Arthur of Brittany, King of England
The survival of Frederick Barbarossa and the rise of Arthur I of Brittany
On January of 1189, a butterfly flaps it's wings in a different direction deviating from how it did originally and seeped into a flower that it did not originally intend to sip on.
Emperor Frederick was impatient and wanted to cross the Saleph river just using his horse but he realized that is impossible because his armor is too heavy for him to cross so he decided to wait until the bridge is emptied so on the night on June 10 1190, he was able to cross the Saleph river safely because he waited.
Frederick of Barbarossa woke up on June 11 1190, his troops were very organized thanks to him being a really good leader, he was a very successful military strategist and a soldier and for that reason he was able to defeat the Turks and make them stay away from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, however Frederick Barbarossa is not able to completely defeat them but he was able to keep them at bay, Barbarossa was happy about his accomplishments in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Frederick Barbarossa was able to return to his land in the Holy Roman Empire.
Frederick of Barbarossa was quite displeased of his son marrying an old woman, Constance of Sicily, he was quite irritated of the marriage and even asked his son Henry to repudiate her but his son was devoted to her, she finally gave birth to a son named Frederick on October 4, 1191, but she a few weeks after she gave birth, he later remarried to his former wife’s niece in law Joan of England on 1192 with papal dispensation, the marriage would mean later good relations with England and the Holy Roman Empire, Joan of England was very much liked by Frederick Barbarossa and he was quoted in saying that she is a very beautiful lady.
On his way to the territory of his brother-in-law Henry of Saxony, Richard I of England was captured shortly before Christmas 1192 near Vienna by Leopold V, Duke of Austria who accused Richard of arranging the murder of his cousin Conrad of Montferrat. Moreover Richard I of England had personally offended Leopold by casting down his standard from the walls of Acre. Richard I of England and his retainers had been travelling in disguise as low-ranking pilgrims, but he was identified either because he was wearing an expensive ring, or because of his insistence on eating roast chicken, an aristocratic delicacy, Emperor Frederick took advantage of this situation and used it against both Henry of Saxony and Richard I of England.
In 1193, Eleanor of Brittany was engaged to Frederick son of Leopold V, Duke of Austria, as part of the conditions to release of Richard who had been taken prisoner by the Emperor. However, when she was still on the way there with Baldwin of Bethune the next year, the marriage took place on October 4, 1194, the marriage meant the release of Richard I of England on November 1, 1194 and ending the feud between the Plantagenets and the Babenbergs, Joanna of England gave birth to a son named Henry on December 3, 1194, later on Philip Augustus would return to France, while Richard of England was married to Alys of France on 1195 even if she is already impure and an undesirable bride already.
Frederick Barbarossa dies on January of 1195 which meant that Joan of England would be the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, she was quite a beauty and loved by the Germans, she was known to be the Empress that made the Holy Roman Empire and England closer, on the meantime, Philip made a peace settlement with Richard by betrothing a niece of him to his son and Eleanor of Aquitaine came to Brittany in order to pick one of her granddaughters as the bride of Louis of France and the bride that she picked is Matilda, the youngest sister of the Duke of Brittany, she stayed at the French court in order for her to get to know each other.
On June 4, 1196, Joan of England, Holy Roman Empress would give birth to a daughter named Matilda who is betrothed to Boleslaw of Silesia, the son of Henry I the Bearded of Silesia.
On in February 1197 Richard of England suddenly died due to a sickness that he had just discovered before he died and Eleanor of Aquitaine wanted a different successor to Aquitaine and he is Otto of Brunswick, the son of Matilda to Henry the Lion but he did not accept the offer of succeeding in Aquitaine and instead focused on Brunswick, meanwhile, Alys, the dowager Queen of England married William IV Talvas, Count of Ponthieu, on 20 August 1197, meanwhile, Berengaria of Navarre was married to Philippe Augustus on December 29, 1197, Berengaria gives birth to a daugter named Marie on September 30, 1198.
On January 1197 Arthur of Brittany mysteriously disappeared before he can be crowned and there were rumors of poisoning as well, which made John Lackland happy and his heiress, Eleanor of Brittany is in Austria and is unable to press her claims to her brother’s lands and Constance of Brittany replaced her him due to his dissappearance but on later 1197 when John Lackland crossed the English channel to be crowned as the King of England, one of the people on board was enraged of him when they talked about the deceased and uncrowned Duke Arthur of Brittany and pushed him out of the ship and he plunged to the English Channel and Drowned and his body was never discovered, Eleanor of Aquitaine was devastated of what has happened to Prince John that he died on the crossing to England but Constance of Brittany had her marriage with Ranulf de Blondeville annulled and a few months she was remarried to Guy of Thoars on June 3, 1198, meanwhile on Toulouse, Raymond VI of Toulouse marries Sancha of Aragon, a daughter of Alfonso II of Aragon with the Dowry of Gevaudan and Millau which merges the County of Gevaudan and Millau to the County of Toulouse on June 4, 1198 and aside from that, Southwest Languedoc and Rousillon was made a fuedal condominium between France, Toulouse and Aragon.
In Austria, Eleanor of Brittany finally gives birth to twin sons named Frederick and Gottfried on November 4, 1198.
A daughter named Joan of Toulouse was born to Raymond VI of Toulouse and Sancha of Aragon on December 10, 1198.
Constance of Brittany bore her third husband, Guy of Thoars a daughter; Alix of Thouars on September 5, 1199, later the missing Arthur of Brittany was found on Austria in the court of his sister, Eleanor of Brittany and his brother in law Frederick I of Austria.
Arthur of Brittany thanked his sister, Eleanor for saving him from their uncle John but Eleanor of Brittany said that she is happy to see her brother alive and she is very greatful and happy to see him alive.
Arthur of Brittany: Thank you Eleanor, my sister for saving me from the clutches of our uncle!
Eleanor of Brittany: I am happy to see you and I am greatful and happy to see you alive, I want to be always to be there for you.
Frederick I of Austria: You were always nice, Arthur, I want to have more time with you.
The Crowning of Arthur of Brittany
late 1199 from Austria, Arthur of Brittany was able to journey return as the Duke of Brittany and with the support of Philippe Augustus, he was finally crowned as the King of England, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Normandy, Count of Maine, Count of Anjou and the ceremony of his crowning was lavish and very luxurious and the people were happy seeing the coronation of Arthur of Brittany as Arthur I of England due to the help of Philippe Auguste, he recognized the direct fealty of the Counties of Auvergne, Marche and their claims to a part of Berry to the King of France, meanwhile on December 4, 1199, Dowager Queen Alice gave birth to a daughter named Isabella, Matilda of Brittany is betrothed to Louis of France and the dowry of Matilda of Brittany is the County Touraine which would revert to the Royal Demesne after the marriage of Matilda of Brittany to Louis of France.
Finally on January 1, 1200 Matilda of Brittany and Louis of France were finally married and Arthur I of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine was able to witness the marriage between them and the County of Touraine reverted to the Royal Demesne, due to this marriage the peace between France, England and the Angevin territories and a temporary no-agression pact was signed between France and England was guaranteed but the peace was just temporary and the French would still raid Angevin territories on France later on.
Meanwhile, Gaston VI of Bearn's wife gave birth to a daughter named Alicia or Aelith on June 2, 1200.
on 1201, however, Eleanor of Aquitaine dies and it was arranged that Gascony proper would pass to the heirs of Arthur's aunt, Eleanor of Anjou because it was Eleanor's dowry and it would pass not to Arthur I or his heirs which he accepted and so, Gascony would pass to Ferdinand of Castile, while Ferdinand of Castile is betrothed to Aelith/Alicia of Bigorra and Bearn(b. 1200) with her Dowry of the viscounties of Marsan and Bigorra,, to secure the transfer of Gascony to Castile completely and the new capital of the Castilian Gascony would be Marsan and , on the meantime to ensure the transfer of Gascony Blanche of Castile is married to Arthur I of England on June 4, 1201 which was given a dispensation by Pope Innocent III, on August, he is confirmed as the Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Bordeaux as well, unfortunately for Gaston VI of Bearn he died of sickness so his Viscounty of Bearn passed to his brother Guilhem-Raimon(Guilhem-Ramon) of Bearn.
Matilda of Brittany, Crown Princess of France visited King Arthur I of England, she was delighted to see her brother as the King of England as the King of England.
Matilda of Brittany: You are the King of England now, right.
Arthur I of England: You are the Crown Princess of France and the wife of Louis of France.
Matilda of Brittany: Yes, I am and I will make you and Louis closer to each other.
Arthur I of England: I am happy with that.
Matilda of Brittany: I heard that you did not inherit Gascony.
Arthur I of England: It was willed that Gascony would pass to Ferdinand of Castile.
Matilda of Brittany: I am happy that you are happy as the King of England.
Rebirth of the Angeloi
The next five years were disturbed by continued warfare with Bulgaria, against which Isaac led several expeditions in person. In spite of their promising start, these ventures had little effect, and on one occasion in 1190 Isaac barely escaped with his life. The Byzantines suffered yet another major defeat in the battle of Arcadiopolis in 1194. While preparing for yet another offensive against Bulgaria in 1195, Alexios Angelos, the Emperor's older brother, taking advantage of the latter's absence from camp on a hunting expedition, proclaimed himself emperor, and was readily recognised by the soldiers as Emperor Alexios III. Isaac was able to escape from Alexios, just like Arthur, Isaac had his own problems.
Isaac and his son Alexios fled to the west in order to find help, and they were able to reach the court of Eleanor of Brittany, Eleanor of Brittany became a widow after Frederick I of Austria died on 1203, so she remarried to Alexios Angeloi, the son of Isaac.
Eleanor of Brittany was very happy to see her husband and her children are treated well by Alexios who was also the regent of Austria while her children are still very young, Eleanor of Brittany finds out that she is already pregnant and about to give birth on the latter part of 1204, on December 3, 1204, she gave birth to a son named Isaac, named after the father of Alexios, Emperor Alexios III died defending himself from the crusaders who wanted to help Isaac and Alexios to regain the Byzantine throne on 1205, finally, Alexios was crowned as the Byzantine Emperor was happy enough about his own initial accomplishments.
After Alexios was crowned as the Eastern Roman Emperor as Alexios IV he is separated from his wife and kids and he ended his regency in Austria while his wife is the regent in Austria with his son, Isaac Commenos.
He was said to be very unhappy but he dutifully did his duty in the Eastern Roman Empire although after a year, Eleanor was crowned as the Empress, although she is never able to spend most of her time in Constantinople because her child is a duke of Austria.
Due to the marriage with Eleanor, Alexios IV was able to meet Arthur I of England and make an alliance with England against anyone who would try to destroy the Byzantine Empire.
Wars with France and disputes
On 1203 Constance of Castile marries Arthur of Brittany, the Constance of Castile would give birth to a son in June 4, 1204 named Fulk, Constance of Castile and Arthur of Brittany after the birth of the son had a better relationship than before, a year after that, Matilda of Brittany gave birth to a son named Louis on August 4 1204 on this time he made his new coat of arms colored with a black background and still with three lions of his uncles coat of arms.
On 1205, war began again between England and France. Neither kingdom had been exhausted by their last war, and a vaguely defined border in Aquitaine (an English possession) provided a spark to begin another war, Matilda of Brittany tried to stop the war between her father in law, Philip Auguste and her brother but she was not able to convince her husband to stop his father due to the nobles telling his father to confiscate the continental possessions of Arthur due to him being an incompetent ruler.
Matida told Louis to tell his father, Philippe II Auguste that the war should not be started because it is her brother who would be hurt but Louis told her that his father is only doing his own duties as the King of France and protect his own subjects and he just want the best for his subjects.
England's armies were not headed by King Arthur, however; instead his high generals commanded the main army on the Continent due to him managing the revolts against his own regime in England and due to the revolts, Arthur of Brittany made the Carta Regis which guarantees the rights of the nobles as well as of the King, the King of Castile, Alfonso VIII did not take arms against the King of France and just let Arthur I of England war with the french and the Arthur is not exactly strong and is easily manipulated by his generals, so Arthur was considered a weak ruler, the ruler of the Byzantine Empire, Alexios IV was able to send troops which were only be able to defeat the French in Normandy and Brittany, Arthur was later able to campaign on Aquitaine and Anjou but it was too late to reconquer these regions and also the people there do not want him anymore so he decided to give up these regions and focus on Normandy and Brittany.
A decisve French victory in Aquitaine and Anjou brought these regions under French control. However, a string of English victories in the north allowed them to solidify their control over Normandy and Brittany, Arthur and Prince Louis would meet on Paris and make another treaty on 1206 that he would renounce Aquitaine and Anjou in exchange of the complete end to the claims of Philippe II Auguste over Normandy and Brittany, the loss was considered to be tragic but Arthur was also happy about the loss because the people there did not like him either so it was not a loss for him so he focused on ruling the areas in the continenet he is ruling and also his Kingdom of England. On 1207 Prince Louis and Arthur I of England finally in tears reconcile with each other and accept each others losses and gains and they became friends again and they even visited the Fontevraud abbaye together later on they even made duels where in they are competitors and they are reminded of the friendship their parents once had finally on 1208, the three siblings, Arthur I, Matilda, Queen of France and Eleanor, dowager duchess of Austria and Empress of the Byzantine Empire met in the tomb of their father in Paris, they concluded that there should be a feast where in the rulers of France, England and the Byzantine Empire would attend and on 1209 it became a reality so the feast was made and Alexios IV, Prince Louis and Arthur both participated in the festivities as well as their wives, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI also attended the festivities even if he was not invited.
On 1210, Arthur I of England and Prince Louis jousted at a tournament where in Arthur I of England lost but he is happy about it and conceded to Prince Louis who is now his own friend.
Other children of Arthur I of England and Constance of Castile
-Alfonso b. 1205
-Matilda b. 1207
Other children of Matilda of Brittany and Prince Louis of France
-Philippe b.1206
-Constance b.1208
Henry the Bearded
On 1201, Mieszko the Tanglefoot attacked Opole and took it from Henry I the Bearded of Silesia causing Henry I the Bearded and Leszek the White to ally and defeat him in a battle and partitioned his territories, Opole gone back to Henry I the Bearded of Silesia while the teritorries of Mieszko the Tanglefoot is partitioned, Cieszyn to the seniorate or the territories of Leszek the White and Raciborz to Henry I the Bearded of Silesia after his defeat, the son of Mieszko the Tanglefoot perished in the battle.
On 1210, Boleslaw of Silesia is married to Matilda the Roman, a Grand Daughter of Frederick Barbarossa.
Henry I the bearded ruled most of Silesia although a part of Silesia was already part of the seniorate of Krakow, he was happy just being a duke of Silesia and decided not to claim the other parts of Poland and left it for another generation and that becoming the ruler of the duchy of Krakow would be troublesome and create enemies.
The marriage of Boleslaw and Matilda the Roman was very happy although, Boleslaw was very pious and Matilda the Roman was very responsible, they made a better pair and aside from that they were supporters of the crusades in Jerusalem, Matilda gave birth to a son named Henryk on 1210, the sons of Boleslaw and Matilda were not raised to aspire a life to inherit the crown but to live a simple life giving them a better character which meant that the other sons would be just happy to be ruling Castellanies as apanage or make a crusade in Jerusalem and aside from that their marriages had no prestige at all and they were just reserve heirs who don't want to rule themselves, nor did Prince Henryk want to rule himself but he believes that it is his mission in life to rule not that he wanted to rule himself so he decided that ruling would be his destiny not because he wanted to rule his lands, the Piast nobles owning castellanies created a new breed of nobles that have a claim to the Polish crown who many also played a part in the Sejm or the parliament after the reunification of Poland, the younger brother of Boleslaw, Henryk preferred a life in the Crusades rather than ruling the Duchy of Silesia although he married someone on the crusades he stayed behind in the crusades in Jerusalem rather than go back home to the Duchy of Silesia.
Mongolian Indian Conquest
After pursuing Jalal ad-Din into India from Samarkand and defeating him at the battle of Indus in 1221, Genghis Khan sent two tumens (20,000 soldiers) under commanders Dorbei the Fierce and Bala to continue the chase. The Mongol commander Bala chased Jalal ad-Din throughout the Punjab region and attacked outlying towns like Bhera and Multan and had even sacked the outskirts of Lahore. Jalal ad-Din regrouped, forming a small army from survivors of the battle and sought an alliance, or even an asylum, with the Turkic rulers of Delhi Sultanate and the Delhi sultanate allowed them to live in Assylum in the Delhi sultanate.
Khokhar tribe of Punjab was in alliance with Mongols during their invasion of India, due to the Delhi sultanate harboring and allying enemies of the allies of the mongols the Mongols under Genghis Khan decided to conquer India and the first one that he is conquering is the Delhi Sultanate seeing the richness of the resources in the indian subcontinent knowing that the lands in the west has less resources compared to the eastern lands and aside from that he believes that India has alot of areas to plunder so he decided to plunder those areas himself.
The news of the possible conquest was heard by Nasir Amir-ul-Mu'minin and he was alarmed of the news that Genghis Khan is planning a conquest of the Delhi Sultanate, he was alarmed because no one has yet defeated the Mongols.
Genghis Khan on 1225 came back to the south of Himalayas and attacked the capital of the Delhi Sultanate whose army is weaker compared to the 20,000 soldiers of Genghis Khan, he plundered the Kingdom and forced its people into submission and because of this the weak Delhi Sultanate was forced into tribute, vassalage and submission by the Mongols.
Battle of Muret
On 1213, Simon de Montfort led an army of 870 French Crusaders, along with a small contingent of knights brought by his ally, the viscount of Corbeil. Simon de Montfort's 870 mailed cavalry included 270 knights, making the small force of exceptional quality. King Peter of Aragon had brought 800 to 1,000 Aragonese cavalry, joined by a militia from Toulouse and armies brought by the count of Foix. King Peter of Aragon's combined forces possibly numbered 4000 cavalry, with thirty to forty thousand infantry.
Montfort divided his army into three squadrons, and then led them across the Garonne to meet the Aragonese forces. Peter's ally and brother-in-law, Count Raymond, advised a defensive posture in order to weaken the advancing enemy with bowshot and javelins. Peter rejected this suggestion as unknightly and dishonorable. King Peter rode to the front line, forsaking his royal armor for the plain armor of a common soldier. His army was disorderly and confused. When Montfort's first squadron charged the field, the Aragonese cavalry was crushed and Peter himself was unhorsed. He cried out, "I am the king!" but was killed regardless. With the realization that their king had been killed, the Aragonese forces broke in panic and fled, pursued by Montfort's Crusaders.
In the end, the Aragonese crown lost its territories in France, namely Montpellier, Rousillon, Carlat and Gevaudan and its rights to vassals in France in the treaty in the Treaty of Montpellier on 1214 which the regents of Aragon and Henry VI also renounced Provence in favor of the Aragonese Crown and also had Joan of Toulouse, the only daughter and heir of Sancha and Raymond was forced in marriage with Louis,the son of Matilda Plantagenet and Prince Louis of France in order for the county of Toulouse to pass to the Royal domain and Rousillon, Carlat and Gevaudan as well would be transferred to royal domain of France as dowry of Joan of Toulouse.
Joan of Toulouse m. Louis of France
b. 1215 - Louis duke of Anjou
b. 1216 - Margaret
b. 1220 - Henry duke of Touraine
b. 1221 - Francis duke of Poitou
James I of Aragon would later marry Blanca de Provenca (b.1220) on 1235, in order to merge the both lineages of the Barcelonian Dynasty and inherit Provence, her twin sister Margarida married Louis, Duke of Anjou.
Blanca de Provenca m. James I of Aragon
b. 1240 James of Aragon
b. 1245 Blanche of Aragon