The fair Gisele – An Angevin timeline

The fair Gisele
The fair Gisele – An Angevin timeline

The fair Gisele

On 1184, Gisele of Swabia, the woman betrothed to Richard , the lionheart and daughter of the German Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa would survive from her illness and travel to Bordeaux to meet her future husband on 1185, the marriage does not mean it had complications as Richard is betrothed to Alice of Vexin, the daughter of the King of England, she would marry her husband which would mean problems with France and the dowry of Alice which would mean Alice would be sent back to the Kingdom of France.

Alice of France would now be married to Henry, the eldest son of Frederick Barbarossa, which would have been her own prestigious marriage while her sister Margaret is married Bela II, the two marriages would balance out the marriage of Gisele of Swabia with Richard I of England as well as the marriage of Margaret of Blois to Eudes which was the alliance of Eleanor of Aquitaine to the Hohenstauffens.

Gisele of Swabia would meet with the children of Geoffrey and Constance of Brittany, Eleanor and Mathilde, Constance of Brittany would give birth to three other children, Constance of Brittany(1186), Arthur(1187) and Marguerite (1191), Gisele of Swabia would find herself pregnant for the first time, giving birth to a son herself, named Henry on 1186 which would be followed by a daughter named Marie on 1187 on another son named William on 1188 who would be the heir to the Duchy of Aquitaine himself, she and her husband would separate as he would focus on the crusade and after the crusade, she would have two further children, Fulk(1196) and Elias (1200).
 
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This would be interesting. I’d presume that the HRE wouldn’t imprison his brother-in-law when he returns from the crusade?
 
The Bride of the Champenois Count
The Bride of the Champenois Count

On 1188, before the ascenscion of Richard I, he would suggest his own nephew, Henry II of Champagne to marry Yolande of Hainault in order to continue the old agreement with the now Queen Isabella of Hainault since it will create a double alliance of Flanders and Champagne and as well as England.

Yolande of Flanders would arrive in Champagne on 1190 seeing her groom Henry, the former betrothed of her sister, Isabella and it would also ease the tension of the King of France and the Counts of Champagne and the counts of Flanders and aside from that it would also fix the issues of the Count of Champagne with the Counts of Flanders.

Isabella of Hainault second pregnancy was extremely difficult. On 14 March 1190, she gave birth to twin boys named Robert and Philip. Owing to complications in childbirth she died the next day, aged not quite 20, and was buried in the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. She was mourned greatly in the capital, having been a popular queen.

Yolande of Hainault, Countess of Champagne would nurse her nephew after the death of her older sister which would make Philippe Auguste appreciate her efforts saying that she is a good sister in law.

Of the twins, Philip would survive and became the spare son of the King of France, Philippe Auguste while Robert would die on infancy, Yolande would take care of the children of Philippe Auguste and her sister, Isabella and raised them as kids to avoid them from missing their own dead mother, her sister, Isabella of Hainault.

Yolande of Hainault would give birth to two surviving children Marie(1193) and Theobald(1200) and continued the treaty between Champagne and Hainault.

Yolande of Hainault and Henry II would join their uncles, Richard I of England and Philippe Auguste on the crusade on Jerusalem, during that time, Queen Isabella of Jerusalem would express her own dislike with her marriage with Conrad of Montferrat and sought annulment of her marriage which was granted in 1198 and remarried to Theobald of Champagne, a brother of Henry II of Champagne.
 
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Alfonso IX of Leon
Alfonso IX of Leon

Alfonso is often chiefly remembered for the difficulties his successive marriages caused between him with Pope Celestine III. He was first married in 1191 to his first cousin, Theresa of Portugal, who bore him two daughters, and a son who died young. The marriage was declared null by the papal legate Cardinal Gregory for consanguinity.

He would remarry to Matilda of Brittany after the match between him and Berengaria was denied on 1196 when his match with his cousin Berengaria was denied because he learned that Berengaria is already married to Peter II of Aragon, Matilda of Brittany, the niece of Eleanor, Queen of Castile was designated by Eleanor, Queen of Castile as the Castilian Proxy Princess.

The fact that Matilda is the sister of the French Queen Constance would mean that France and Leon would have contacts and relations for at least one generation and she would recommend Beatrice of Swabia as the wife of Ferdinand and not Mafalda of Castile who is he closely related.

In 1191, Alfonso married Theresa of Portugal, daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and Queen Dulce of Aragon. Between 1191 and 1196, the year in which their marriage was annulled by Celestine III, three children were born:

Sancha (1191)

Ferdinand (1192)

Dulce (1193)

On 17 November 1197 Alfonso married Matilda of Brittany, daughter of Constance of Brittany and Geoffrey II of Brittany. Six children were born of this marriage:

Constance of Leon (1199)

Eleanor of Leon(1200)

Ferdinand of Leon(1199/1201)

Geoffrey of Leon (1202)

Alicia of Leon (1204)

Maria of Leon (1210)



Constance of Brittany m. Geoffrey II of Brittany

1.Eleanor of Brittany c. 1184 m. Eudes III of Burgundy

2.Matilda of Brittany c. 1185 m. Alfonso IX of Leon

3. Constance of Brittany c. 1186 m. Louis VIII of France

4. Arthur of Brittany c. 1187 m. Philippa of Dreux

5. Margaret of Brittany c. 1191 m. Robert of Dreux
 
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An unexpected meeting
An unexpected meeting

On 1192 in the crusade, Richard I of England would meet the young Prince Peter of Aragon trying for the hand of the Princess of Castile, Berengaria as he had heard that she is betrothed to Conrad of Swabia but the news came to Richard that his sister is the one married to Conrad so he can marry Peter of Aragon to Berengaria, during this time, he would talk to Peter II and convince him to make an alliance which would make both Aragon and England have an alliance in which she would receive the claims of Philippa of Toulouse as her own dowry.

Richard would talk with Prince Peter of Aragon on how suitable is he for Princess Berengaria of Castile and how the alliance would better the Angevins and Barcelona and the Crown of Aragon as a whole, Peter II would be convinced by Richard to marry Berengaria and Richard I would inform his own sister that Berengaria is to marry Peter of Aragon instead of Conrad of Swabia as Conrad of Swabia is already married.

On 1194, before Richard returned to England he would go to Castile to fetch Berengaria and pass to Barcelona in order to marry Berengaria to Prince Peter of Aragon who would be shocked about how Berengaria would actually act, however the marriage would be vital to the alliance between England and Aragon.

Berengaria would prove to be fertile as she would be pregnant repeatedly how ever only three would survive infancy and it would be Maria of Aragon(1199), James (1203) and Peter (1206).
 
Ida of Boulogne
Ida of Boulogne

Her father continued to rule until his death in 1173, when she succeeded. Upon the advice of her uncle, Philip I, Count of Flanders, she married first in 1181, to Gerard of Guelders, but he died the same year. She next married Berthold IV, Duke of Zähringen, but he too died in 1186.

On 1186, she would marry Henry II of Champagne creating an alliance between the counts of Boulogne and England as Henry II is in good terms with his uncle and he is said to be his partner in crime.

Ida of Boulogne would have a daughter named Alix of Boulogne(1187) and a son named Stephen of Champagne(1190), Henry II having heirs would cause Theobald to join the crusade with his uncle, Richard.
 
Frederick of Barbarossa
Frederick of Barbarossa

The great man who was never drowned

Frederick Barbarossa would arrive safely in Jerusalem on 1190 only to see, the New Queen Isabella of Jerusalem already married to Conrad of Montferrat which he would be surprised of the marriage of the Queen of Jerusalem.

On his arrival on Jerusalem he would question the marriage of Conrad of Montferrat and Isabella of Jeruslaem which Queen Isabella would object herself as she wanted to marry Humphrey of Toron along with Princess Joan of England who is a supporter of Princess Constance’s claims on Sicily, on the death of Conrad of Montferrat on 1192 after the birth her of her daughter Maria of Montferrat, Isabella of Jerusalem is betrothed to Conrad of Swabia.

There are theater plays and films centuries after that would talk about the miraculous survival of Frederick Barbarossa in the future and his braveness in battle.


“Frederick Barbarossa proved himself on his survival on his crossing of the Saleph”

Mathew de Paris


“Frederick I Barbarossa is a proven competent ruler to the Germans and was a strong leader of the Germans, is a very ambitious Emperor of the Germans and a model for the future rulers of Germany”

Mathew de Paris
 
Constance of Sicily
Constance of Sicily

Constance of Sicily

In 1185 Constance traveled to Milan to celebrate the wedding accompanied by a grand procession of princes and barons. Henry accompanied her to Salerno in August but had to return to Germany for the funeral of his mother. On August 28 Constance was greeted in the Province of Rieti by ambassadors from the Emperor. Henry and Constance were married on 27 January 1186 at Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan. In exchange for the marriage Frederick agreed to relinquish his claim to Southern Italy. Before leaving Sicily William II had three main nobles Tancred, Count of Lecce, Roger of Andria and vice chancellor Matthew of Ajello swear fealty to her as the probable successor to the throne at the curia of Troia.

Constance of Sicily would engage with her new husband on the wedding night and found herself pregnant, and after nine months she would give birth to a son named Frederick of Swabia(1186) and she would later bear a daughter named Maria of Swabia(1187), on the death of her nephew without children, her crown would be stolen by Tancred of Sicily, those would followed by another two sets of children, Henry(1190) and Beatrice(1191).

Constance of Sicily and her husband, Henry of Swabia would send in spies at Tancred who is the illegitimate ruler of Sicily in their own views on the back of Tancred, however, Constance of Sicily should bide her own time in order to get the throne of Sicily, she would say that she would need help of the Holy Roman Emperor himself, the Emperor Barbarossa would want to conquer the northern and southern half of Italy and Joan of England supported Constance of Sicily rather than Tancred and Joan wanted Constance to be the Queen of Sicily herself.

When Joan of England, Queen of Sicily joined her brother, Richard on Jerusalem, she would meet with Barbarossa and she would express her sentiments in Joining the struggle of Constance of Sicily.


“Constance became heir presumptive to the Sicilian crown after the death of her younger nephew Henry of Capua in 1172, since her elder nephew King William II did not marry until 1177 and his marriage remained childless (or ever had a son named Boemond in 1181) but she was still confined in her convent.

Her betrothal to Henry was announced 29 Oct 1184 at the Augsburg episcopal palace. In 1185 Constance traveled to Milan to celebrate the wedding accompanied by a grand procession of princes and barons. Henry accompanied her to Salerno in August but had to return to Germany for the funeral of his mother. On August 28 Constance was greeted in the Province of Rieti by ambassadors from the Emperor. Henry and Constance were married on 27 January 1186 at Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan. In exchange for the marriage Frederick agreed to relinquish his claim to Southern Italy. Before leaving Sicily William II had three main nobles Tancred, Count of Lecce, Roger of Andria and vice chancellor Matthew of Ajello swear fealty to her as the probable successor to the throne at the curia of Troia. Matthew strongly opposed this marriage. Abulafia (1988) points out that William did not foresee the union of German and Sicilian crowns as a serious eventuality; his purpose was to consolidate an alliance, with an erstwhile enemy of Norman power in Italy.

Constance would give birth to a son named Frederick on 1186, who would be her heir to her claims to the crown of Sicily.

The papacy, also an enemy of the emperors, did not want to see the kingdom of southern Italy (then one of the richest in Europe) in German hands, but Henry pressed Pope Celestine III to crown his son; the Pope put him off.”

Encyclopedia Angevina


“It was said that Constance of Sicily herself wanted the throne of Sicily in the detriment of her relative Tancred and even laughed in the Swabian court while planning their conquest of Sicily.”

Mathew de Paris
 
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