The Major and Minor Britain, A Plantagenet Timeline

The Major and Minor Britain, A Plantagenet Timeline

3903d40e39ad47f02dd5afff643888e4-2.jpg
Emma Watson as Matilda of Brittany in the Series the Plantagenets.

The Other Breton Girl and the Castilian Maiden
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.

Eleanor and Matilda both became fatherless at the age of two and was brought up by her uncle King Richard and grandmother Eleanor of Aquitaine.However, Richard's ward also meant that she was under Angevin custody, and thus even her mother Constance never considered her a potential heir to Brittany, which weakened her later claim to the duchy. As her younger brother Arthur was the heir presumptive to England and Brittany, she was one of the most marriageable princesses at that time. In 1190, after Richard failed to marry his younger sister Joan to Al-Adil I, brother of Saladin, he proposed that Eleanor should be the bride instead, but the negotiation was also in vain, as Al-Adil showed no interest in Christianity. In 1193, she was engaged to Frederick, son of Leopold V, Duke of Austria, as part of the conditions to release Richard, who had been taken prisoner by Emperor Henry VI. However, when she was on the way to Austria with Baldwin of Bethune and the next year, the duke died, so the marriage never took place, and under order of Pope Celestine III she returned to England, accompanied by her grandmother Eleanor and Richard was forced to handover his niece Berengaria of Castile to him because she is already married to Conrad of Swabia.

After this, Eleanor of Brittany is arranged to be betrothed to Eudes II of Burgundy but the King of France prevented the marriage of Eudes II to Eleanor of Brittany and instead Matilda of Brittany was married to Eudes of Burgundy, the men of Eudes picked up Matilda to the court of Eudes II of Burgundy on 1195.

On the early part of 1196, Matilda of Brittany is married off to the recently divorced Eudes II of Burgundy after she arrived in Dijon as a replacement for her sister who was proposed to be married to him, her sister, Eleanor was the one originally proposed but the marriage was not allowed by Philippe Auguste due to Eleanor being the prestigious bride and her being the third line to the Angevin domains, upon her marriage, she is the duchess of Burgundy, although the marriage will take time to be consummated because she is barely 10 year old but she is now away from the drama of her relatives and the Plantagenet rivalries, while Eleanor of Brittany, herself is betrothed to Louis of France but the negotiations did not push through yet, Eleanor of Brittany’s fate is in limbo and just like her brother whose fate could go worse if their uncle dies, in the same time, the first husband of Berengaria of Castile, Conrad of Swabia of had died on 1194 at the invasion of Sicily after that she stayed in the English court and Richard the Lionhearted proposed that the marriage of Berengaria should be with Peter II of Aragon and not Alfonso IX of Leon, the alliance with Aragon was important and they were married the same year her cousin, Matilda was married.

This was said that both Berengaria of Castile and Matilda of Brittany were both married in order for the Plantagenets to gain more powerful allies in France but the two marriages will change France for the better, but Berengaria and Matilda were happy in the long run.

3903d40e39ad47f02dd5afff643888e4-2.jpg
 
Last edited:
393049-the-white-queen.jpg
Alys of France in the Series the Plantagenets

The betrayal of John Lackland
On 1197, John Lackland annuls his wife, Isabella, confirms his alliance to Philip II Auguste remarries to Alys of France on 1198, producing a son named Henry just after the marriage of Matilda of Brittany with Eudes II of Brittany, in order to create an alliance with Philip II Auguste, the marriage of Eleanor of Brittany to Eudes II was stopped by Philippe Auguste was stopped because he himself desired the Angevin inheritance in the long run.

On 1198, Constance of Brittany was revealed to be pregnant with twins with Ranulf of Chester, the children was born on the latter part of 1198, the twins were a boy and a girl, the names of the children were Conan and Berthe.

The marriage of John Lackland and Alys produced a son named Henry on 1199, the child was disliked by Eleanor of Aquitaine.

The marriage alliance was hurtful to Richard the Lionhearted and their mother, Eleanor but at that point he did not see John Lackland as a real threat to the throne.

But on the latter part of 1199, John rebelled against Richard with the help of Philip II Auguste who proclaimed John as the Duke of Normandy and the County of Anjou would be given to Philippe Auguste, John was defeated by Richard I of England and John Lackland was imprisoned, Richard would never let John Lackland and his wife Alys be free for the rest of his reign, he did this to protect his own kingdom and the threat of a sabotage by John Lackland and protect the life of his nephew and his own family and he himself knew that since.

He and his wife would be separated in prison, Alys was imprisoned in Anjou while John was imprisoned in the Corfe Castle, John would plea to release him to his independence in the remaining days of Richard but was not granted because he is considered a threat to his own dynasty.

Richard betrothed Arthur of Brittany just after the imprisonment of John Lackland to the young Sanchia of Leon, in exchange Alfonso IX of Leon will marry Eleanor of Brittany, the decision was a very good decision for Richard himself.

On the early part of 1200 Philippe Auguste tried to seize lands from Richard I and was successful in getting Normandy and Anjou and in response Pope Innocent III excommunicated Philippe in support of Richard I of England due to his abandonment of Princess Isambour of Denmark and tried to force him to return Normandy to Richard I of England, Isambour was returned to the French court and the lands seized by Philippe Auguste was returned to Richard I by Philippe Auguste, in this time, he proposed that Eleanor of Brittany to marry Philippe Auguste’s son, Louis but the treaty for Louis to marry her was rejected.


The Image is from
http://10-themes.com/393049.html

393049-the-white-queen.jpg
 
tumblr_inline_mineh78HGE1qz4rgp.png
Kristen Stewart as Eleanor of Brittany, Queen of Leon from the Series The Plantagenets

The Double Marriage
Eleanor of Brittany decides to leave the Breton court with a retinue passing via Poiters, Bordeaux, Marsan, in Navarre and Asturias where she is swapped with Sanchia of Leon, the Bride of Arthur of Brittany.

Eleanor of Brittany became Queen consort of Leon through her marriage to Alfonso IX. This marriage was a double marriage itself because Sanchia is to be married to Arthur in Brittany.

The marriage itself, as was usually the case for the nobility in the Middle Ages, was a matter of state and political alliance, and the couple did not meet until twelve days after they were legally married. Eleanor of Brittany was considered to be very beautiful and was surnamed the Fairmaid of Brittany, and King Alfonso IX already had a previous wife, Teresa of Portugal, by whom he had three children, Sanchia, Dulce and Ferdinand. Their son Ferdinand was eight when Eleanor and Alfonso married. Eleanor allowed Afonso and his sister Dulce to be raised in the Leonese court (the eldest daughter child, Sanchia, was exchanged with her as a bride for Arthur).

The marriage between Arthur and Sanchia would be celebrated as soon as Sanchia arrived.

Eleanor of Aquitaine would bring with him his cousin, Blanche of Castile and offered her as a bride to Arthur but he is already married to Sanchia, Blanche, at this point in time is 12 year old, Arthur’s suggestion was to marry Blanche to Louis, the son of Philippe Auguste, he also allowed the succession of Gascony to Eleanor, Queen of Castile’s other son who is not the heir to Castile, Henry of Castile b. 1193 because Gascony was Eleanor of Castille’s dowry, after the future death of Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, while Henry, the son of John Lackland and Alys as well as John will be guaranteed of the Canossa inheritance in Italy and the County of Vexin.

tumblr_inline_mineh78HGE1qz4rgp.png
 
Last edited:
Filipa_de_Lencastre,_Rainha_de_Portugal_-_The_Portuguese_Genealogy_(Genealogia_dos_Reis_de_Portu.png
Doña Leonor de Bretaña, Hermosa Mujer de Bretaña, Reina de Leon


Another Painting of Eleanor of Brittany in Leon and Portugal in the Portuguese and Leonese royal genealogy, other than the English painting which was more caricaturish.

Filipa_de_Lencastre,_Rainha_de_Portugal_-_The_Portuguese_Genealogy_(Genealogia_dos_Reis_de_Portu.png
 
aneurin_barnard.jpg
Aneurin Barnard as Young Arthur of Brittany in the series the Plantagenets

The Treaty of Rouen

The Treaty of Rouen was signed by the kings Richard I of England and Philip II of France in January 1201 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 Richard's French lands.

The terms of the treaty signed at Rouen included clarifications of the feudal relationships binding the monarchs. Richard recognised Philip as the suzerain of the continental lands in the Angevin Empire and the partition of the Angevin Empire.

Richard also bound himself not to support any rebellions on the part of the counts of Boulogne and Flanders.

Philip had previously recognised Richard as suzerain of Anjou and the Duchy of Brittany, but with the treaty of le Goulet he extorted 20,000 marks sterling in payment for recognition of Richard’s sovereignty of Brittany.

The partition of the Angevin according to the treaty

Toulouse and Provence via Philippa of Toulouse - Berengaria of Castile, Queen of Aragon

Gascony - Henry of Castile

Brittany, Poitou, Aquitaine, Anjou and Normandy - would be partitioned between the heirs of body of Richard and Arthur of Brittany

Canossa Inheritance and Vexin - Henry FitzJohn Plantagenet

The treaty was sealed with a marriage alliance between the Angevin and Capetian dynasties. Richard’s niece Blanche, daughter of his sister Leonora and Alfonso VIII of Castile, married Philip's eldest son, Louis VIII of France (to be eventually known as Louis the Lion). The marriage alliance only assured a strong regent for the minority of Louis IX of France.

aneurin_barnard.jpg
 
Last edited:
Looks to be an interesting timeline where royal European politics and succession will be very different. So us Arthur of Brittany going to become King of England in TTL? What effects would this have on the Magna Carta? Was Arthur seen as more popular than
Also how do you plan to handle the upcoming Battle of Las Nava De Tolosa. I think medeival Europe would be a lot more interesting with a strong Moorish enemy on its shores, similar to how the Ottomans were seen.
 
Looks to be an interesting timeline where royal European politics and succession will be very different. So us Arthur of Brittany going to become King of England in TTL? What effects would this have on the Magna Carta? Was Arthur seen as more popular than
Also how do you plan to handle the upcoming Battle of Las Nava De Tolosa. I think medeival Europe would be a lot more interesting with a strong Moorish enemy on its shores, similar to how the Ottomans were seen.

I will give Richard more 10 years.
 
The Full Titles of Richard I
King of England, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Poitiers, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany, Count of Toulouse, Margrave and Overlord of Provence, Count of Tuscany
 
220px-Church_of_Fontevraud_Abbey_Eleanor_of_Aquitaine_effigy.jpg
Effigy of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine’s last days
Eleanor of Aquitaine took the veil as a nun in Fontravraud after the marriage between Arthur and Sanchia has been revealed to her, Eleanor of Aquitaine was able to attend the marriage between Blanche and Louis and after that she withdrawn from the politics due to her and Arthur not liking each other.

Philip made Arthur of Brittany the Constable of France after the signage of the treaty of Rouen.

Richard went to Eleanor of Aquitaine in order to ask for advice and the frail old woman is evident is losing in health, Richard the Lionhearted was told to make his heir more loyal, the Queen Dowager of Aquitaine gasped her last.

After this point, Eleanor of Aquitaine was buried in the Fontravraud Abbaye where she took the veil as the nun as and an effigy was made for her in the Fontravraud Abbaye

The Duchy of Gascony went to Henry of Castille, the second son of Eleanor of England after the death of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Berengaria of Navarre give birth to a daughter on 1201 named Berengaria the Younger, the pregnancy felt like a threat to Arthur, Berengaria the younger is pre contracted to a marriage to Henry of Castile, the heir to Gascony.

220px-Church_of_Fontevraud_Abbey_Eleanor_of_Aquitaine_effigy.jpg
 
Last edited:
Heinrich_VI_-_Konstanze_von_Sizilien.jpg
Henry VI of HRE and Constance of Sicily

Invasion of Sicily

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 son, Frederick-Roger (the future Emperor and king of Sicily Frederick II) 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. A few days later she returned to the town square and publicly breast-fed the infant, the child turned out to be a female and named Bertha.

note:

This is supposed to be the second chapter but I overlooked this.

Heinrich_VI_-_Konstanze_von_Sizilien.jpg
 
Last edited:
españa_santiago_de_compostela_catedral_santiago1.jpg
Santiago de Compostela


Eleanor of Brittany, Queen of Leon
Eleanor of Brittany became Queen consort of Leon through her marriage to Alfonso IX. This marriage was a double marriage itself because Sanchia is to be married to Arthur in Brittany.

The marriage itself, as was usually the case for the nobility in the Middle Ages, was a matter of state and political alliance, and the couple did not meet until twelve days after they were legally married. Eleanor of Brittany was considered to be very beautiful and was surnamed the Fairmaid of Brittany, and King Alfonso IX already had a previous wife, Teresa of Portugal, by whom he had three children, Sanchia, Dulce and Ferdinand. Their son Ferdinand was eight when Eleanor and Alfonso married. Eleanor allowed Afonso and his sister Dulce to be raised in the Leonese court (the eldest daughter child, Sanchia, was exchanged with her as a bride for Arthur).

Matilda of Brittany, the younger sister of Eleanor of Brittany gave birth to a son named Eudes on 1199 but Eleanor of Britany gave birth to a daughter on 1201, named Constance.

Eleanor of Brittany is blamed for the Lusification of Leon due to her patronage of the Galician Language in the court of Leon although none of her sons succeeded in the throne.

españa_santiago_de_compostela_catedral_santiago1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Heinrich_VI_-_Konstanze_von_Sizilien.jpg

Bertha of Sicily and Otto of Brunswick and the beginning of the German-French wars

On 1198, Henry VI died and her mother, Constance betrothed off Bertha to Otto of Brunswick on 1198, the marriage was a threat to Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick claimed the German throne, due to the marriage Otto of Brunswick was able to rise as Otto IV of the Holy Roman Empire.

Just like the marriage of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the future had consequences on the politics of Europe.

A war is declared to restore Philip of Swabia to the German Crown as he overpowers Philip of Swabia.

In this time, Richard the Lionhearted suggested that Bertha should be betrothed to Henry FitzJohn Plantagenet.

A skirmish Sicily was made and the betrothal with Otto of Brunswick was dropped in 1202 and Henry FitzJohn is betrothed with Bertha of Sicily on 1203 and also, .

The future marriage between the two would establish a line of German and Italian Plantagenets.

On 1210 Bertha I of Sicily married Henry FitzJohn who is also granted his inheritance of Tuscany, Constance of Sicily ended her regency on 1210 due to the maturity of Queen Bertha.

Heinrich_VI_-_Konstanze_von_Sizilien.jpg
 
220px-Eleonora_Eduard1.jpg
One of the Earlier Portraits of Sanchia

Princess Sanchia
Since 1201, When Princess Sanchia of Leon was exchanged with Princess Eleanor, she never seen her father and siblings for a long time, she is married to Prince Arthur but it was yet to be consummated.

On 1204, the Prince felt that she can already consummate the marriage and bear children so he furthered the consummation of the marriage with Princess Sancha, the two were pretty worn out in the bed.

Princess Sanchia was very lively said, Arthur, Duke of Brittany to King Richard as he corresponded to his uncle.

King Richard told Arthur to consummate his own marriage and make many heirs as possible and don’t do the mistakes that he did with Berengaria, Arthur was happy at what he had achieved and being married was a very happy choice for him, Arthur felt similar to what Richard felt with his own wife, Berengaria, whose marriage only produced a daughter.

220px-Eleonora_Eduard1.jpg
 
Top