Quoting this, just in case anybody missed it the first time around.
Pericles: I think that splitting up Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Brittany and Aquitaine/Gascony between the sons of Henry II is likely to stop any OTL style Hundred Years War stone dead, for no other reason than the swarms of butterflies unleashed, and the removal of the biggest issue between France and England.
This was not the French Crown, but the fact that the Duke of Aquitaine, Normandy et al. - in the personage of the King of England - owed fealty to the King of France. If the king of England holds no land subservient to the French crown, this is not a problem. There is no longera conflict of interest, as the English King's interest stops at the Channel, as does that of the French at the other side. There is no confusion over sovereignty.
This also means it becomes much easier for the French crown to exert influence in the Angevin French lands. Richard, Geoffrey and any of their sons are likely to be infighting and backbiting as much as in OTL. This gives Philip Augustus the perfect chance to divide and rule. He managed it OTL, even with English money and troops against him.
To make it more difficult for France, I would suspect you need one brother to inherit all of the Angevin lands in France. However, this makes him richer than his kinsman on the English throne, so there could be more issues there than in the French Court. If the Capetian line dies out, and this line Angevin Dukes still hold sway over most of their OTL land, then the incumbent may become king of France. However, this means very little to England, as this hypothetical Duke is French, and probably has been for generations. I also fail to see the Balkanisation of France as a likely result.
The counts of Anjou, dukes of Normandy, and counts/dukes (I'm not entirely clear on Brittany's status at this point) Brittany sort of, and dukes of Aquitaine are all vassals of the King of France.
Pericles: I think that splitting up Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Brittany and Aquitaine/Gascony between the sons of Henry II is likely to stop any OTL style Hundred Years War stone dead, for no other reason than the swarms of butterflies unleashed, and the removal of the biggest issue between France and England.
This was not the French Crown, but the fact that the Duke of Aquitaine, Normandy et al. - in the personage of the King of England - owed fealty to the King of France. If the king of England holds no land subservient to the French crown, this is not a problem. There is no longera conflict of interest, as the English King's interest stops at the Channel, as does that of the French at the other side. There is no confusion over sovereignty.
This also means it becomes much easier for the French crown to exert influence in the Angevin French lands. Richard, Geoffrey and any of their sons are likely to be infighting and backbiting as much as in OTL. This gives Philip Augustus the perfect chance to divide and rule. He managed it OTL, even with English money and troops against him.
To make it more difficult for France, I would suspect you need one brother to inherit all of the Angevin lands in France. However, this makes him richer than his kinsman on the English throne, so there could be more issues there than in the French Court. If the Capetian line dies out, and this line Angevin Dukes still hold sway over most of their OTL land, then the incumbent may become king of France. However, this means very little to England, as this hypothetical Duke is French, and probably has been for generations. I also fail to see the Balkanisation of France as a likely result.