King Arthur I Plantagenet

[Justin Green]

From wikipedia

Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (1187 – 1203), was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Constance, Duchess of Brittany, and designated heir to the throne of the Kingdom of England, originally intended to succeed Richard I.

While Richard was away on the Third Crusade, Constance took more independence for Brittany, and in 1194 had the young Arthur proclaimed as its Duke.

When Richard died in 1199, his brother John immediately claimed England, but much of the French nobility refused to recognize him as king, preferring Arthur, who declared himself vassal of Philip Augustus. This was sufficient excuse for John, who invaded France in 1202.

Philip having recognized Arthur's right to Brittany, Anjou, Maine, and Poitou, Arthur invaded the last-named. But on July 31, 1202 he was surprised by King John while besieging Mirabeau (where he was holding his grandmother Eleanor of Aquitaine hostage), captured, and imprisoned at Falaise, guarded by Hubert de Burgh. At this time also his sister Eleanor was captured and imprisoned at Corfe. The following year he was transferred to Rouen, under the charge of William de Braose, and then vanished mysteriously in April 1203.

The puzzle of his disappearance gave rise to various stories. One account was that Arthur's jailors 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 did rise high in John's favor after Arthur's disappearance, so much so that he was suspected of complicity, and indeed many years later, after difficulties with John, William's wife Maud de Braose directly accused the king of murdering Arthur, which resulted in Maud and her eldest son being imprisoned and starved to death therein. William escaped to France, where he was supposed to have published a statement on what happened to Arthur, but no copy has been found.

So the biggest hurdle to Arthur getting the throne is, of course, John Lackland. Is there any PODs that could kill Lackland off? What if he drowned while in trans to the continent to beat his nephew.

Or could Lackland have been defeated by Arthur outside of Mirabeau?

[Merrick]

The easiest way is have Richard I remember his helmet when besieging Chalus-Chabrol. Arthur's big problem (apart from being too French for the English barons) was that he was only 12 when Richard died. If Richard lives another ten years (say), Arthur will be a much more attractive candidate, plus John will likely have involved himself in a few more failed plots and be correspondingly less popular. If Richard remains childless, he might even name Arthur as his heir.

[Justin Green]

Richard DID actually name Arthur his heir while he was campaigned in Sicily for his sister Joan of England.