The Black Cross - A Crusader Timeline mk2

The Black Cross


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The Angevin Empire at the end of Richard I's reign


Eleanor of Brittany, Queen of Sicily
Matilda was born in Brittany, her father Geoffrey of Brittany died on August 19, 1186. In 1190 in exchange for the return of his sister, Joan, King Tancred of Sicily arranged the 5 year old Matilda’s marriage with Tancred's eldest son, Roger in exchange his daughter would be betrothed to Arthur of Brittany. Roger was declared co-king, but died on 24 December 1193, shortly before his father's death on 20 February 1194.

She was ransomed by her uncle, Richard after the death of her first husband after she was captured after the death of her husband.


The Other Breton Girl
On 1189, a sick girl was able to recover and that girl is Matilda of Brittany, the daughter of Constance of Brittany and her late husband Geoffrey of Brittany, the girl is the other sister of the presumed heir of Richard I of England, Arthur of Brittany.


Originally, Alfonso IX wanted to marry Berengaria of Castile after the dissolution of his marriage to Theresa of Portugal but was offered Eleanor of Brittany instead since Berengaria is betrothed to the King of Aragon and the marriage is in violation of the canon law and Peter II is given dispensation to marry Berengaria, and the King of France opposed a marriage between Eleanor of Brittany and Alfonso IX but the betrothal between a Breton Princess and the Leonese King is still in place and Matilda of Brittany chose that she is the bride of Alfonso IX in order for the marriage to still happen.

Matilda of Brittany was accompanied by Eleanor of Aquitaine on 1197 in the journey from Richard’s court from Anjou then passing to Bordeaux to Pamplona then to Asturias, Matilda of Brittany is left in Asturias where in she journeys to the court of Alfonso IX where in the two were married.

Eleanor of Aquitaine returned to Richard’s court on 1197 after Matilda is left to Asturias to marry the Leonese King.

Matilda takes the name Mafalda after her marriage.

Berengaria of Castile

Berengaria's first engagement was agreed in 1187 when her hand was sought by Conrad, Duke of Rothenburg and fifth child of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa.[7] The next year, the marriage contract was signed in Seligenstadt, including a dowry of 42000 Maravedí. Conrad then marched to Castile, where in Carrión the engagement was celebrated and Conrad was knighted. Berengaria's status as heir of Castile when she inherited the throne was based in part on documentation in the treaty and marriage contract,[9][10] which specified that she would inherit the kingdom after her father or any childless brothers who may come along. Conrad would only be allowed to co-rule as her spouse, and Castile would not become part of the Empire. The treaty also documented traditional rights and obligations between the future sovereign and the nobility.

The marriage was not consummated, due to Berengaria's young age, as she was less than 10 years old. Conrad and Berengaria never saw each other again. By 1191, Berengaria requested an annulment of the engagement from the Pope, influenced, no doubt, by third parties such as her grandmother Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was not interested in having a Hohenstaufen as a neighbor to her French fiefdoms. Those fears were neutralized when the duke was assassinated in 1196.

Berengaria was married in November 1196, at Rouen, as his third wife, to Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, with Quercy and the Agenais as her dowry.

Constance of Sicily
Constance's father-in-law died in 1190, and the following year Henry and Constance were crowned Emperor and Empress. Constance then accompanied her husband at the head of a substantial imperial army to forcefully take the throne from Tancred. The northern towns of the kingdom opened their gates to Henry, including the earliest Norman strongholds Capua and Aversa. Salerno, Roger II's mainland capital, sent word ahead that Henry was welcome, and invited Constance to stay in her father's old palace to escape the summer heat. Naples was the first time that Henry met resistance on the whole campaign, holding well into the southern summer, by which time much of the army had succumbed to malaria and disease and the imperial army was forced to withdraw from the kingdom altogether. Constance remained in Salerno with a small garrison, as a sign that Henry would soon return.

Once Henry had withdrawn with the bulk of the imperial army, the towns that had supposedly fallen to the Empire immediately declared their allegiance to Tancred, for the most part now fearing his retribution. The populace of Salerno saw an opportunity to win some favour with Tancred, and delivered Constance to him in Messina, an important prize given that Henry had every intention of returning. However, Tancred was willing to give up his negotiation advantage, that is, the Empress, in return for Pope Celestine III legitimising him as King of Sicily. In turn, the Pope was hoping that by securing Constance's safe passage back to Rome, Henry would be better disposed towards the papacy and he was still hoping to keep the Empire and the Kingdom from uniting. However, imperial soldiers were able to intervene before Constance made it to Rome, and they returned her safely across the Alps, ensuring that in the end, both the papacy and the kingdom failed to score any real advantage in having the Empress in their custody.

Henry was already preparing to invade Sicily a second time when Tancred died in 1194. Later that year he moved south, entered Palermo unopposed, deposed Tancred's young son William III, and had himself crowned instead.

While Henry moved quickly south with his army, a pregnant Constance followed at a slower pace. On 26 December, the day after Henry's crowning at Palermo, she gave birth to a daughter, Matilda in the small town of Iesi, near Ancona.

Constance was 40, and she knew that many would question whether the child was really hers. Thus she had the baby in a pavilion tent in the market square of the town, and invited the town matrons to witness the birth.[citation needed] A few days later she returned to the town square and publicly breast-fed the infant.


The marriages of Constance of Brittany

In 1188 or 1189, Ranulf de Blondeville was married to the Duchess Constance of Brittany, the widow of Henry II’s son Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and mother of Arthur of Brittany, with whom King John contested the succession to the crown of England. Richard Coeur de Lion, John's brother, had no known legitimate issue. The King had named Arthur of Brittany as his adopted son and heir to the crown of England. Henry did not envy the Duchess and wanted her married to a magnate whom he could trust. The marriage gave Ranulf control of the earldom of Richmond but it wasn't a success, and they separated.

Constance gave birth to a daughter named Alix on 1190, she is the daughter of Ranulf de Blondeville and Constance of Brittany.

To promote her son Arthur's position and inheritance, Constance included him in the government of the Duchy in 1196. In response to this act that thwarted his projects, Richard summoned her to Bayeux and had her abducted by Ranulf in Pontorson and imprisoned in Saint-James de Beuvron. He spread the rumor that Constance had been imprisoned for matrimonial reasons. As a result, rebellions were sparked across Brittany on her behalf and Arthur was sent in Brest. Richard demanded that hostages were delivered to him in exchange for Constance's freedom. The Bretons agreed but Constance and the hostages remained imprisoned and rebellions went on. Richard eventually bowed to growing pressure and had the Duchess released in 1198. Back in Brittany, Constance had her marriage annulled.

Constance took Guy of Thouars as her next husband between August and October 1199.

Between 1198 and the time of her death delivering twin daughters, Constance ruled with her son Arthur as co-ruler. Throughout these years, Constance advised her son towards a French alliance, pursuing the policy of her late husband Geoffrey II.


Constance of Brittany m. 1181 Geoffrey of Anjou(a) m. 1189 Ranulf de Blondville(b) m. 1199 Guy de Thoars(c)

1a. Eleanor of Brittany, Queen of Sicily b. 1184 m. 1190 Roger, junior king of Sicily d. 1194
2a. Matilda of Brittany, Queen of Leon(Mafalda de Bretaña) m. 1197 Alfonso IX
3a. Arthur of Brittany b. 1187
4b. Alix of Brittany b. 1190 m. 1200 Robert III of Dreux
5c. Catherine of Thoars b. 1200

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Kristen Stewart as Eleanor of Brittany, in the Season 1 of the Capetians[1]

The Treaty of Rennes

The King of France is able to support the Duke of Brittany due to the fact that he is stronger and have no problems in the security of his rule since Ingeborg of Denmark has already have a son with Philip II August and the previous year, the two were reconciled with each other, the name of the son is Charles.

The Treaty of Rennes was signed by the kings Arthur of Brittany, the rightful heir to England, his mother, the heavily pregnant Constance of Brittany and Philip II of France in June 1200 and aimed to ultimately settle the claims the Angevin kings of England had on French lands. The treaty was a victory for Philip as it asserted his legal claims to overlordship over Arthur’s French lands that John Lackland is ruling defacto.

The terms of the treaty signed at Rouen included clarifications of the feudal relationships binding the monarchs. Arthur recognized Philip as the suzerain of the continental lands in the Angevin Empire and the partition of the Angevin Empire and Brittany would be recognized as independent and not suzerain of France.

Arthur also bound himself to support the french king against any rebellions on the part of the counts of Boulogne and Flanders and not side with them.

Philip had previously recognized Arthur and earlier Richard as suzerain of Anjou and the Duchy of Brittany, but with the treaty of Rennes he extorted 20,000 marks sterling in payment for recognition of Arthur and Constance’s sovereignty of Brittany.

The Duchy of Aquitaine was not included in the treaty. It was still held by John as heir to his still-living mother, Eleanor. The treaty was sealed with a marriage alliance between the Angevin and Capetian dynasties. Arthur’s Elder sister Eleanor married Philip's eldest son, Louis VIII of France (to be eventually known as Louis the Lion) and that Alix of Brittany would marry Robert Dreux, the Younger, the dowry of the marriage would be the passing of Berry and Gisors to the Royal demesne.

Eleanor, Fair maid of Brittany, the Queen Dowager of Sicily and Louis the Lion were married in Paris on July 1200, the heavily pregnant Constance and Arthur of Brittany attended the wedding, the bride is 16 year old and the groom is 13 year old.

In response to the marriage of Eleanor and Louis, Otto III the Duke of Burgundy is married to Joan of England, the eldest child of the usurping King John and Margaret of Jerusalem is married to Sancho of Navarre as suggested by Princess Blanche of Navarre, the dowager Countess of Champagne.
Meanwhile, John of England kidnapped and married Isabella of Angouleme, a marriage that would cause his own demise.

1. http://www.altfg.com/film/kristen-stewart-swath-charlize-theron/

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