alternatehistory.com
1335-6: France & England
1335-6: FROM BAD TO WORSE
"...Even as Prince Edward campaigned in Scotland, England faced a growing threat from French privateers in the Channel, great enough that when Parliament next convened in York, several members complained about the his absenting himself to attack the Scots when England faced a grave threat. As usual, Parliament's bark proved worse than its bite--Edward's hoped for funds did come, after all--but it was a worrying sign for the future that the Prince ignored. And his diplomatic problems swiftly compounded as his great bargaining chip, the Crusade, slipped away...
"Despite France's call to delay the Crusade, Edward held out hope that this would be a temporary measure. This was not without just reason--King John himself seems to have held similar hopes, as did many leading members of his government, most especially the Duke of Anjou. Anjou had recently engineered the marriage of his eldest surviving son, John of Valois, to Catherine Habsburg[1] only to see the young man have a severe and debilitating illness shortly thereafter. This tragedy was compounded by the deaths of several of his younger children, among them his daughter Marie, and his wife's latest pregnancy ending in a stillbirth. Both extraordinarily devout and superstitious in the extreme, Anjou indulged himself in a paroxysm of shows of faith while also hunting for witches and malignant sorcerers. Increasingly convinced that the holy war was the only remedy for the ills afflicted on his house, the Duke attempted to persuade the Pope to continue the crusade. He seems only to have succeeded in convincing the Vicar of Christ that he was a simpleton--reportedly the Pope confided to several cardinals that he felt the Duke to have 'little more sense than a child in many matters'[2]...
"Peace increasingly relied on King John's good favor, and this seemed increasingly unlikely to be gained. The Prince's last emissary was rebuked by his cousin's grand declaration that the matter would only be solved when 'the King of France sat in judgement in London of the fighting between England and the Scots'[3]. Edward had a difficult time not seeing this as a threat, and he was probably supposed to. English reports--possibly culled from spying on French diplomats' mail--circulated about the massive war preparations, which included thousands of troops to be sent to Scotland, or to invade England as needed, for whom thousands of weapons and coats of mail were already set aside[4]..."
--From This Terrible Majesty (Vol. 1): Prince and Steward by Augusta Lyme (1978)
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[1] John de Valois has gotten the OTL wife Enguerrand VI de Coucy, father of the more famous Enguerrand VII de Coucy.
[2] Philip seems to have wound up giving OTL's Pope Benedict XII a similar opinion of his abilities.
[3] Philip was reported to have said something similar IOTL, which was probably made up by Edward. This might be a similar invention--on the other hand, as should be clear by now John can be a tad presumptuous.
[4] Similar reports of French preparations reached England during the buildup to the Hundred Years War IOTL--and were likely obtained the same way.
"...Even as Prince Edward campaigned in Scotland, England faced a growing threat from French privateers in the Channel, great enough that when Parliament next convened in York, several members complained about the his absenting himself to attack the Scots when England faced a grave threat. As usual, Parliament's bark proved worse than its bite--Edward's hoped for funds did come, after all--but it was a worrying sign for the future that the Prince ignored. And his diplomatic problems swiftly compounded as his great bargaining chip, the Crusade, slipped away...
"Despite France's call to delay the Crusade, Edward held out hope that this would be a temporary measure. This was not without just reason--King John himself seems to have held similar hopes, as did many leading members of his government, most especially the Duke of Anjou. Anjou had recently engineered the marriage of his eldest surviving son, John of Valois, to Catherine Habsburg[1] only to see the young man have a severe and debilitating illness shortly thereafter. This tragedy was compounded by the deaths of several of his younger children, among them his daughter Marie, and his wife's latest pregnancy ending in a stillbirth. Both extraordinarily devout and superstitious in the extreme, Anjou indulged himself in a paroxysm of shows of faith while also hunting for witches and malignant sorcerers. Increasingly convinced that the holy war was the only remedy for the ills afflicted on his house, the Duke attempted to persuade the Pope to continue the crusade. He seems only to have succeeded in convincing the Vicar of Christ that he was a simpleton--reportedly the Pope confided to several cardinals that he felt the Duke to have 'little more sense than a child in many matters'[2]...
"Peace increasingly relied on King John's good favor, and this seemed increasingly unlikely to be gained. The Prince's last emissary was rebuked by his cousin's grand declaration that the matter would only be solved when 'the King of France sat in judgement in London of the fighting between England and the Scots'[3]. Edward had a difficult time not seeing this as a threat, and he was probably supposed to. English reports--possibly culled from spying on French diplomats' mail--circulated about the massive war preparations, which included thousands of troops to be sent to Scotland, or to invade England as needed, for whom thousands of weapons and coats of mail were already set aside[4]..."
--From This Terrible Majesty (Vol. 1): Prince and Steward by Augusta Lyme (1978)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] John de Valois has gotten the OTL wife Enguerrand VI de Coucy, father of the more famous Enguerrand VII de Coucy.
[2] Philip seems to have wound up giving OTL's Pope Benedict XII a similar opinion of his abilities.
[3] Philip was reported to have said something similar IOTL, which was probably made up by Edward. This might be a similar invention--on the other hand, as should be clear by now John can be a tad presumptuous.
[4] Similar reports of French preparations reached England during the buildup to the Hundred Years War IOTL--and were likely obtained the same way.
- Space Oddity
- Word Count: 530