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The lucky marriage


Alternate history of the Capetian Dynasty and of the 13th century Europe


Motto :“Le roi est le justicier qui amène son people au salut” Saint Augustin



“The Capetians in general sought to advance only through legally correct means. They more than any rulers of the time followed the precept of making war for correct reason […] they put right before might.[…] Still, what it make them so successful were a succession of fortunate marriage and the ability to sire boys every single generation for a long period of time. One of such lucky matrimonial deal was done right at the beginning of the XIII century and marked they tremendous rise in power and we can truly say that it reshaped the face of the world.” “The Capetians: The History of a Dynasty”, By Jim Bradbury (*)



Prologue



At the end of the XII century, the Christianity was ripped apart by endless wars: wars fought for power, for riches and land, for glory, for honor, for pride, for love or for revenge, wars fought for religious beliefs and wars fought for the sic of war. The bellicose European nobility lived by and for wars. The war was the mean to solve any dispute at any levels.

Right in the middle of Christianity, two dynasties were fighting to the death. In the year of the lord 1199, the fighting between the Capetiens and the Plantagenets was at climax.

The King of the Franks, Philip II from the House of Capet, better known as Philip Augustus, was in a dire situation as his great rival had the upper hand, was richer and more powerful then him, was a greater warrior, had better allies and he won battle after battle.

From the moment of his coronation, Philip had no rest or peace. He waged wars after wars against his barons and the great lords of the Kingdom and, especially, against the Plantagenet's kings of England. First time he fought against Henry, now he fought against his son Richard. They were once friends. Now they were the greatest enemies.
M249062.jpg

Philip had successes and setbacks but now it seemed that the future was not very promising. His enemy and rival was one of the most powerful man in Europe, the champion of Christianity, the Great Crusader and the Greatest Knight, no one than Richard “Coeur de Lion”. He was King of England but also Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Poitiers, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, Overlord of Brittany, Wales and Ireland.

As his father before him, Richard was more powerful and richer than the French King. As his father before him, Richard’s worst enemy was the French King. And Richard was not alone. He had carefully forged a mighty alliance against his archenemy by allying with his nephew, Otto IV, the Emperor of the Holy Empire, with Baldwin IX, the Count of Flanders and Hainault, with Renaud, Count of Boulogne, and with his father-in-law, the King Sancho VI of Navarre.


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(*) First phrase is from the original book.

Source of the photo: http://www.lookandlearn.com/history...Crusade-1190?img=1&search=vezelay&bool=phrase
 
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The Lackland’s good fortune


Part I

“God visited the Kingdom of the French, for King Richard died” William the Breton

(from“Blood Cries Afar: The Forgotten Invasion of England 1216” – by Sean McGlynn)



In the spring of 1199, a faithful crossbow bolt (lucky or unlucky, depends from what point of view we looks) fired from the walls of the castle Châlus-Chabrol put an end to the tumultuous Richard’s life.

While Richard died on 6 April 1199 in the arms of his mother who loved him so much, his younger brother John was more than joyful. Nicknamed “Lackland” by his father and struggling all his life for having a share of his father fortunes, John had hit the jackpot, being made the sole heir of the entire amalgam of the lands owned and controlled by his brother.

« Le sans terre est devenu
Par la grâce d’un petit carreau
Le roi Jean le Grand Chanceux »
The famous “Chanson des Rois Maudits” written by an anonymous troubadour of the 13th century (*).

John become king despite his rebellious and dubious past and despite the fact that his nephew Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, son of Geoffrey II of Brittany, should theoretically become king from primogeniture point of view. Three arguments were in his favour: the ultimate testament of his brother, the support of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the fact that Arthur was still a minor and the barons don’t usually like to be ruled by children. John act very quickly. Hi capture his nephew Arthur (actually the fate made that Arthur was with John when Richard was stroke by the arrow so, John made sure that he is in security) and size the royal treasury from Chinon. Having the full support of the still Duchess of Aquitaine, the loyalty (ensured with the treasury) of a big army in Normandy and the vast alliance network inherited from his brother, John was certain that nobody could oppose his kingship. He was crown in London and all England paid him the homage.

Still, not everybody was happy with that. Being overconfident John let Arthur slip away from his hands and going to the French court. The French nobles and the King Philip of France recognized Arthur's right to Anjou, Maine, and Poitou, so the war broke again. The French king invaded Normandy and conquer back the territories he was forced to release to Richard.

While everybody expect John to crush the rebellion and fighting off the French king, he chose the negotiation path, an action that bring him the very unpleasant and disrespectful title for a medieval king – “the Softsword”. Spotting the moment, Philip decide to end the war and consolidate his gains, abandoning Arthur. After wall, cause of his own matrimonial issues, he was in very bad odds with the Pope Innocent, with his kingdom under interdict and under the threat of excommunication.

In May 1200, the two kings sign the Treaty of Le Goulet, the treaty who supposed to settle the matters one for all and to put an end to this long rivalry and was supposed to be sealed with a marriage alliance between John's niece Blanche, daughter of his sister Leonora and Alfonso VIII of Castile and Philip's son and heir, Louis of France.

Unfortunately, the young Blanche contact pneumonia (POD) during her travel from Castile and died soon after arriving in Rouen, so the marriage was not achieved. Still, the treaty was sign.

« L'an du Seigneur 1200, au mois de mai, le jour de l'Ascension du Seigneur, Philippe roi de France et Jean roi d'Angleterre, conclurent ensemble la paix entre Vernon et l'île des Andelys » Rigord

The provisions of this treaty were:

  • Philip will recognized John as King of England, heir of his brother Richard I, and thus formally will abandon his prior support for Arthur;
  • Philip will recognized John as count of Anjou, Maine and Poitou, as well as Duke of Normandy;
  • John will recognized Philip as the suzerain of all his continental lands, meanwhile formally recognizing the new status of the lost Norman territories, Vexin, Vaudreuil, Verneuil et Évreux,.
  • John will pay a succession duty of 10 000 marks [1] as a feudal relief to Philip
  • John will acknowledge the Duke of Brittany as vassal of the King of France and not of England[2]
  • John will acknowledge the Counts of Boulogne and Flanders as vassals of the kings of France, not those of England;
  • John will bound himself not to support any rebellions on the part of the counts of Boulogne and Flanders or other vassals of the King of France.
Special Mentions: The Duchy of Aquitaine was not included in the treaty. It was still held by John as heir to his still-living mother, Eleanor.


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(*) invented Chanson de geste. Aprox translation: The Lackland become / By the grace of a crossbow bolt / King John of the Great Fortune (wordplay in French)
[1] OTL John paid 20 000 marks
[2] OTL: John keep Britany under his suzerainty but the relief was twice bigger and he also paid the dowry for Blanche who married Prince Louis.

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Main sources:
Wikipedia
Blood Cries Afar: The Forgotten Invasion of England 1216, By Sean McGlynn



 
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The legacy of Helen of Troy

First Homeric Lesson: Do not still the other man women! Things could go wrong. John!? are you listing?

John perceived the treaty of Le Goulet as a victory, still the great barons of England and France not so… He had the upper hand and prefers to negotiate and pay. Unbelievable! His father and brothers spin in the grave as he had done the unthinkable. He paid Philip in order to enter in position of his rights. Never a king of England was such humiliated.

Soon, his allies chooses to follow other paths. The alliance with the King of Navarre fall as the matrimonial link had disappear. The count Baldwin had gone to crusade and the Emperor start quarreling with the Pope. To crusade goes also some dissatisfied English barons as during crusading the property was guaranteed by the Church.

One of his first acts as king were to rise back the tariffs of the Bordeaux wine he reduced in order to gain popularity as new king and to repudiate his wife Isabella, Countess of Gloucester while keeping the control of the county of Gloucester. While the first act angered the people and the merchants, the second has insulted the nobles of the entire Kingdom of England. John obtained the annulment of the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity in late 1199 and start to look for a new wife.

Rising the tariffs and subtracting new taxes from the barons bring him a lot of revenue but also a lot of animosity. While amassing riches on the back of a country already exhausted by years of spoiling and mismanagement, John start to lose confidence in his vassals and keep an important mercenary force. A force who need to be paid and sometime he prefers to let them raiding some regions instead of pay it.

In august 1200, he spot the perfect match. He fall in love of the young and beautiful and rich Isabelle countess of Angoulême, and abduct her. The couple married in London on 30 august. His act of bravery could not pass without consequences. Unfortunately Isabelle was the fiancé of Hugh Lusignan “the Brown”, son of the Count de la Marche and brother of Raoul de Lusignan, the Count of Eu. Hugh, deeply offended start to gadder support against John as he had broken the feudal link. The response from John was sift, arrogant and brutal. Hugh then asked for justice to the king.

robin_hood17.jpg


Lea Seydoux as Isabella of Angouleme in the movie series "The Capetians"
Philip received him with great joy and summoned John to the court of the 12 peers of France for justify his acts. Arrogantly, John denied, justifying that the Dukes of Normandy were exempt from being called to the French court. Philip responded that he had summon him as Duke of Aquitaine and count of Anjou and Poitou, so he need to obey him. John send an arrogant letter saying that the King of England answer only to God. The Philip answer was the stunning. John was declared “felon” and deposed from his fiefs for failure to obey the king summon. Legally, the king of France was legitimate to take actions against his vassal. Also, he throw his full support for Arthur, giving him the confiscated lands of Anjou, Maine and Touraine, while keeping Normandy for the crown.

In September 1200, a double marriage was negotiated: Prince Louis of France was betrothed to Arthur’s sister, Eleanor of Brittany, surnamed the "Fair Maid of Brittany", while Duke Arthur was betrothed to Marie of France, the daughter of Philip II and Agnes of Andechs-Merania. Eleanor travel to Paris in order to meet the young prince. After all, this marriage was first proposed in 1196 in order to secure the peace between Philip and Richard but the Emperor opposed and the affaire was dropped.

The next spring, the French army invaded Normandy while the Bretons invades Anjou, hoping to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine, John’s mother and Arthur’s grandmother.


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Source of the photo: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/robin_hood17.jpg
 
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Let me guess,Louis the Lion married Arthur's full-sister Eleanor?

so... you have rightly guess! :rolleyes:
This is the wonderful weeding that will change the world.

The story will go pretty much as pet OTL for a while...

Still, i fill bad for the poor Blanche of Castile...
 

The Last Supper


Unfortunately, the war do not worked very well for the young Duke who lacked military experience and enough means to counter his mighty foe. In August 1202, John’s right hand, Hubert de Burgh, surprise and capture Arthur at Mirabeau[1], while besieged Eleanor. He brought the captive in Normandy at Château de Falaise where John waited. Arthur was seen by many the rightful heir of Richard and in England start to spread the words that the legendary King Arthur will come back and save the people from tyranny and usurpation. John, who gained another title as “the Usurper” will not repeat his past error to let Arthur escaping again. John ordered two of his servants to castrate Arthur but Hubert de Burgh intervened and the order was annulled. He was sent to Rouen and the John’s left hand, William de Braose, was personally charged with his guardianship.

In late 1203 John spent a fortune on an attempt to relieve the Chateau Gaillard besieged by Philip, but the bad leadership and the logistical difficulties to conduct a both naval and landing action, ensured the complete failure. Frustrated, he attached Brittany, pillaging the undefended Duchy, in hope to distract the French. All in vain, as in the spring of 1204, Chateau Gaillard felt, being stormed by the French after climbed up a garderobe (toilet chute) during the night and entering in the chapel above. The artisan of the storming actions was a Welsh mercenary captain named Cadoc who lead a company of routuriers. Long time ago, Cadoc had change the loyalty from Richard to Philip and he was lavishly paid and employed for special tasks.

While the French stormed the Chateau Gaillard, in Rouen John prepared for the Easter. He was never very religious or pious but tried to keep the appearances. He hardly succeeded and many of his contemporaries blame him to be “without God” or “without faith”. It was the last Thursday before Ester, the evening of the Last Supper and John drink a lot. Then he had the idea to humiliate his “guest” so ordered to William de Braose to bring Arthur to him. Hubert de Burgh was also present in the room as he had just arrived from Poitou for asking reinforcements in as a French invasion was more than likely.

“Oh, my dear nephew, come and drink with me and eat. After all, you are my guest!” sarcastically said John pushing a lamb bone tree quarters gnawed to the young duke who goggle at him. Arthur do not answered.

“You don’t like the finest Bordeaux wine the money can buy? Or they gives you in the gaol to much wine and food?” Arthur looks down disgusted to the drunken king. “I said drink and eat, you bastard!” said John throwing a coup of wine in the Arthur’s face.

“I am not a bastard, you maybe.... And I do not eat and drink with usurpers”, gritted Arthur.

“Oh no, shouted John. You are a bastard. Your father was a coward pederast like you! You think that yours mighty ally will help you? Ha! You will rot in my cages and you will never see the sunlight. I had strip your lands, burned your Brittany and, when I will catch your sister, I will give her to my mercenaries for entertain their mood. And you will watch that. This will be the last thing you will ever see as I will blind you with fire”.

“Now I see why people calls you Jean sans Terre”, said Arthur with rage. “They should also calls you “Jean mal-aimée” as nobody had loved you. Even your mother had no love for you and your father, the only one who ever loved you, died from broken heart when he heard that you had betray him.”

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

“You do not have faith or reason”, continued the young duke. “You shall be called Jean sans Dieu, or Jean sans Raison. In fact, what do you have as virtues? Nothing! You are Jean sans Virtues, Jean sans Rien. Oh, I found one even better – Jean le Pauvre it’s your glorious title!” [2]

For the king John, already drunk and in rage, that was too much. All his life he tried to get rid of the nickname his father has given to him (sans Terre) and to gather lands and riches. Now, Arthur dare not just to confront him but also to humiliate him in front of his guards and to call him poor and without nothing? Overwrought, John approached to his nephew and put a hand on his throat, starting to strangle him.

Unexpectedly, Arthur draw the dagger from John’s belt and tried to stab him in the chest. But he had a nasty surprise, as John catch his hand and, turning Arthur’s arm, he stabbed the young duke who died in his arms.

Astonished about what happened, John throw a dump glance to the even more astonished and shocked William de Braose and Hubert de Burgh.

“I’m cursed, I’m cursed…” start John to babble, while the blood spread to the floor. After a while, the king come to his senses and ordered that the body to be disposed and nobody will never speak about this ever again.

The entire event was recorded later in the annals of Margam Abbey:
"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."
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Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_I,_Duke_of_Brittany
[1] OTL, John captured both Arthur and his sister Eleanor but ITTL, Eleanor was in Paris.
[2] Both had spoken French as first language. So, all the nicknames are addressed in French, as well as using Jean instead of John: sans Terre = Lackland; mal-aimee = unloved; sans Raison = without reason; sans Dieu = Godless; sans Rien = without nothing ; le Pauvre = the Poor
 
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A Happy Wedding



The year of the Lord 1204

After conquering the Chateau Gaillard, the mighty fortress built by King Richard with so much effort both human and financial, the French overrun the entire Duchy of Normandy. Soon, Andely was also captured and Falaise, Caen, and Bayeux felt one by one. By the end of June 1204, Philip and his son Louis entered in Rouen, deserted by the English King after just 40 days of siege and after his captain Pierre de Préaux realized that no help will come. In the capital of the Duchy, the French King pass an act of “reattachment” of the Duchy to the Crown, but he kept intact all the customs and the entire administration found in place, as Normandy was one of the best governed region in France via bails named by their Dukes. Even more, Philip decided to expand the system to all his lands.

Philip also request to the Normand barons to choose between him and John as their liege. Of course, if they chose wrong, they will lose all the lands in Normandy. Many chose right, including the famous William Marshal who pledged liege homage to Philip in order to keeping his Norman barony.

As all hopes to rescue Arthur were in vain, no one knowing where he is and all request sent to John were in vain, it was decided that the marriage between Prince Louis and Eleanor of Brittany will be celebrated in Paris, Sunday 1 August 1204. The wedding was lavishly celebrated and almost all the French nobility was present. The godfather of the couple was Eudes III, the Duke of Burgundy. Right before the wedding, Louis was knighted with great pomp but his father, the king, ban him from jousting in tournaments, to the great disappointment of the young prince. Also, Louis renew the homage as count of Artois to the King. He was 17 years old while Eleanor was nearly 20. The couple seemed to like each other and everybody conceived that it will be a matter of time till an heir will be born.


images

Prince Louis "The Lion", image from the movie series "The Capetians"​

All the records show Eleanor as a most “beautiful, determined and tactful woman”. She was smart and seems to inherit from his farther a keen political sense and his sociability. She could both speak and write in Latin, Greek, French, Occitain and Breton. The two seems to form an interesting couple and to complement each other. Louis was very brave and very good with the weapons, sometimes too impatient and imprudent, but also quite reserved with the people and less good with the words, while his new wife was quite the opposite.

princess-isabelle-194x300.jpeg

Sophie Marceau as Eleanor of Brittany waiting news from her brother right before her marriage with Louis, image from the movie series "The Capetians"
In Arthur absence, the regency of the Duchy of Britany was ensured by Guy of Thuars, the third husband of the defunct Duchess Constance of Britany, the mother of Eleanor and Arthur. Guy was a close ally of the King Philip and an important player in the war against John. Guy ensured the King of his full support in the war and agree to convince his brother Aimairy, Viscount of Thuars to desert John and join the French camp. In Britany rumours of the death of Arthur becomes more and more frequents and many barons start to question their loyalty. Still, Guy kept the Breton nobility with a strong hand and the Duchy remain loyal to the King.

Philip use the moment of the marriage of his son to enforce loyalty upon his subjects. The Count Raymond of Toulouse pay once again feudal homage to him, as well as many lords of France. Enforced by the recent conquest of Normandy, the prestige of the King was never greater. The barons of France enforced the decision that John should be stripped of his lands for felony.

During the wedding, disturbing news from Constantinople arrived, the crusaders had sack Constantinople. It was said that the total amount looted from the city was 900.000 silver marks. The mightiest city in the know world was no in ruins...

Another blow to John was the death of his mother, the mighty and already legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine. Now, theoretically John become Duke of Aquitaine in his own right but his authority and control over the barons and nobles was practically inexistent. What held together that amalgam of counties and seniories and baronies, was the strong grip of Eleanor and his huge prestige and legitimacy. John do not enjoy of none of these. Still, nominally, the Aquitanian nobles pledged fealty to him as the new Duke.

The response of the French King was the swift invasion of Poitiou, conquering Poitiers by the end of October. In the same time, he put under siege Chateauroux, Angers, Loches and Chinon, defended by the Senechal of Anjou – Hubert de Burgh. A counter invasion was tried by John but miserably failed without even encounter the French army. The French invasion was followed by mass defection of the Angevin and Poitevin nobility, led by Aimeriy of Thuars, who were tiered by John incompetence and malevolence.

The winter halted further campaigns[1] and both John and Philip use the rest for preparing for next year. John gather a huge war treasure and start to recruit mercenaries for an expeditions, while a strong fleet was built.


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Source of the Photos:
http://blog.cnbeyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/princess-isabelle.jpeg
http://battle-castle.tv/

[1] Cause of the wedding, the campaign start latter in the year and the besieged fortress are more prepared, so the sieges are expected to be longer.
 
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Great timeline, I am looking forward to see how things evolve. I am guessing that the future Louis VIII will get a claim on the Plantagenet domains by the right of his wife.What will happen to Arthur's sisters Alix,Catherine and perhaps Marguerite (OTL they made good marriages with Breton nobility) .
 
Thanks guys!

Yes, this is a pro Capetian TL :D:D:D (one of the dynasties I loved the most).

Yes, Louis will have a very strong claim to a lot of stuff....

I'm not sure about the Eleanor's sisters... Thanks for the hint. For the moment, they are guarded by Guy of Thuars and are very small.
 
Great men have died and great men are born

120px-Blason_Empire_Latin_de_Constantinople.svg.png

The year of the lord 1205

The most disturbing event of the year was the death of Baldwin of Flanders and his brother Henry in the battle of Adrianople[1] against Kaloyan[2], the Greek-slayer, great Tsar of Bulgarians and Vlachs. Baldwin was crowned Emperor of the Latin Empire after the conquest of Constantinople. In the same battle, the Bulgarians captured the Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo and Louis of Blois. Louis was ransomed with a huge amount of money while the doge died in prison. It was said that Kaloyan received three coups made from the skulls of his three great enemies and use them at the banquets.

The new Emperor was choose to be the other brother of Baldwin, Philip I margrave of Namur. He long-time hesitates to accept the crown but he ultimately did it. Several months before receiving the news of his election, Philip was captured again in a skirmish with the French in Artois and he gained his freedom by engaging Marie, daughter of King Philip and Agnes of Merania and sending his nieces Johana and Margaret to the French court, as the King had assumed the tutorship of the two girls. This greatly displeased the Flemish nobility. As count Philip was nearly 30 years old and Marie was only 8, he searched a way to break the engagement.

Accepting the crown, Philip had now a strong reason to reject the engagement so, he and the King Philip agree to a deal. The regency of the county of Namur was given to his sister Yolanda, married to Pierre II of Courtenay, the uncle of the king. Philip travelled to Constantinople to be crowned and he will marring latter Maria of Bulgaria in order to secure an alliance (or at least a peace) with the Bulgarian Tsar[3].

Gaining the tutorship of the two girls, the King assumed as well the regency of Flanders and Hainaut and planned to marry Joan, now countess of Flanders and Hainaut, to his second son, Philip Hureppel, only 3 years younger than her[4]. As Joan and Philip were not blood related[5], the king was confident that the Church will not oppose such marriage. Many nobles from Hainaut requested that the second daughter of Baldwin, should receive the County of Hainaut, fearing to be brought too much under the French boot. Neither the nobles of Flanders were content with this prospect so the discontent continue to grow.

While the rumours of Arthur death continue to spread, the Duchy of Brittany become more and more ungovernable. Some regions refused to pay taxes or to send troops to Guy of Thuars who helped the French King in his war against John of England. A big question arise. If Arthur was dead who shall be the next duke? The best placed was his sister Eleanor but many Bretons nobles feared that this will be the end of their independence as the Duchy could be absorbed into France. Other possibilities were her youngest step sister, but they were in the custody of the King Philip’s men, Guy of Thouars… at least for the moment, as his brother was already approached by the King John and was willing to change the camp in the prospect of an English expedition.

The most waited and expected event, lavishly celebrated throw the entire kingdom of France, was the birth of a son by Eleanor of Britany, countess of Artois. The little Prince was christened with great fast in Paris in the presence of many lords and nobles. In the Capetian tradition, he was given the name of his grandfather, Philip. Rigord recorded the event in his “Grandes Chroniques de France”:
“In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1205, in the 15 day of the month of August, on the feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of our Lord, was born a healthy boy they named him Phillip, Prince of France. His father, Prince Louis, nicknamed Le Lion for his bravery, with his wife, the illustrious and most gracious Eleanor of Brittany and with our mighty King Philip, nicknamed Augustus by God's grant, and with the whole clergy and nobles and people of the realm, turned to prayer and give thanks to God for delivering a son and an heir to the Kingdom, not in reliance on their merits but by the mercy alone of God.”
John gather large amount of money and troops to mount an expedition to relieve the besieged castles and cities but for various reasons, it was pushed for the next spring. So, the siege of the castles in Anjou and Poitou continued unmolested but without too much chance. Still the French had only one notable success: the capture of Angers by the end of October that year[6]. While the nobles of the Kingdom had enough of war (the long sieges were not their most favorites), King Philip also recruited more mercenaries, especially Brabançons. The capture of Anger released some forces to be used to other ongoing sieges, putting even more pressure on those.




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Main sources:
Wikipedia;
"VIE DE PHILIPPE AUGUSTE Par RIGORD", by M. GUIZOT

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[1] In OTL, Baldwin was captured but died in prison and Louis of Blois was slain. Henry, the brother of Baldwin was crowned the new Emperor. ITTL, both brothers were killed.
[2] His name was spelled differently in many languages. He is Ivan in Bulgarian, Ioniţă or Ioaniţă (diminutives) in Romanian, Ioannes in Latin and John in English. Kaloyan means „the good” or the „the handsome”.
[3] ITTL, Pierre II of Courtenay will not become the Emperor in Constantinople so, it will stay in France, a strong ally of the King and his son. Anyway, there will be interesting times in Flanders.
[4] I found discrepancies between the French and English sources (including Wikipedia) about the year of birth of Philip Hureppel. While the French ones gives the year 1197, the English ones gives the year of 1201. For Obvious reasons, I choose to believe the French ones. It seems that Joan was born as earlier as 1194.
[5]The aunt of Joan was Isabelle of [FONT=&quot]Hainaut[/FONT], first wife of Philip Augustus and mother of Louis VIII.
[6] See that ITTL, the progress of the war in Anjou - Aquitaine is slower than OTL.
 
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So what's this TL about?

Hi!

Thanks for asking and for reading, of course! :)

This TL is about an alternate history of the Capetians, starting with another wife for Louis VIII of France. So, he will have other children (even if they will be named in similar way as OTL) and pretty much a different life. That will also means butterflies...

OTL he married Blanche of Castile
TTL he married Eleanor of Brittany, as Blanche died right before the marriage, during the negotiation of the Treaty of Le Goulet.

Marring Eleanor, Louis will have a brunch of claims on a lot of things (inclusively to Kingdom of England).

As it's a pro-Capetian TL, so... hope people will like it.
 
Good, so the Capetians are establishing themselves . Flanders as usual is brewing up trouble. Will we see a coalition made by John ? I mean the holy roman emperor, Otho IV is a relative, Flemish nobles are going to revolt, England wants back Normandy and Announced, Britanny is fearing French domination. The only man missing is the Count of Toulouse and France will be encircled! Perhaps we will see some kind of Roche aux Moines or Bouvines l'une battles ITTL. Any way please do continue !
 
Good, so the Capetians are establishing themselves . Flanders as usual is brewing up trouble. Will we see a coalition made by John ? I mean the holy roman emperor, Otho IV is a relative, Flemish nobles are going to revolt, England wants back Normandy and Announced, Britanny is fearing French domination. The only man missing is the Count of Toulouse and France will be encircled! Perhaps we will see some kind of Roche aux Moines or Bouvines l'une battles ITTL. Any way please do continue !

There are much of truth in your words. OK, alternate truth !:cool:

Yes, the Flemish will definitively revolt.... and the Bretons... and I have big plans with Languedoc.... Sadly, I do not believe that the Albigesian Crusade can be butterflied... Innocent III will not tolerate the spreed of Cahtarism, neither the complicity of local elites...
 
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