A Plantagenet Rock-Richard Lionheart Sets up Prince John as King of Cyprus

Should This Thread Get a Timeline, and Could you help?


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In the summer of 1191, Richard I of England-the "Lionheart", used an intervention on behalf of his sister Joan and fiancee Berengaria as a pretext to take Cyprus from its Greek ruler, on his way to the Third Crusade. In OTL, Richard quickly sold the island to the Templars. However, what if he had found an ingenious way to use his newfound possession to dispose of his scheming brother John?

I am busy with an other TL now, so I will post a teaser post and see in anyone likes it. Without further ado...



Summer 1191, off Cyprus-Richard The First of England, “Coeur de Lion”, having recent used the pretext of a familial hostage crisis to oust the independent Greek ruler of Cyprus, Isaakios Komenmos, would have proceeded immediately to the Holy Land, to save the True Cross and battle the infidel, if that were possible. Unfortunately, he had quite a dilemma. His scheming, ambitious younger brother John, who had opposed his claims numerous times in the fratricidal civil wars during their late father Henry’s reign, was now plotting to wrest power from his sworn liege, contained only by the adroit diplomacy and statecraft of their mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

On the one hand, it would be extremely inadvisable to simply set off for Acre, leaving his realm open to French attack and internal subversion. On the other, he truly was a pious man, loath to abandon the crusade, and forever condemning his soul to eternal damnation. Besides, the loss of potential loot, reputation, and prestige would be incalculable. Abandoning these hypotheticals, he was jolted back to the present, as a seagull flying from the Famagusta cliffs had chosen to relieve itself on his nose. Perturbed, he glanced up while wiping the vile gunk from his nostrils, gazing at the dark, guano-scented shores of his admittedly ill-gotten conquest.

He pondered exactly what to do with his new possession. He was certainly not the administrative type, instead relying on capable lieutenants for matters domestic. Regrettably, competent stewards seemed to be entirely lacking in these parts. He was mulling over the idea of selling the island to the Templars, strengthening the Church while netting a tidy sum, to stave off the ruinous financial effects of campaigning on behalf of said Church. For all his zealotry, there were moments of doubt in which he wondered wether organized Christianity wasn’t simply a very profitable racket. But for the burst of a neuron…

In wondrous rapture, he grasped the single simultaneous solution to his predicaments. Calling for an amanuensis to write a letter to his “beloved” brother, Richard reflected that, perhaps, his mother wasn’t the only geopolitical genius in the family.

A History of the Crusader Kingdoms of Outremer, Bernard D’ Aubingy- Having conceived of a way to both neutralize the political threat posed by John, and uphold the prestige of himself, and of the Plantagenet dynasty in particular, Richard acted with characteristic speed and forthrightness. It must be kept in mind that, while the momentous events of that summer were hammered out in only a few communiqués, the delivery speed of 2-3 months per letter was indeed brisk for the period. By mid-December, the strategic transformation that was to revolutionize the future history of the Levant, the Mediterranean, and ultimately all Europe was finalized.

Prince John, the intriguing erstwhile heir to the English throne, was to receive the island of Cyprus (and with it, independence from the general Plantagenet realm) from his brother and overlord, for no fee. When John saw Richard’s two conditions, he discovered that, had he the choice, he would have gladly rather paid a very sizeable indemnity. The prince was to forfeit all lands within the dynastic patrimony, and also renounce all claims to any lands held by any Plantagenet at the time before the acquisition of Cyprus, to be disinherited in favor of his young nephew, Arthur, heir-apparent of the Duchy of Brittany.

As could well be imagined, John was livid at his abrupt ouster from the line of succession. Indeed, there were many interests equally perturbed by the change. It would be reasonable to surmise that opposition to the reshuffle would have been inevitable. A backlash most assuredly would have occurred, if not for the quite brilliant diplomacy of Richard. Most of John’s more moderate and established allies were mollified by massive bribes, while, for those of a more volatile and military position were appeased by the completely unprecedented move of Richard granting Cypriot lands directly to John’s former bannermen and partisans, rather than through their new liege. Many of the placated nobles had richer personal demesnes than John himself now did.

Of course, this revolutionary (one-time) redefinition of the feudal contract on Richard’s part required major concessions to John. By far the most significant of these was John’s elevation. In order to make the new arrangement at least somewhat palatable to his brother, as well as to avoid the Byzantine connotations of the ducal title, Richard helped his brother John finance his coronation as “King of Cyprus.”

Among the others, one allowance was crucial to the future independence of the Cypriot polity. John managed to convince his former liege to sign a document stating that, except for the direct land grants Richard had already distributed, no interference in to Cypriot affairs by any other Plantagenet realm would be regarded as legitimate.

Late spring, 1192- John’s ersatz “flagship”, in reality merely a converted trading cog, sailed ever closer to Limassol harbor, ever farther from what seemed to the epicenter of his world, his birthright. The prince was impatiently pacing the deck, hoping to soon at least catch a glimpse of the strange land that was to be his domain. John had a crown on his head now, but not remotely the one he wanted.
 
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Is anyone actually going to comment on this thread? Having realized that the poll is detrimental to actual discussion, I will wait three days to see if anyone does anything other than vote in the poll. If no one does comment, after that time has elapsed I will start a duplicate thread, sans poll.
 
Is anyone actually going to comment on this thread? Having realized that the poll is detrimental to actual discussion, I will wait three days to see if anyone does anything other than vote in the poll. If no one does comment, after that time has elapsed I will start a duplicate thread, sans poll.

This does sound interesting. However I wouldn't have enough knowledge to help with writing the Timeline.
 

trajen777

Banned
Love it -- as to the move of John (poor leader) -- it allows Richard to Capture Egypt -- knid of his plan -- once the rev of Egypt is in place then you have a strongly supported Crusader kingdom
 
Love it -- as to the move of John (poor leader) -- it allows Richard to Capture Egypt -- knid of his plan -- once the rev of Egypt is in place then you have a strongly supported Crusader kingdom

I wouldn't call Richard a gifted administrator either. Sure John had his flaws, but apart from Richard's skills as a military leader, IMHO he wasn't England's greatest monarch. Not to mention that his poor diplomatic skills got him into conflict with the Holy Roman Empire and their representative the duke of Austria (there was a reason, why imprisoned him).

Having John and his supporters move to Cyprus, seems nice, but I'm not sure whether it would have to mean the committed something close to treason.

Not to mention, that Richard does not only need to placate John's supporters, but also his brother himself, so IMHO he can't offer John a too small demesne.

As for the inheritances, the could probably sign a treaty, which would allow one branch to inherit the other, in the event one of the two goes extinct.

Finally who will sanction John's elevation the Pope or like IOTL the Holy Roman Emperor for Amalric de Lusignan (Guy de Lusignan was only lord of the 'kingdom' of Cyprus)?
 
Rochard is overrated. He was a mediocre leader and poor diplomat who hated england and used it as his moneybags to fund wars against France and the aaracens. Also even with Richard at the helm I can still see the French retaking much of angevin territories though not as much as they took in otl during John's reign. After all Bouvines demonstrated that even allied together the HRE and England could not beat the French effectively.
 
Rochard is overrated. He was a mediocre leader and poor diplomat who hated england and used it as his moneybags to fund wars against France and the aaracens. Also even with Richard at the helm I can still see the French retaking much of angevin territories though not as much as they took in otl during John's reign. After all Bouvines demonstrated that even allied together the HRE and England could not beat the French effectively.

True. Very true.

A great fighter? Yes. A great general? Probably. A great king? Nope. No way.

He got idealized because he was the legitimate king, and away. John (who had to raise money for his brother), and who was not skilled as a leader, was hated - because the taxation, etc., was in his name. Richard wasn't around. If he HAD been, he'd probably have had a worse reputation than John does iOTL.
 
Just because John couldn't get it together for the Bouvines campaign doesn't mean that Richard wouldn't under similar circumstances. He was a much better general than John, and also superior at getting his subjects to follow him, whether from confidence in Richard's ability, fear of the consequences or just that John inspired disloyalty to an unusual degree.

By the time of Bouvines, John had been expelled from northern France for some time, a likely butterfly if had Richard lived longer.

Richard could still fail if he was financially reckless, and I agree that he made unnecessary enemies, which might result in additional allies for the French.
 
I wouldn't call Richard a gifted administrator either. Sure John had his flaws, but apart from Richard's skills as a military leader, IMHO he wasn't England's greatest monarch. Not to mention that his poor diplomatic skills got him into conflict with the Holy Roman Empire and their representative the duke of Austria (there was a reason, why imprisoned him).

Having John and his supporters move to Cyprus, seems nice, but I'm not sure whether it would have to mean the committed something close to treason.

Not to mention, that Richard does not only need to placate John's supporters, but also his brother himself, so IMHO he can't offer John a too small demesne.

As for the inheritances, the could probably sign a treaty, which would allow one branch to inherit the other, in the event one of the two goes extinct.

Finally who will sanction John's elevation the Pope or like IOTL the Holy Roman Emperor for Amalric de Lusignan (Guy de Lusignan was only lord of the 'kingdom' of Cyprus)?

If Richard eliminated John (unless he took some very elaborate precautions) it would lead to a wave of revenge assassinations, courtesy of John's supporters, which would leave the kingdom headless, the Crusade in tatters, and his lands open to French attacks. On the other hand, he must balance that with the need to actually reduce John's power.

Sure, he needs to mollify his brother, (the royal title is the main part of that) but once John's erstwhile supporters realize that will profit more from a move to Cyprus than remaining in the metropole, they will force John's hand.

re-uniting the Plantagenets could happen, but any heir would be behind in the line Arthur, as well as Richard's kids (he is actually placing any prospective heirs of his seed after Arthur, as he wants to acquire Brittany for the domain, as well as make any threat from John's heirs that much less credible).

When was the breach between Richard and the lords of the HRE? If that was after 1191, relations between them could be good enough for the Emperor to crown him, as well as having interesting implications for a possible coalition against Philipe. However, Richard and John would both want to assert Cypriot independence from any other realm, so the Pope would probably crown him.
 
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