to leave court and seek refuge with Hugh Capét.

This event also put Adalberon in a predicament: having been elevated by Emperor Otto I to the powerful Archbishopric of Reims, he was forced to leave his episcopal seat and took refuge in one of his fortresses on the Meuse river, who belonged to the Ottonian sphere.

The escape of the archbishop was perceived by Louis V as treason; he turned violently against Adalberon and threatened him with a siege of Reims. The matter was finally settled in a trial court at Compiègne. Before this meeting, however, Louis V changed his mind and sought reconciliation with Adalberon, and so in the spring of 987, he planned a peace meeting with Empress Theophanu, who acted on behalf of her son Otto III.

Before all these tangled events were resolved, Louis V died on May 22, 987 from a fall while hunting in the Forest of Halatte near the town of Senlis, Oise. He was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Corneille in Compiègne.

Louis V left no legitimate heirs, so his uncle Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, was nominated as the hereditary successor to the throne. But the clergy, including both Adalberon and Gerbert (who later became Pope Sylvester II), argued eloquently for the election of Hugh Capét, who was not only of royal blood but had proven himself through his actions and his military might. Hugh was elected to the Frankish throne and Adalberon crowned him, all within two months of Louis V’s death. Thus the rule of the Carolingian dynasty ended and the Capetian era had begun.

With the early deaths of King Lothair II and his son and successor King Louis V, traditionally marking the end of the French branch of Carolingian dynasty as well as the end of West Francia as a kingdom.

Hugh’s predecessors did not call themselves Kings of France, they ruled as Rex Francorum (“King of the Franks”). The title King of France ( “Rex Francie”) was not used by his successors until 1190 and the reign of his descendant King Philippe II.

However, despite the change in title not happening until 1190 historians generally view the beginning of the reign of King Hugh Capét as the start of the modern Kingdom of France.

April 12, 1256: Death of Marguerite de Bourbon, Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne

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Countess of Champagne, Eleanor of Aquitaine, John of England, King Sancho VII of Navarre, King Theobald I of Navarre, King Theobald II of Navarre, Louis VII of France, Marguerite de Bourbon, Philippe II of France, Queen of Navarre, Regent, Richard I of England

Marguerite de Bourbon (c. 1217 – April 12, 1256) was Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne from 1234 until 1253 as the third wife of King Theobald I of Navarre. After her husband’s death, she ruled both the kingdom and the county as regent for three years in the name of their son, King Theobald II of Navarre.

Marguerite was born into the House of Dampierre, the eldest daughter of Archambaud VIII, Lord of Bourbon. Her mother was her father’s first wife, Alice of Forez, daughter of Guigues III, Count of Forez. Archambaud was the constable of Count Theobald IV of Champagne.

Queen

Marguerite was 15 years old when, on September 12, 1232, she became the third wife of the 32-year-old recently widowed Count Theobald. His first wife, Gertrude of Dagsburg, had been repudiated and already deceased, while the second, Agnes of Beaujeu, died leaving only a daughter, Blanche.

Their marriage was one of only two unions of the counts of Champagne with a significant age disparity between spouses, the other one being the marriage of Henri I of Champagne (1127 – 1181) and Marie of France (1145 – 1198) with Henri being eighteen years older than his wife.

Marie of France was a French the elder daughter of King Louis VII of France and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. Marie had numerous half-siblings on both her mother’s and father’s side, including the eventual kings Philippe II of France and Richard I and John of England.

Marguerite brought a large dowry, but an unusual clause in her marriage contract stipulated that only a prorated part of it would be returned to her father in case of her death without issue within the first nine years of the marriage and nothing if she died after nine years had passed. Only if the union ended in annulment, as her parents’ and Theobald’s first marriage had, was the entire sum to be returned.

Regency

Marguerite’s marriage lasted twenty years, during which she delivered seven children. In 1234, she became Queen of Navarre when Theobald inherited the kingdom from his maternal uncle, Sancho VII. Little is known about Margaret’s life as queen consort, which appears to have been spent in relative obscurity.

Her husband’s death in 1253, however, brought her to spotlight: their son, Theobald II of Navarre, was 14, while the laws of the realm required the king to be 21 to take control of his inheritance.

She immediately had to deal with a succession crisis in the kingdom. Although her husband, also Count of Champagne, had resided in Navarre much of the time after his accession to the royal throne, the nobility of the kingdom were unwilling to accept his son as their king.

Marguerite prevented the outbreak of an open rebellion by travelling with Theobald to the capital, Pamplona, and by allying with the neighbouring Kingdom of Aragon. She also inherited her husband’s long-standing dispute with the Knights Templar, who had bought much feudal property in Champagne despite his disapproval. Marguerite resolutely prohibited them from acquiring any more land within the county.

In 1254, Marguerite was persuaded by her son to arrange a marriage for him with Isabella, daughter of King Louis IX of France. King Theobald II reached the age of majority in 1256. No longer regent, Queen Marguerite retired to her large dower lands, consisting of seven castellanies (as much as a third of the comital revenues), where she spent the rest of her life. She died in Provins and was buried at the Saint Joseph de Clairval Abbey in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain.

Issue

Eleanor, died young
Theobald II of Navarre
Peter (died in 1265)
Margaret, who in 1255 married Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine and bore him Theobald II of Lorraine
Beatrice of Navarre, Duchess of Burgundy married Hugh IV Duke of Burgundy
Henry I of Navarre married Blanche of Artois

April 1203: Death of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany

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Arthur of Brittany, Constance of Brittany, Geoffrey of England, Henry II of England, Philippe II of France, Treaty of Le Goulet

Arthur I (March 29, 1187 – presumably April 1203) was 4th Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany between 1196 and 1203.

Early life
Arthur was born in 1187, the son of Duchess Constance of Brittany and Duke Geoffrey II of Brittany, who died before he was born. As an infant, Arthur was second in line to the succession of his paternal grandfather King Henry II of England, after his uncle Richard. King Henry died when Arthur was 2 years old, and Richard I became the new king in his place.

In the 1160s, Henry II began to alter his policy of indirect rule in Brittany and to exert more direct control. Henry had been at war with Conan IV, Duke of Brittany. Local Breton nobles rebelled against Conan, so Conan sought Henry II’s help.

In 1164, Henry intervened to seize lands along the border of Brittany and Normandy and, in 1166, he invaded Brittany to punish the local barons. Henry then forced Duke Conan IV to abdicate as duke and to give Brittany to his five-year-old daughter, Constance, who was handed over and betrothed to Henry’s son Geoffrey. This arrangement was quite unusual in terms of medieval law, as Conan might have had sons who could have legitimately inherited the duchy.

Geoffrey and Constance eventually married, in July 1181, and Geoffrey became Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Via the law Jure uxoris (a Latin phrase meaning “by right of (his) wife”) describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title suo jure (“in her own right”). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could become the legal possessor of her lands.

In 1190 Arthur was designated heir to the throne of England and its French territory by his uncle, Richard I, the intent being that Arthur would succeed Richard in preference to Richard’s younger brother John. Nothing is recorded of Arthur after his incarceration in Rouen Castle in 1203, and while his precise fate is unknown, it is generally believed he was killed by John.

While Richard was away on the Third Crusade, Arthur’s mother Constance sought to make the Duchy of Brittany more independent. On November 11, 1190, Arthur was named as Richard’s heir presumptive and was betrothed to a daughter of King Tancred of Sicily as part of their treaty. However, Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VI conquered the Kingdom of Sicily in 1194, so the betrothal of Arthur came to nothing.

A marriage plan, originally aiming to establish an alliance between King Richard and King Philippe II of France to marry Arthur’s elder sister Eleanor to Philippe’s son Louis also failed.

In 1196, Constance had the young Arthur proclaimed Duke of Brittany and her co-ruler as a child of nine years. The same year, Richard summoned Arthur, as well as Arthur’s mother, Constance, to Normandy, but Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, stepfather of Arthur, abducted Constance. Richard marched to Brittany to rescue Arthur, who was then secretly carried to France to be brought up with Louis.

When Richard died on April 6, 1199, on his deathbed he proclaimed his brother John as his heir, fearing Arthur was too young to look after the throne. Arthur was only twelve years old at the time and under the influence of the French king.

Arthur of Brittany pays homage to King Philippe II of France

John immediately claimed the throne of England, but much of the French nobility were resentful at recognising him as their overlord. They preferred Arthur, who declared himself vassal of Philippe II.

Philippe II recognised Arthur’s right to Anjou, Maine, and Poitou. Upon Richard’s death Arthur led a force to Anjou and Maine. From April 18, he styled himself as Duke of Brittany, Count of Anjou and Earl of Richmond.

On September 18, John persuaded the seneschal of Anjou, William des Roches, to defect, claiming Arthur would be a Capetian puppet. Four days later William took Arthur and Constance prisoners to Le Mans. Viscount Aimery, the seneschal appointed by John, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court to Angers, and later the court of Philippe II.

Treaty of Le Goulet

The Treaty of Le Goulet was signed by the kings John of England and Philippe II of France in May 1200 and meant to settle once and for all the claims the Norman kings of England had as Norman dukes on French lands, including, at least for a time, Brittany.

Under the terms of the treaty, Philippe II recognised John as King of England as heir of his brother Richard I and thus formally abandoned any support for Arthur. John, meanwhile, recognised Philippe II as the suzerain of continental possessions of the Angevin Empire.

Philippe II had previously recognised John as suzerain of Anjou and the Duchy of Brittany, but with this he extorted 20,000 marks sterling in payment for recognition of John’s sovereignty of Brittany.

Battle against John of England

After the signing of the Treaty of Le Goulet, and feeling offended by Philippe II, Arthur fled to John, his uncle, and was treated kindly, at least initially. However, he later became suspicious of John and fled back to Angers. Some unidentified source said that in April 1202, Arthur was again betrothed, this time to Marie of France, a daughter of Philippe II and Agnes of Andechs-Merania.

After his return to France, and with the support of Philippe II, Arthur embarked on a campaign in Normandy against John in 1202. Poitou revolted in support of Arthur. The Duke of Brittany besieged his grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, John’s mother, in the Château de Mirebeau. John marched on Mirebeau, taking Arthur by surprise on July 31, 1202. Arthur was captured by John’s barons on August 1, and imprisoned in the Château de Falaise in Falaise, Normandy.

Imprisonment and disappearance

Arthur was guarded by Hubert de Burgh at the Chateau de Falaise. According to contemporaneous chronicler Ralph of Coggeshall, John ordered two of his servants to blind and castrate the duke. De Burgh could not bring himself to let Arthur be mutilated.

Fearful of John, de Burgh leaked news that Arthur had died of natural causes. This news infuriated Brittany, who suspected that Arthur had been murdered. The following year Arthur was transferred to Rouen, under the charge of William de Braose. Arthur vanished in April 1203, in the background of several military victories by Philippe II of France against King John.

Arthur’s disappearance gave rise to various stories. One account was that Arthur’s gaolers feared to harm him, and so he was murdered by John directly and his body dumped in the Seine. The Margam Annals provide the following account of Arthur’s death:

After King John had captured Arthur and kept him alive in prison for some time, at length, in the castle of Rouen, after dinner on the Thursday before Easter, when he was drunk and possessed by the devil [‘ebrius et daemonio plenus’], he slew him with his own hand, and tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the Seine. It was discovered by a fisherman in his net, and being dragged to the bank and recognized, was taken for secret burial, in fear of the tyrant, to the priory of Bec called Notre Dame de Pres.

William de Braose is also rumoured to have murdered Arthur. After the young man’s disappearance, he rose high in John’s favour receiving new lands and titles in the Welsh Marches. Many years after Arthur’s disappearance, and just prior to a conflict with King John, de Braose’s wife Maud de Braose accused the king of murdering Arthur.

Not only the Bretons, but even Philippe II, were ignorant of what actually happened, and whether Arthur was alive or dead. Whatever his fate, Arthur left no known issue. William promised to direct the attack of Mirebeau on condition he was consulted on the fate of Arthur, but John broke the promise, causing him to leave John along with Aimeri of Thouars and siege Angers.

Succession

The mystery surrounding Arthur’s death complicated his succession. This succession was presumably influenced by both King John and King Philippe II. There were no male heirs to the ducal crown and so his succession as duke was constrained to several choices among his sisters.

Arthur’s sister Eleanor, the ‘Fair Maid of Brittany’, was also King John’s prisoner. Eleanor also presented a complicating factor, if not a threat, to John’s succession plans as King of England.

While permitted by John to succeed Richmond and claim her rights to Brittany, she remained imprisoned for the rest of her life, through the reign of John’s actual successor, his son Henry III of England.

While imprisoned, she never married and had no issue. Her imprisonment and the fact that she was located in England made it impossible for her to reign as hereditary Duchess of Brittany.

Arthur I was succeeded by his half-sister, Alix of Thouars, the daughter of Constance and her third husband Guy of Thouars.

King Richard I of England: Assessment Part I

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Heraldry, Homosexuality, House of Anjou, House of Plantagenet, King Richard I of England, Philippe II of France, Richard the Lion Heart, Richard the Lionheart

From the Emperor’s Desk: Today and Tomorrow I will assesses the reign of Richard the Lionheart.

Character and sexuality

Contemporaries considered Richard as both a king and a knight famed for personal martial prowess; this was, apparently, the first such instance of this combination. He was known as a valiant, competent military leader and individual fighter who was courageous and generous. At the same time, he was considered prone to the sins of lust, pride, greed, and above all excessive cruelty. Ralph of Coggeshall, summarising Richard’s career, deplores that the King was one of “the immense cohort of sinners”. He was criticised by clergy chroniclers for having taxed the clergy both for the Crusade and for his ransom, whereas the church and the clergy were usually exempt from taxes.

Richard was a patron and a protector of the trouvères and troubadours of his entourage; he was also a poet himself. He was interested in writing and music, and two poems are attributed to him. The first one is a sirventes in Old French, Dalfin je us voill desrenier, and the second one is a lament that he wrote during his imprisonment at Dürnstein Castle, Ja nus hons pris, with a version in Old Occitan and a version in Old French.

In the historiography of the second half of the 20th century, much interest was shown in Richard’s sexuality, in particular whether there was evidence of homosexuality. The topic had not been raised by Victorian or Edwardian historians, a fact which was itself denounced as a “conspiracy of silence” by John Harvey (1948). The argument primarily drew on accounts of Richard’s behaviour, as well as of his confessions and penitences, and of his childless marriage.

Richard did have at least one illegitimate child, Philip of Cognac, and there are reports on his sexual relations with local women during his campaigns. Historians remain divided on the question of Richard’s sexuality. Harvey argued in favour of his homosexuality but has been disputed by other historians, most notably John Gillingham (1994), who argues that Richard was probably heterosexual.

Flori (1999) again argued in favour of Richard’s homosexuality, based on Richard’s two public confessions and penitences (in 1191 and 1195) which, according to Flori, “must have” referred to the sin of sodomy.

Flori, however, concedes that contemporary accounts of Richard taking women by force exist, concluding that he probably had sexual relations with both men and women. Flori and Gillingham nevertheless agree that accounts of bed-sharing do not support the suggestion that Richard had a sexual relationship with King Philippe II, as had been suggested by other modern authors.

Heraldry

The second Great Seal of Richard I (1198) shows him bearing a shield depicting three lions passant-guardant. This is the first instance of the appearance of this blazon, which later became established as the Royal Arms of England. It is likely, therefore, that Richard introduced this heraldic design. In his earlier Great Seal of 1189, he had used either one lion rampant or two lions rampants combatants, which arms he may have adopted from his father.

Richard is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant (now statant-guardant). The coat of three lions continues to represent England on several coins of the pound sterling, forms the basis of several emblems of English national sports teams (such as the England national football team, and the team’s “Three Lions” anthem), and endures as one of the most recognisable national symbols of England.

July 14, 1223: Death of King Philippe II Auguste of France

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Anglo-French War of 1213–1214, House of Anjou, House of Capet, House of Plantagenet, King Louis VII of France, Philip II of France, Philippe II Auguste of France, Philippe II of France, Pope Celestine III, Pope Innocent III., Waldemar I of Denmark, Waldemar II of Denmark

Philippe II Auguste (August 21, 1165 – July 14, 1223), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as King of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philippe II became the first French monarch to style himself “King of France”. The son of King Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed Dieudonné (God-given) because he was a first son and born late in his father’s life. Philippe II was given the epithet “Augustus” (French: Auguste) by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the crown lands of France so remarkably.

Philippe II Auguste, King of France

After a twelve-year struggle with the Plantagenet dynasty in the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214, Philippe II succeeded in breaking up the large Angevin Empire presided over by the crown of England and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

This victory would have a lasting impact on western European politics: the authority of the French king became unchallenged, while the English King John was forced by his barons to assent to Magna Carta and deal with a rebellion against him aided by Philippe’s son Prince Louis, the First Barons’ War. The military actions surrounding the Albigensian Crusade helped prepare the expansion of France southward.

Philippe did not participate directly in these actions, but he allowed his vassals and knights to help carry them out.
Philippe transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns free themselves from seigneurial authority, granting privileges and liberties to the emergent bourgeoisie. He built a great wall around Paris (“the Wall of Philippe II Augustus”), re-organized the French government and brought financial stability to his country.

King Philippe II was married on April 28, 1180 to Isabelle of Hainaut, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders, who brought the County of Artois as her dowry.

Marital problems

After the early death of Isabella of Hainaut in childbirth in 1190, Philippe II decided to marry again. On August 15, 1193, he married Ingeborg, daughter of King Waldemar I of Denmark. She was renamed Isambour, and Stephen of Tournai described her as “very kind, young of age but old of wisdom.” Philippe, however, discovered on their wedding night that she had terribly bad breath, and he refused to allow her to be crowned queen.

Ingeborg protested at this treatment; his response was to confine her to a convent. He then asked Pope Celestine III for an annulment on the grounds of non-consummation. Philippe had not reckoned with Isambour, however; she insisted that the marriage had been consummated, and that she was his wife and the rightful queen of France. The Franco-Danish churchman Guillaume of Paris intervened on the side of Ingeborg, drawing up a genealogy of the Danish kings to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity.

In the meantime, Philippe II had sought a new bride. Initial agreement had been reached for him to marry Margaret of Geneva, daughter of William I, Count of Geneva, but the young bride’s journey to Paris was interrupted by Thomas, Count of Savoy, who kidnapped Philippe intended new queen and married her instead, claiming that Philip was already bound in marriage.

Philippe II finally achieved a third marriage in June 1196, when he was married to Agnes of Merania from Dalmatia. Their children were Marie and Philippe, Count of Clermont, and, by marriage, Count of Boulogne.

Pope Innocent III declared Philippe II Auguste marriage to Agnes of Merania null and void, as he was still married to Ingeborg. He ordered the king to part from Agnes, and when he did not, the pope placed France under an interdict in 1199. This continued until September 7, 1200. Due to pressure from the pope and from Ingeborg’s brother King Waldemar II of Denmark, Philippe II finally took Isambour back as his wife in 1201, but it would not be until 1213 that she would be recognized at court as queen.

Philippe II fell ill in September 1222 and had a will made, but carried on with his itinerary. Hot weather the next summer worsened his fever, but a brief remission prompted him to travel to Paris on July 13, 1223, against the advice of his physician. He died en route the next day, in Mantes-la-Jolie, at the age of 58. His body was carried to Paris on a bier. He was interred in the Basilica of St Denis in the presence of his son and successor by Isabella of Hainaut, Louis VIII, as well as his illegitimate son Philippe I, Count of Boulogne and John of Brienne, the King of Jerusalem.

June 11, 1183: Death of Henry the Young King. Part II.

Tags

Angevin, Anglo-Norman, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry the Young King, House of Anjou, House of Plantagenet, King Henry II of England, Norman, Philippe II of France, Poitevin and Breton, William I of Scotland, William Marshal

Part I

Young Henry fell out with his father in 1173. Contemporary chroniclers allege that this was owing to the young man’s frustration that his father had given him no realm to rule, and his feeling starved of funds. The rebellion seems, however, to have drawn strength from much deeper discontent with his father’s rule, and a formidable party of Anglo-Norman, Norman, Angevin, Poitevin and Breton magnates joined him.

The revolt of 1173–1174 came close to toppling the king; he was narrowly saved by the loyalty of a party of nobles with holdings on the English side of the Channel, and by the defeat and capture of William I, the King of Scotland. Young Henry sought a reconciliation after the capture of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the failure of the rebellion. His funds were much increased by the terms of the settlement, and he apparently devoted most of the next seven years to the amusement of the tournament.

In November 1179, he represented his father at the coronation of Philippe II Auguste as associate king of France at Reims. He acted as Steward of France and carried the crown in the coronation procession. Later, he played a leading role in the celebratory tournament held at Lagny-sur-Marne, to which he brought a retinue of over 500 knights at huge expense. The Young Henry’s affairs took a turn for the worse in 1182.

Henry fell out with William Marshal, the leader of his tournament mesnée. The unknown author of L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal suggests that Marshal’s disgrace was because he had indulged in a clandestine affair with Queen Margaret. David Crouch, one of the Marshal’s principal modern biographers, argues that the charge against William was actually one of lèse majesté, brought on by Marshal’s own arrogance and greed. By this account, the charge of adultery was only introduced in the Life of William Marshal as a distraction from the real charges, of which he was most probably guilty.

Though the Young King sent his wife early in 1183 to the French court, it was done most likely to keep her safe in the impending war with his brother, Richard, rather than because she was in disgrace.

The only child of Henry and Margaret was William, who was born prematurely on June 19, 1177 and died three days later. This difficult delivery may have left her infertile, for she had no further children.

Death and burial

Henry the Young King died, aged 28, in the summer of 1183, during the course of a campaign in Limousin against his father and his brother Richard the Lionheart. He had just finished pillaging local monasteries to raise money to pay his mercenaries. He contracted dysentery at the beginning of June. Weakening fast, he was taken to Martel, near Limoges. It was clear to his household that he was dying on June 7, when he was confessed and received the last rites.

As a token of his penitence for his war against his father, he prostrated himself naked on the floor before a crucifix. He made a testament and, since he had taken a crusader’s vow, he gave his cloak to his friend William Marshal, with the plea that he should take the cloak (presumably with the crusader’s cross stitched to it) to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. On his deathbed, he reportedly asked to be reconciled to his father, but King Henry, fearing a trick, refused to see him.

He died on June 11, clasping a ring his father had sent instead as a sign of his forgiveness. After his death, his father is said to have exclaimed: “He cost me much, but I wish he had lived to cost me more.”

After Henry’s death, there was an attempt by his mother and a faction of his friends to promote his sainthood. Thomas of Earley, Archdeacon of Wells, published a sermon not long afterward detailing miraculous events attending the cortège that took his body north to Normandy. Henry had left orders that his entrails and other body parts should be buried at the abbey of Charroux, but the rest of his body should rest in Rouen Cathedral.

However, during the funeral procession, a member of Henry’s household was seized by his mercenary captains for debts the late king had owed them. The knights accompanying his corpse were so penniless they had to be fed by charity at the monastery of Vigeois.

There were large and emotional gatherings wherever his body rested. At Le Mans, the local bishop halted the procession and ordered the body buried in his cathedral, perhaps to help defuse the civil unrest Henry’s death had caused. The dean of Rouen recovered the body from the chapter of Le Mans a month later by a lawsuit, so that the Young Henry could be buried in Normandy as he had desired in his testament.

Legal Succession Part IV: Henry the Young King, Richard I & John

Tags

Angevin Empire, Conspiracy Theories, Eleanore of Aquitane, England, Henry II of England, Henry the Young King, King John of England, King Richard I of England, Kings and Queens of England, Philippe II of France, Plantaganet

Note: I failed to post this when I was doing this series. So in order for it all to be complete and online I will post this today.

The reign of Henry II (1154-1189) saw many battles for power amongst his sons. If you have ever seen the 1967 classic the Lion in Winter then you will understand what I mean. Also, for the first time, maybe the only time, we see a king crown his successor in his life time. It is also during this period that we see the succession of male prefered primogeniture start taking hold.

Henry married the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, the former wife of king Louis VII of France (1137-1180). Eleanor married Henry 1152 when she was about 30 years of age and he was 19. They had a large family, with Eleanor bearing Henry 5 sons and 3 daughters. The eldest son, William, died when he was only three leaving the next son, Henry, as heir to the English throne.

Henry has come down through history known as the Young King. Henry II crowned his son King of England in 1170. The practice was carried out in the Capetian Dynasty in France and Henry adopted this practice as a formal manner in establishing his heir. In 1172 Henry, called the Young King to distinguish him from his father, was crowned once more when he married Margaret d’Anjou, daughter of King Louis VII of france and his second wife, Constance of Castile.

Henry the Young King held his position for 11 more years but had a falling out with his father in 1182. The battles between Henry II and his sons have become the tales of legends and although these are not the focus of this blog entry they do play a role in the battle for the crown. Henry The Young King often struggled financially and had just raided a few monasteries to raise money for his campaign against his brothers when he died from dysentery at the age of 28. Although the Young King was crowned and anointed King of England but since he never ruled in his own right he is not counted or numbered among the kings of England.

When Henry II died in 1189 the throne passed to his eldest son who became Richard I of England known as famously as Richard the Lion Heart. Richard spent the majority of his time on Crusades and was rarely home in England. He married Berengaria of Navarre but had no issue leaving the succession in question once again. Historians claim that Richard was a homosexual although he did have one illegitimate son, Philip of Cognac, by an unidentified mother. In March of 1199 Richard had attacked the Castle of Chalus-Chabrol when he was shot in the neck by an arrow from a crossbow. The doctor mangled the surgery and the wound became gangrenous and Richard died on April 6, 1199. Before his death he had bequeathed all his lands, including the English Crown, to his brother John, a prince who was in constant rebellion toward his brother.

This would seem like a cut-and-dried legal succession but during these times the laws covering succession were not always clear. Richard did grant John his titles and this was in accordance of Norman Law. However, in the rest of the Angevin Empire which Henry II had established, the Law of Primogeniture was more in force and this left Arthur of Brittany as heir to the English throne. Arthur was the eldest son of Geoffery II, Duke of Brittany, who was the younger brother of Richard I, yet the older brother of John.

Phillippe II of France (1180-1223) placed his support behind Arthur for the English throne. Arthur, who was only 16 at the time (this was the reason he was by-passed for the throne, Richard considered Arthur too young) led forces into Maine and Anjou. However, nothing came of this and within a year Philippe II changed sides and signed a treaty recognizing John as the rightful ruler over the Angevin lands. Arthur was reconciled to John but in time grew suspicious of the English King. John never trusted his nephew and in time Arthur was captured by the Barons and imprisoned. By 1203 Arthur disappeared from history. No one knows what happened to Arthur but legend has it that he was murdered by King John himself and his body was tied to a rock and tossed into the Seine.

Was John a usurper? I guess it depends on the laws you adhere to. Richard did leave the Crown to him and in that manner his rule is legitimate in England. In the other French territories of the Angevin Empire, that were governed by the laws of male primogeniture, John could be considered a usurper. But one thing historians are unanimous over: John was a bad king.