Henry the Young King (England)

Henry, the eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, lives and succeeds his father. He also has issue. What becomes of his brothers Richard and John and what would there careers have been like?
 
Henry would succeed as King of England and Duke of Normandy. Anjou, Maine, Touraine and Berry would be constantly disputed between him and Geoffrey/Arthur of Brittany and Richard, as Duke of Aquitaine. Richard and Henry would likely use Arthur and John as pawns in their fights against each other - perhaps claiming the border counties on John or Arthur's behalf, for example. Richard might well marry Alys of France so as to weaken Henry III's alliance with the French and perhaps lay claim to the Vexin on her behalf. Constance and Eleanor of Brittany would also be important pawns in the continued squabbles of the Angevin brethren, further fueled by French interference.

Crusade is unlikely for any of the involved.
 
Wasn't Richard created Duke of Aquitaine, when Henry the Young King was crowned because I could see him using Aquataine's resources attempting to carve out a Principality in the Holy Land
 
Wasn't Richard created Duke of Aquitaine, when Henry the Young King was crowned because I could see him using Aquataine's resources attempting to carve out a Principality in the Holy Land

It'd be more likely for him to attempt to wrest all/most of his father's continental inheritance from Henry, or even to lay claim to Toulouse, his mother's ancestral patrimony.
 
For one, the Angevin Empire does break because each sons (except John Lackland the well named...) gets what he was supposed to get: Henry the Young inherits his father's possessions (England, Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Tourraine), Richard Lionheart his mother's possessions (Aquitaine, Poitou) while Geoffrey (more likely his son Arthur as I doubt the survival of Henry the Young would prevent Geoffrey from taking part in the tournament he died) his wife's (Britanny). That being said, the sons hate each other and probably want what the other has... And there is one person that will definitely want to play them against one another: King Philip II Augustus of France. Philip will be more eager to play this game given the fact the Empire is broken and he is the liege of Richard (and possibly Geoffrey/Arthur as well).

However, there comes another problem: the succession of all three sons. Only Geoffrey is assured of having an heir since he has his son Arthur. Richard is bethroed but not yet married and I'm not sure he would marry Alys given the rumors abouth her liaison with his father. That being said, if Richard has one bit of a political mind, he will: it guarantees an alliance with his liege, the French King. There is also Richard's rumored homosexuality but that can't be confirmed and he did sire a bastard OTL.
As for Henry the Young (Henry III of England here), he is wed to Margaret of France... who is sterile thanks to a miscarriage in 1177. Henry can ask for the annullment of his marriage, but I am not sure it is a good idea for him to give Philip II of France a valuable argument to become his ennemy... Especially considering Philip was the first King of France to strenghten his authority in a magnificient bastardly way.
Anyway, the point is that Henry the Young's heir is Richard if he doesn't get a new wife. And Geoffrey/Arthur comes after Richard if the latter doesn't give birth to a child.

Another question is: does Henry go on the third Crusade like his brother? I imagine Richard would still go because I see him as the typical Knight King. However, we don't know Henry the Young's mind although I imagine he could be willing to go.
Velasco said:
Crusade is unlikely for any of the involved.
Not so sure about that. The loss of Jerusalem was a political earth-quake in Middle Age Europe: so much that the three greatest monarchs of their time (Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, King Richard Lionheart of England and King Philip Augustus of France) went on Crusade OTL. Religion played a much more important role than nowadays, the Crusades hadn't lost their importance yet and the Pope will definitely ask for any if not all of the Plantagenêt sons to go.
Besides, Richard is very much the exemple of a Knight King, who are Knights first and King Second. And he would only be a Duke in this scenario: so if Philip goes, Richard might feel obliged to go as his vassal. In the end, I'm pretty sure he would go.
 
Top