The Union of the Two Crowns

Title Page
410px-Arms_of_the_Kings_of_France_%28France_Moderne%29.svg.png


The Union of the Two Crowns

A History of the Capetian Dynasty

Contents:

Introduction (OOC)

Credit and Sources (OOC)

Part 1: Rise of the Capetian Empire (1200-1250):

Chapter 1: The Barons War (1215-1219)
Chapter 2: Louis I of England (1219-1223)
Chapter 3: The King in Exile (1219-1223)
Chapter 4: The Return of the King (1223-1224)
Chapter 5: The Capetian Interregnum (1224-1228)
Chapter 6: Plantagenets Victorious (1224-1227)
Chapter 7: The Capetian Resurgence and the end of the Capetian-Plantagenet War (1227-1230)
Chapter 8: A French King on the English Throne (1230-1240)
Chapter 9: Guelphs and Ghibellines (1220-1240)
Chapter 10: Henry and Frederick (1230-1240)
Chapter 11: The King is Dead (1240-1244)

 
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Introduction: Hello and welcome to the rewrite of my longest-running and best well-known timeline 'The Union of the Two Crowns' surrounding the POD of a victorious Louis VIII in the Barons War of 1215-19 which in turn leads to him taking the crown of England and ousting King John and his infant son Henry Plantagenet. I recently found myself listening to a podcast about the history of China and thought back to my timelines on here and, especially, this one. Upon reading it, however, I wasn't particularly happy with what I had written, finding a number of inconsistencies within the timeline as well as some poor writing and grammar and some sheer laziness at points as well. In response, I decided to rewrite the timeline (although much of it will follow the same track as before with a few changes) with better formatting, better writing and a generally better approach. I hope you enjoy this timeline and my older readers can appreciate why I chose to rewrite it in the first place.

To give a bit of context as to how I intend to go about this, the first page is a title page and contents that I will update with each new update to the timeline. My hope is that this will make navigating the timeline much easier for both my readers and I and will make things both neater and better put together. The 'Credit and Sources' section is just that, it's where I'll be giving credit for the pictures and maps I use that I did not make and the sources I have been using (of course this section is completely out of context as some of the sources I will be using probably won't exist in this timeline).
 
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Credit, Sources and Announcements
Credit:
Coat of Arms- Title Page: By Sodacan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38495212
Map of France in 1223- Chapter 5: By Ian Mladjov, https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/imladjov/maps

Sources:
The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are, by Michael Pye
The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe's History, by Peter H Wilson

Notes, Edits and Announcements:
Edit: 19/08/2017: Notes, Edits and Announcements section created
Announcement: 19/08/2017 I will be away on holiday for a couple of weeks and then busy for a bit afterwards so there won't be any updates for a while.
 
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Chapter 1: The Barons War (1215-1219)
King Philip II of France and King John I 'Lackland' of England
Chapter 1: The Barons War (1215-1219)

There are four major kings who come to dominate our view of the very beginning of the Capetian Empire and the events that would lead to the unification of the Kingdoms of France and England at the beginning of the 13th Century and whose conflicts will, in time, threaten to tip both countries into anarchy. The first of these kings are King John I of England, the younger brother of King Richard I (whose death in 1199 left a succession dispute between John and his nephew, Arthur of Brittany), and King Philip II of France, the French counterpart to Richard 'the Lionheart' whose reign, from 1180, saw the inclusion of much of the Angevin lands into the growing French kingdom. Philip and John couldn't have been more starkly contrasted, Philip brought stability to France, expanded the boundaries of his kingdom and checked the power of the nobility while John's reign saw the loss of vast tracts of land, the growing power of the nobility and the country descend into anarchy and civil war. Following Philip's victory over the joint forces of the Holy Roman Empire, Flandres, Boulogne and England at the Battle of Bouvines, Western Europe saw a series of political changes with the overthrow of Otto IV of the Holy Roman Emperor by Frederick II. In France, the battle would play a major role in the process by which France started becoming a much stronger, much more centralised monarchy than it had been previously while, conversely, John's authority began to fall apart and resistance to his rule began to grow throughout England. As tensions began to grow in England, John played for time until he could attempt to garner papal support for his rule which he hoped might quell the increasingly rebellious vassals who, by April 1215, had elected Robert Fitzwalter (a man whose name will come to play a huge role in the events to come) as their leader and captured London, Lincoln and Exeter in quick succession. The two sides soon came to the negotiating table in June 1215 and, due to the mediation of Stephen Langton (Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207 to 1228), signed a peace treaty that would soon come to be known as the Magna Carta. Much more than just a peace treaty, the Magna Carta was a document of political reform under which the rights of free men were to be secured. This document effectively protected the rights of the church and the nobility, especially in regards to taxation, scutage and imprisonment by the king and would, in time, come to be one of the defining political documents of the 13th Century. Needless to say, given the events that followed, this document wasn't upheld for long. Later that year, Pope Innocent III declared, on John's behalf, the treaty to be illegal and excommunicated the barons. War was now upon them.

The next two kings who deserve mention, although less explanation here, are the (future) Kings Louis VIII of France, the son and heir of Philip II who would ascend to the throne of France in 1223, and Henry III of England, the son and heir of John whose birth in 1207 meant he was only 8 at the time of John's death in 1216. In many ways, the bulk of the upcoming conflict comes to be defined by these two as the fight for the throne of England rages between Louis and Henry for years after the conclusion of the Barons War and will spill over to later claimants even after the death of Henry III. Louis, of course, is the first of these to come into play here, having been invited to become King of England by the various barons after a series of defeats at the hands of John's forces throughout 1215. He landed in May 1216 without opposition on the Isle of Thanet before marching straight for London, with Canterbury opening its gates to him as he approached and Rochester Castle falling after a short siege. John, fearing the approach of the prince, fled to Winchester leaving the route to London wide open for the encroaching baronial forces under Louis. In London, Louis was given a warm welcome by a number of rebel subjects and barons and was soon proclaimed king in St Paul's Cathedral by the rebelling nobles as well as by King Alexander II of Scotland. With the fall of Winchester to Louis on June 14th, it was felt by many that John's defeat was by now more or less inevitable and John began to lose large numbers of supporters.

Taunted by his father for having tried to secure England without first having seized Dover, the key to reinforcements from France, Louis turned from London and marched to Dover Castle, besieging it on the 25th July 1216. However, finding the castle prepared for a siege, Louis' attempts to take the castle soon began to falter and after 3 months of the siege, he signed a truce and returned to London in October. However, with John's death only 4 days after the truce was signed, a change began to take place in the fortunes of the loyalist forces. With the ascension of the 8-year-old Henry III, who had the significant support of the papacy, and the efforts of his regent William Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke, a number of nobles who had initially been supporting Louis' cause began to switch sides and swear loyalty to the new English king. This is where Louis began to realise the large outstanding problem of the papacy's support for Henry III, Louis controlled London but he couldn't be crowned king, whereas the young Henry was crowned immediately in Gloucester Cathedral by Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester. Meanwhile, in Kent, Louis found his control of the area constantly challenged by one William of Cassingham, a squire who was leading a large guerilla band of archers in resistance to Louis' position. In many ways, the war in England was all about winning over the nobility and it seemed that in this regard, Louis was constantly on the losing end. In November, the Magna Carta was reissued by Marshal who promised to uphold and treaty. Henry's position was further strengthened by the support of Pope Innocent who had had a cardinal preside over the coronation of the king and who had already excommunicated Louis, thus lending his support and legitimacy to the loyalist forces.

This didn't mean that Louis' successes failed entirely, he captured Hertford Castle on the 6th of December and, later that month, Berkhamsted Castle. But, in desperate need of further soldiers, Louis was forced to make a return trip to France in February 1217 and his return to the coast was by no means unchallenged. En route, he faced loyalist resistance in Kent and Surrey and was ambushed at Lewes by Cassingham with his army pursued to Winchelsea where only the timely arrival of the French fleet under Eustace the Monk saved him from starvation. Things grew ever worse when Cardinal Guala declared Henry's war against Louis to be a religious conflict and Louis suffered ever more defections as well as disagreements within his army during his absence. Returning to England in April, Louis determined that it was time to make a real effort to turn the war around and decided to split his army in two, one force under Thomas, Count of Perche to march North to besiege Lincoln while another under his own command to strike up a second siege of Dover Castle, determined to stop the loyalists within from continuing to cut off communications and supply routes to France.

Realising that the baronial forces were split in two, Marshal decided it was time to make a move to try and break the siege of Lincoln and thus cut off a significant portion of Louis' force. In Lincoln, the situation was at a critical point for Thomas who had managed to capture the city but was unable to capture the castle which refused to surrender. As Marshal advanced on the city, he was left with two options:

-Fight Marshal in the field at the base of a nearby hill
-Or defend the town

While keeping a force to besiege the castle and hold down the defenders, Perche led the majority of his forces to garrison the outside of the city against the approaching loyalist forces. Marshal had led his forces to the northern gate of the city where, under the command of Falkes de Breaute, they made a number of assaults against the gate, repelled every time by the defenders. As the day wore on and casualties mounted (including Falkes himself), Marshal began to realise that the city was not going to fall and chose instead to fall back and break the siege of the city. This defeat would prove crucial for Perche, as the moral detriment suffered by the defenders of the castle at the defeat the relieving forces would prove decisive and by the end of the May 1217, the castle had fallen. The capture of Lincoln was of huge strategic importance as it lay on the crossroads of Fosse Way (cutting from East to West through a number of important settlements) and Ermine Street (which cut from North to South, reaching London itself). Not only were these important centres of trade and government, but the capture of the city and castle would allow further consolidation and strengthening of Louis' position in the South-East.

Bolstered by the victory at Lincoln and hearing reports of approaching reinforcements and supplies with the French fleet under Eustace Busket, Louis continued to push forward the siege of Dover Castle despite staunch resistance by the defenders under one Hubert de Burgh, the constable of Dover. Eustace was sailing at the head of 80 ships (10 naval ships and 70 supply ships) and brought with him a significant investment by King Philip whose successes in France had allowed him to all but push the English off the continent complete with the conquest of Normandy. Eustace is a fascinating figure of the time, a skilled naval commander but a monk turned pirate reputed to practice black magic and who had spent a sizable portion of his life on a quest for vengeance against Renaud de Dammartin whose siding with King John was the very reason Eustace was fighting for Louis. Renaud, at the time, was currently rotting in a prison having sided once too often with King John against Philip and having been captured at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 but Eustace continued to fight for the French for the time being. As Thomas pushed along the Fosse Way, capturing Newark on the 16th June, Eustace was preparing his ships and left France in August of 1217 sailing for the Cinque Ports in Kent. With Thomas moving South-West to cut Henry off from the South-East of the country, Henry sent 38 ships under Philip d'Aubigny, a major landholder and supporter of Henry who had fought at Lincoln in May, to intercept the French fleet. The two forces met on the 24th August, the French led by Eustace and his ally Robert of Courtenay and the English led by Philip. Eustace's greater naval skill and larger ships (both in size and numbers) led to him wreaking havoc on the English fleet as he outmanoeuvred the ships and his archers cut the marines to pieces. Finally, the English fleet retreated back to the South-West (loyalist territory) with heavy casualties including Philip himself who was found dead after the battle, supposedly pierced with dozens of arrows. Most of Philip's lands had been in the South-East and were constantly threatened by Louis' forces, despite this, they were, at least nominally, transferred to his brother Philip the Younger after his death by Henry III. Eustace's victory at the Battle of Dover effectively opened up the channel to French control, enabling reinforcements and supplies to be transported from the continent much easier than they could before.

However, Louis' position hadn't entirely been saved from the fire. His siege of Dover Castle came under constant harassment by Cassingham's forces resulting in heavy casualties as the siege dragged on with the staunch resistance of Hubert and his forces and the preparedness of the castle itself. These factors took a heavy toll on the besiegers and the siege began to stall as winter of 1217 closed in. Meanwhile, the loyalist forces were gearing up for a counter-attack. Possibly fearing being cut off from the South-East entirely or even a move by Perche to actually attack Henry's position in the South-West, Marshall and Ranulf de Blondeville, the Earl of Chester began marching North-East towards Newark in another attempt to shatter Thomas' forces and cut off a significant portion of Louis' army. It is possible that their intention was to force Louis to an ultimatum, break the siege of Dover Castle or lose Thomas and his army at Newark. The siege of Newark in November 1217 threatened to do exactly that. Throughout Kent, Cassingham's fight against Louis continued to gain momentum as he extended his operations beyond simply attacks on Louis' forces but into the realms of actually raiding towns that had shown support for Louis and the barons. In turn, Eustace continued his frequent supply runs and even launched a series of raids along the southern coast of England against towns in territory still held by the loyalists. Throughout the winter of 1217, as the respective forces of the loyalists and the rebels settled down for continued winter siege, the war began to settle into a familiar dance of raids and counter-raids, often prosecuted by Eustace and Cassingham respectively. Eustace terrorised the seas, cutting off large amounts of trade income to England and even, for a period, controlling a number of Channel Islands. On land, meanwhile, Louis was engaged in frequent fighting with the forces under Cassingham and, occasionally, raids from the castle itself.

Marshal had arrived relatively late in the year, a fact that proved to be fortunate in the extreme for Louis as he needed time to prepare siege weapons to properly prosecute the siege come spring while at the same time Louis himself began to gear up for his own attacks on Dover Castle once the winter ended. This isn't to say that siege operations ended entirely or even stalled during the winter months, raids and engagements still continued but the majority of the work in most sieges was simply waiting and, with food far less available during the winter, it is probable that neither side wished to expend their soldiers too much in large assaults until spring came and supplies were more available. Needless to say, the onset of spring brought with it a flurry of activity including a number of failed and costly assaults on Dover Castle by Louis. But these failures, costly as they were, began to betray the fraying defenders as the walls continued to suffer damage and erosion under the attacks and there were even a few minor breaches of the defences. While casualties suffered at the hands of Cassingham remained high, Louis had learnt from many of his mistakes from the previous year and greater defences around his camp evened out the engagements and raids that took place between the two. Despite increasing casualties and dwindling morale, Hubert's forces would continue to put up resistance to Louis until the castle finally fell in November 1218 resulting in Hubert's death at the hands of the besiegers.

Thomas had spent the winter in feverish activity, doing whatever he could to try and repair and prepare the defences of Newark so that he might manage to hold out until Louis could relieve the defenders while, opposite him, Marshal and Blondeville continued to prepare their siege works in the hope that they would be able to take Newark before Louis had a chance to take Dover and move to relieve Thomas. As said previously, it has been argued that Marshal's purpose in the siege was to try and force Louis to break the siege of Dover Castle in favour of relieving Newark. Whether Louis' choice to continue the siege rather than relieve his forces shows his faith in Thomas' ability to defend the castle after his victory at Lincoln or simply shows that Louis felt capturing Dover to be more important is also up for debate. Nevertheless, the events to follow are quite clearly shown. Louis refused to abandon the siege of Dover and Thomas was forced to cobble together whatever defence he could in a desperate attempt to hold out until reinforcements could arrive. His repairs were by no means of high quality as a lack of resources forced him to often demolish houses for stone to use to patch the walls up and these areas were often the first to fall. Furthermore, his army's actions within Newark didn't exactly endear them to the populace who threatened at some points to let Marshal and Blondeville into the city. Yet Newark held, the city itself fell a number of times to the besiegers and the castle was breached in a number of assaults throughout 1218 but it never fell. Despite dwindling resources, Thomas continued his resistance up until the siege began to settle with the onset of winter in November. News of the fall of Dover, naturally, unnerved Marshal and Blondeville who began to fear the approach of Louis' army and the possibility that they might end up being caught between two opposing forces.

Marshal was aware of one opportunity, however, the onset of winter meant that Louis only marched as far as London in November where he halted for the winter and instead chose to consolidate his position choosing, however, to resume his march earlier in the year in February. While situated in London, he had been able to continue to feed his army via supplies from France but his march in late February was largely fed from whatever remaining food could be found in granaries or personal stores. The obvious side effect of this was that people began to starve as vast amounts of food that might have been used to feed hungry people at the very end of winter went to feeding a marching army and, in turn, resistance in the South-East continued to grow. Cassingham is a perfect example of this and his guerilla force saw a massive uptake in numbers throughout the winter. Had Henry been in a better position to do so, such a decision might have possibly prepared the ground for him to make a counter-attack into the South-East to oust Louis from his foothold there. As it was, however, Louis was able to push onwards and arrived at Newark in early April of 1219. By this point, Marshal and Blondeville were gone, abandoning the siege in March and heading South-West to Henry's refuge in Cornwall.

The lull in fighting that took place after the Siege of Newark Castle ended in April 1219 was time needed by both sides. On one hand, Louis' position in the South-East was becoming more and more unstable and, while his victories kept his supporters loyal, he began to wonder if this war was unsustainable. The Siege of Dover Castle is a perfect example of this given the amount of men and resources that Philip and Louis had had to invest into the siege just to take the castle, Philip couldn't sustain this economically forever and the seeming lack of real results seemed to be making the French nobility anxious to end the war. Those soldiers and nobles who were in England were anxious to return home while many back in France began to wonder if these resources might not be better suited elsewhere. Even Philip is said to have had his doubts about whether England was worth it and a supposed correspondence between him and his son had Philip questioning Louis about his ability to even hold England should he manage to actually capture it in the first place. Philip was by no means wrong, England would indeed prove to be a massive sink of resources for the early kings such as, most famously, Louis IX who would spend significant amounts of time trying to actually pacify England and her nobles. These are problems we will very much return to later, the concerns were being raised at the moment but they are concerns that do come into play later in the narrative.

For now, Louis took the time to consolidate his position and make preparations to try and end the war as quickly as possible. His biggest fears were that Henry might try to retake the South-East, thus cutting Louis off from supplies from the continent or that Henry might flee to the North and thus prolong the war in what might turn into a bloody campaign in Northern England. At this point, much of the Fosse Way had still to be properly captured and Louis knew all too well that the South-East was potentially vulnerable as a result. Marshal, meanwhile, was 70 years old and almost on his death bed and, fearing that Louis was about to march straight on Henry, moved the young king west from Corfe Castle to
Tremarton Castle and from there to Restormel Castle. Marshal arrived at Restormel in July but wouldn't last much longer. His devotion to Henry and loyalty the cause had kept him going so far but his body now began to fail. Now on his deathbed, Marshal summoned his son (William), the barons loyal to Henry, Pandulf Veraccio; the Papal Legate to England, and Peter des Roches. Here he would appoint Veraccio as the next regent of Henry III, overruling the claims to the regency of other nobles, such as Ranulf, and bishops, such as the Bishop of Winchester. Veraccio is quite starkly contrasted to Marshal. Marshal was a knight and, according to many, an exemplary example of what a knight should be, he was strong, militarily skilled, noble and loyal the very end even though many of his sons, even his heir William, had initially sided with Louis (but defected over time). Veraccio was, in comparison, a divisive figure whose arrogance and appointment over, arguably, better claims did not endear him to the nobility. He was accepted, thus far, due to the critical problems that Henry was facing and the desperate need for a regent and it's likely that Marshal appointed him due to his distrust of the barons, many of whom had initially sided with Louis, and the need for a stabilising figure not too tied up in local politics. But the choice would be neither popular nor particularly successful.

As for himself, Marshal's death in July 1219 would be an event remembered for centuries to come. His loyalty to the Plantagenets would become a defining part of his figure which, a century or so later, had more or less become a near-legendary character in England. Maybe more importantly for our narrative, his opposition to Louis would make him an important political figure alongside Cassingham as a symbol of resistance to Capetian rule in England and as pretenders came and went, these two figures more than anyone would be invoked time and again to rally people to their cause in an attempt to dislodge the French kings who sat on the throne of England.

The Barons War now entered its final stage as Louis left Newark in August 1219 and swept South-West along Fosse Way towards Cornwall, hoping to entrap Henry and Veraccio in the area and thus prevent any attempts to retake the South-East. On the way, Louis captured a number of loyalist strongholds throughout the Midlands although these would prove hard to hold due to the still strong support for Henry's position as king in the area and, due to his distraction capturing important strongholds and securing the road, Louis wouldn't arrive in Dorset until October 1219. Upon his arrival, Louis immediately sent Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winchester and Robert Fitzwalter to capture Corfe Castle which left Louis free to move on Henry. News of Louis' movements reached Veraccio quickly who, not wanting to risk making a stand in Cornwall that might risk Henry's capture by Louis, chose to flee from Cornwall that very month. Veraccio, Henry and his younger brother Robert (who had previously been the High Sheriff of Berkshire) made their way to Ireland where they set up their court in the English Lordship of Ireland. Many of the other nobles scattered throughout the country or took refuge abroad.

The flight of Henry III in October 1219 is effectively considered the end of the Barons War and a clear victory for Louis and the Barons who were now left in control, at least nominally, of England. That isn't to say that Louis actually controlled England but for the time being he was the only claimant left standing on English soil with an army and in possession of most of the South, however weak it may have been in some areas. So here we leave off the war, Louis has emerged victorious and Henry is in exile in Ireland with his supporters scattered to the wind. This isn't the end, however, and the fight for England has only just begun.
 
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So, there is a double Pod: Lincoln and the battle of the Cinque ports, both going in Louis favours...

Nice!

No, not quite. I didn't specify it as much in this version of the timeline but the Battle of Lincoln was the POD the result of which was that Hubert de Burgh was trapped in Dover (by the siege) and unable to assist Philip against Eustace. OTL Eustace almost won the battle and only lost as a result of Hubert's quick thinking. Even if Robert still messes up ITTL as he did OTL, without Hubert the battle should go Eustace's way. Hubert can't be there because Louis can maintain the siege after the victory at Lincoln.
 
Interesting timeline. Long live England-France, or will it be France-England?

When I did the original timeline I initially went with England-France just because I thought it sounded better.

However in this case it'll be France-England, simply because France is a more prestigious title than England.
 
As in the other Capet England threads I recommend making the Capetian Arms of England golden lys on red to keep the English colours (the lions/leopards were more Angevin than Royal English symbols at this time).
 
Chapter 2: Louis I of England (1219-1223)
King Philip II of France and King Henry III or Louis I of England
Chapter 2: Louis I of England (1219-1223)

Before we may continue on our narrative, we need to take some time to discuss a term that will come into play with great importance as we continue to discuss the rising power of the union. That term, of course, is 'The Capetian Empire'. So far as having an emperor, this 'Empire' did not and neither was it a cohesive entity as with the Roman Empire. Neither was it like the Holy Roman Empire with an emperor who held jurisdiction over an increasingly autonomous hierarchy of duchies and states. Rather, the Capetian Empire can only be really compared to its predecessor from which we take the name; the Angevin Empire. The Angevin Empire is a term used to refer to the titles and lands held by the Angevin (Plantagenet) Kings up until the loss of the French lands to Philip. Just as the Angevin Empire is named after the House of Anjou, the Capetian Empire has come to be named after the ruling dynasty of France and, later, England; the House of Capet. In short, therefore, the 'empire' referred simply to the lands, titles and lordships held by the Kings of Capet. This is distinct from previous and, in some cases, contemporary empires such as Rome or the Holy Roman Empire. In both of those cases, the idea of the empire referred to the state and it was still Rome (or the Holy Roman Empire) regardless of who ruled it or what lands it held. In comparison, the Capetian Empire distinctly refers to the House of Capet and its kings and their rule of the Kingdoms of France and England. As such, the exact dating of the Capetian Empire can be tricky, especially at the very beginning. Opinion is massively divided as to when Louis actually became the King of England. Some believe that his ousting of Henry and his court from England in 1219 constituted his rise to power while others put the date even earlier at his proclamation in St Paul's Cathedral in 1216. Of course, this is the idea that many later Capetian Kings would argue; that the proclamation of Louis made him legitimate king of England and that, at least after the death of John in October of that year, the coronation of Henry was merely a pretender making a claim to the throne. By this argument, Louis was either king from his proclamation or from the moment John died at which point the throne was vacated and Louis thus became king. Of course, this is a point many later Capetians themselves would remain divided on as some argued that John had never been legitimate and that rather the throne should have gone to his nephew. In either case, some hold that the Capetian Empire could not begin until Louis became King of France in 1223 anyway while others maintain that since both kingdoms were ruled by Capetian Kings, the link still stands. Others argued that John's death ended the legitimate rule of the Plantagenets and opened the way for the House of Capet. Others, however, have argued a later date such as 1227 with Louis' coronation or 1236 with the death of King Henry III. As such, the beginning date of the Capetian Empire varies by over 20 years, putting much of Louis' reign in doubt as to whether or not it was legitimately part of 'The Capetian Empire'. Some attention has also been drawn to breaks in the Capetian rule of England or to breaks in the joint rule of both kingdoms by one king. Situations such as with Henry's return in the 1220s throw doubt as to the continued rule of England by Capetian Kings and thus cause doubt as to whether or not these periods constitute part of the empire's time. For the sake of this narrative, the beginning date is of less importance but it will work on the general consensus of the empire beginning with Louis' coronation as King of England in 1227.

So for the time being, Louis was left in a position of being only nominally king of what was only nominally his kingdom and only nominally under his control. Louis' influence and control were largely confined to the South-East and, due to the actions of Cassingham and others, remained spotty throughout the countryside. Cornwall still remained largely independent from his control and so too did the Midlands, which he had only partially subdued on his march to the South-West, Wales and the North. This isn't even bringing into account areas that had once been under English control such as Ireland, which was well beyond Louis' influence and control. While making an exact determination of what areas Louis held influence over is difficult, we can broadly say that this was probably mostly the South-East. However, this control would, for the time being, remain very spotty and resistance would continue in some areas well into the reign of Louis IX and even X throughout the course of the century. For the time being, Louis held most of the urban centres of the South-East and all of the castles, yet much of the countryside was still fraught with resistance such as with the still very real problem of Cassingham in Surrey. Furthermore, many of the nobles still siding with Henry had estates in the South-East so much of this land was either being occupied by Louis and his soldiers or in open resistance to his rule which created large problems. Extending and consolidating his position remained difficult and fraught with dangers while his control over the South-East remained so weak, yet his control over the South-East was permanently under threat while the lands beyond it were still resisting Louis and, indeed, areas such as Wales and the North would come to pose major threats to the Capetian rule in England as potential breeding grounds for dissent and rebellion as well as a landing ground for Henry and his forces. However, this isn't to say that his position was necessarily bad or weak in any way. For the time being, the Plantagenets were in no position to launch an immediate counter-attack and Louis' campaigns were free to continue in an attempt to extend his power. Furthermore, we mustn't forget the English nobles he already had on his side whose lands and estates formed potential areas for Louis to exercise his power from while he also, nominally, had the power to establish a number of other families or grant estates in England to his French nobles.

Henry's flight to Ireland freed Louis up to focus on consolidation of the gains he had made over the past three years. Determined to protect his position in the East, he sent Thomas of Perche with a large force of soldiers to Kent in an attempt put down Cassingham's resistance while he and Fitzwalter could continue West into Cornwall. With winter fast approaching and the land stripped bare from the marching armies, Louis had no intention of launching a campaign for Cornwall and Dorset straight off the bat. Instead, leaving Fitzwalter with a force in Corfe Castle, Louis returned with a sizeable portion of his force to London where he would spend the winter throughout which he would spend his time both preparing for the oncoming campaigns of spring and the administration of his new kingdom. While he still didn't actually control Cornwall itself, he officially restored Fitzwalter's Cornish estates (which had been seized by King John) and, for his loyalty and support, he raised Fitzwalter to become the 1st Earl of Cornwall. Similarly, he granted the Earldom of Leicester to Amaury de Montfort, Count of Toulouse whose father had been the 5th Earl of Leicester but had never been given the lands which had instead been given to Blondeville by John. He soon received the submission of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon, whose father had been a prominent supporter of John's up until the King permitted Falkes de Breaute to kidnap his daughter, force a marriage and steal the dowry and Reginald de Braose, 5th Lord of Bramber and a powerful lord in Wales whose father and family had come into conflict with John before the Baronial war as well as other lords. The death of Earl William in 1217 meant that Devon passed to Baldwin. By this point, John was dead but with the triumph of Louis shortly after and the resentment still felt towards the Plantagenets, it's no wonder House Redvers came to give their submission to Louis with Henry's flight to Ireland. Determined to lock down the South-East through loyal vassals while rewarding those vassals who had fought by his side against Henry, Louis went further, granting the Earldom of Kent to Perche in 1220, thus locking down one of the most vital areas for landing soldiers and supplies with a loyal vassal and supporter. Saer de Quincy, already a major landholder, was granted the Earldom of Surrey, effectively disinheriting the existing House de Warenne. Louis' reasons for this were most likely the support of the House de Warenne for Henry III and Louis' desire to avoid leaving a potentially hostile peerage in the South-East but the decision has been criticised since for effectively ending any attempt at conciliation with not only the Warennes but many of Henry's other noble supporters who feared to lose their titles and lands to Louis.

In late December 1219, Louis officially confirmed Amaury de Montfort in the position previously held by members of the family of being High Steward of England. Furthermore, he invited Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury to return to England from abroad where he had been instructed to stay until hostilities ended by Innocent III for his refusal to publish the excommunication of the barons in 1215. Langton had sided with the Barons in the first rebellion against King John in the build up to the signing of the Magna Carta and had been removed from his position of Archbishop of Canterbury when Innocent excommunicated the Barons shortly afterwards and Langton refused to publish. He had been told he would have the position restored to him if he left England and remained abroad until hostilities ended. Innocent's death and the end of the Baronial War in 1219 gave Louis scope to invite Langton back which would further legitimise his own rule of England. In early February 1220, Louis would go a step further by making Langton the Chief Justiciar of England, a position which hadn't been filled since Hubert de Burgh's death in 1217.

With the return of spring in 1220, Louis turned his attention once again to Cornwall, hoping to enforce Fitzwalter's position as the new Earl of Cornwall and thus secure the South-West through one of his most loyal vassals. Undoubtedly, Louis saw that he would have to move quickly if he were to properly solidify and consolidate his position in England before Henry and his regent had an opportunity to mount another invasion of England. As such, while Louis and Fitzwalter advanced into Cornwall in spring 1220, the Earl of Kent was busy in the East playing a game of cat and mouse with Cassingham and his guerilla forces. Having been granted a portion of the forces from France as well as supporting soldiers from his own domains as well as those of Quincy, Earl of Winchester and William FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, Thomas was to put down Cassingham as quickly as possible and to secure and repair the vital castles of the region such as Dover. Needless to say, Cassingham would be far from an easy foe to put down, as shown by his successes during the initial invasion of 1216-19 and Thomas would spend most of 1220 and 1221 failing desperately to defeat the rebels. Cassingham's eventual defeat would come early in 1222 after reinforcements arrived from Louis, whose campaigns had spread by that point to the Midlands, although he would evade capture until 1224 while making a number of attempts to raise similar insurgencies elsewhere in the country to varying degrees of success. Louis, as stated, campaigned throughout Cornwall throughout 1220 and by early 1221, Fitzwalter was in a secure enough position that he could be left to stamp out much of the remaining resistance on his own. Louis returned once again to London in winter 1220 before turning his attention North towards the Midlands. As stated previously, Louis had passed through the Midlands en route South from Newark to Devon but hadn't extensively secured the region. For the most part, the Midlands had generally shown loyalty to Henry during the war and mostly remained loyal now. As we know, Lincoln had been captured in 1217 by the, now, Earl of Kent. Meanwhile, Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Earl of Hertford, had fought against John and supported Louis' claim to the throne. But, for example, Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Warwick and Ranulf de Blondeville, Earl of Chester were both hostile. That said, Henry de Bohun the Earl of Hereford had sided with the barons and, while it is uncertain who he supported out of Henry and Louis, he certainly fell to Louis' side as the tide began to turn in his favour. It's possible he, like the Earl of Devon, came to pledge loyalty to Louis in winter 1219 as well but whatever the case, Hereford, like Gloucester, was a vassal of Louis' by 1220.

Leaving London in spring 1221, Louis marched straight to Gloucester and North from there to Hereford wherefrom, joined by Clare and Bohun, he marched North into the Earldom of Chester, appointing Bohun as the Earl of Chester in July 1221 in recognition of his support for Louis' claim. This was a decision informed by a number of aspects one of which was, of course, Henry III. Remember that, at this point, Wales was very much beyond Louis' control and influence and there was undoubtedly some fear that Henry might strike a deal with one or more of the petty kings of Wales to allow him a foothold from which to launch an invasion of England. As a counter to this, and in possibly an attempt to help him assert his own influence over Wales, it seems likely that Louis wished to have a loyal and relatively strong vassal on the Welsh border. To this end, Bohun, as the Earl of Hereford, was an obvious choice since his earldom already bordered Wales. However, Louis now turned South-West and over the course of the rest of the year, expelled the Marshal family from the Earldom of Pembroke, restoring it to the House de Clare which had held it up until the death of Earl Richard de Clare in 1176 with no male heir, resulting in the title being passed to his daughter who had married the, now dead, William Marshal. Now bear in mind that Gilbert de Clare was only actually related to Richard de Clare by a long since dead common ancestor by the name of Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare who had been one of the Norman lords to first arrive in England in 1066. Hoping to reign in Southern Wales and displace the hostile Marshal family, Louis instead returned the Earldom to the House de Clare by making Gilbert the new Earl of Pembroke.

With that said, we need to bear in mind that there were nobles who did switch sides after Henry's flight to Ireland and not everyone remained hostile in the long run, such as John of Scotland, the Earl of Huntingdon who switched sides to that of Louis in winter of 1219, around the same time the Earl of Devon did the same. Despite attachments to the king before the Baronial War, Roger Bigod, the Earl of Norfolk had actually sided with the Barons and his excommunication by the Pope led to his siding with Louis in 1216. Alix of Thouars, the Countess of Richmond in her own right and the Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to Peter I of Brittany may well have supported John and Henry initially but, fearing that Louis who now held the country and thus her imprisoned sister Eleanor (who had been the Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to Arthur I of Brittany and the Countess of Richmond in her own right before both were imprisoned and Arthur killed in 1203) might choose to follow in the stead of what he had done with Quincy (making him the Earl of Surrey and displacing the nobles who had supported Henry), came over to support Louis either in 1219 or 1220. What is important to remember is that Louis VIII and Louis IX were very different in their approaches to the English nobility, Louis would take a very hard stance towards imposing royal prerogatives both in England and France as we'll see with his relationship to Theobald in later chapters. This did end up enforcing his rights but often trampled on what the nobility perceived as their rights which, as we know, was exactly what led to the Barons War in the first place. So while Louis did enforce his authority in this manner, his methods and ideas of how to rule England had a tendency to alienate supporters. Bear in mind that Louis' campaigns throughout Cornwall, the Midlands and Wales had just disinherited a number of powerful noble families from their Earldoms. On one hand, this approach did allow Louis to set up loyal vassals in these titles and thus enforce his authority much better but, by doing so, he risked going too far and making those very supporters angry at a seeming disregard for noble rights. Louis IX was more pragmatic, more conciliatory and generally better at working with the nobility of England, as evidenced by then Magni Tractatus. However, in turn, he would be unable to actually curb the power of the nobility as was happening in France at the time.

What we have to bear in mind is that France and England would prove to be two very different countries to rule in regards to the relationship between the king and the nobility. In France, the country was becoming more and more centralised under royal rule and control whereas England, with the Barons War and the Magna Carta, was going the opposite way as the king's power was reduced in favour of the increasing power and distinguished rights of the nobility. In part, this was an issue for someone such as Louis who might have been used to the dominating power of his father in the very centralised and the royal-dominated Kingdom of France. This would ultimately make it difficult for a king trying to rule both kingdoms with their separate systems and relationships between the king and the nobility.

Louis' successes in the Midlands and Wales had quite massively strengthened his position in England, transferring a number of titles held by hostile nobles to supporters of Louis' fight for the throne and thus consolidating his control of the South of England by both increasing his influence over certain areas of the country and helping to protect his borders while also cutting down on the number of viable landing sites for a potential resurgence of Henry and his supporters. After wintering in Gloucester, Louis would once again march North, turning West this time and advancing across the country towards Lincoln. Most notably, his path would take him through Warwick, the domain of Henry de Beaumont who had fought for Henry III at Lincoln in 1217 and had initially returned to Warwick after Henry's flight to Ireland. However, with the elevation of Bohun to the Earldom of Chester in 1221, Warwick began to fear that his Earldom was the obvious next target and fled while Louis was wintering in Gloucester, first North and then crossing the sea to Ireland where he met up with Henry. Throughout 1222, Louis pushed East from Chester to Lincoln before finally returning in late 1222 to London and settling there for the winter once again. As with the House Clare and the Earldom of Pembroke, Louis instead turned to relatives or descendants of the Earl or his family. Specifically, he found the infant son of Alice de Beaumont, the daughter of Waleran de Beaumont by his second wife and as such the nephew of Henry. Sensing an opportunity to put the Earldom in the hands of a house other than that of the Beaumonts and since Henry and, presumably, his younger brother Waleran were both in exile, Louis appointed the infant (barely two years old) to be the Earl of Warwick as the grandson of a previous Earl. This seemed to be an ideal opportunity, to ensure the future loyalty of Warwick by appointing his own regent for the young child and, in time, providing the education for the boy in London where Louis would be able to keep a close eye on him and his development. In later 1222, Louis created the Earldom of Lincoln in order to further solidify his control of the Midlands and granted it to his supporter and commander William d'Aubigny, a relative of the Philip d'Aubigny who had fought at Dover against Eustace the Monk but a supporter of Louis. Estates such as Belvoir, Ingleby, Saxilby and Boradhome were restored to Ralph d'Aubigny, the elder brother of Philip who had defected to the French in 1205 as well as Waltham Manor, which had been previously held by Philip.

Louis, for his part, spent the winter in London and, it seems, was planning to push further Nore-establish control of the region, much of which had fallen away from John's control towards the end despite a campaign to contain Alexander in January 1216. The flight of Henry III and the increasing power of Louis I to the South meant that the North, which Henry could not establish control over and which largely didn't recognise Louis' claim, retained much of its independence from the two kings throughout this period. However, news of his father's illness and the seeming impending death of King Philip effectively put an end to Louis' plans for another campaign in 1223. Instead, he spent the spring making preparations for England so that he could return to France in the event of his father's death without risking the loss of his English territory to a potential rebellion or, worse, the return of Henry III. Knowing he couldn't keep his French forces in England forever, especially after such an extremely long campaign in England, Louis concluded on a joint command of the forces in England during his absence. To this role, he appointed Robert Fitzwalter, Earl of Cornwall and one of the primary movers in the Barons War and, of course, the Earl of Kent whose loyalty had been frequently proven during the war against John and Henry. In his absence, the administrative aspects of the country were to be held by Montfort, in his capacity as High Steward of England, and Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury and, after 1219, Chief Justiciar of England. With these arrangements made and these men in power, Louis finally had his hands free to return to France.
 
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FYI Montfort Earl of Leicester would also be the hereditary (High) Steward of England and would thus have a role in governing England in the absence of the King.
It's one of the problems Henry III had with Earl Simon and why Simon could call Parliament in the first place.
 
It may be a bit soon to speak of it, but in the last thread, we saw Capetian efforts at enforcing their rule in Wales, reining in Scotland, but now we mention again the case of Ireland as rear base of Henry III, I wonder how Capetians will behave in its regard. I don't know much on medieval Ireland, but with a brief look at its history, I see Anglo-Norman conquest is relatively recent (Henry II's time).
I wandering if the Plantagenet loss of England and the immediate impossibility of Capetians to enforce their authority across the Irish Sea (they are still trying to marshall Wales by the 1250s) will be an occasion for Ireland to recover its independence, or will Irish lords be too quarrelsome to resist Capetian takeover (based on late English claims on the island)?
 
Hooray! Multiple people to answer! Discussion! EXCITEMENT!

FYI Montfort Earl of Leicester would also be the hereditary (High) Steward of England and would thus have a role in governing England in the absence of the King.
It's one of the problems Henry III had with Earl Simon and why Simon could call Parliament in the first place.

Okay, this is a super interesting point that I didn't know about, thank you so much for drawing my attention to it. May I ask, as hereditary High Steward of England, what sort of powers and responsibilities might Amaury have? Because I can already see myself starting to diverge from how things went in my previous timeline and this may quite massively affect the way this timeline goes (in the other one, there's a major dispute between two factions of nobles but I may need to do some edits to what I've already written because I'm not sure how I will be going with this timeline.

Will Louis be trying to take his Irish lands too, or are those to be Henry's and his descendants for the foreseeable future?

It may be a bit soon to speak of it, but in the last thread, we saw Capetian efforts at enforcing their rule in Wales, reining in Scotland, but now we mention again the case of Ireland as rear base of Henry III, I wonder how Capetians will behave in its regard. I don't know much on medieval Ireland, but with a brief look at its history, I see Anglo-Norman conquest is relatively recent (Henry II's time).
I wandering if the Plantagenet loss of England and the immediate impossibility of Capetians to enforce their authority across the Irish Sea (they are still trying to marshall Wales by the 1250s) will be an occasion for Ireland to recover its independence, or will Irish lords be too quarrelsome to resist Capetian takeover (based on late English claims on the island)?

These two I can answer together because they are both in referral to Ireland. In this timeline, Louis has established influence much quicker in Wales than in the previous thread by disinheriting the Marshal family and by receiving the submission of the House de Braose. However, I thnk it's still a long road to properly establishing his control over the region. Ireland, however, is in a similar situation to the North in which it doesn't recognise Louis as king and the Capetians hold no real influence or control over it but meanwhile, Henry has relatively little power to enforce his own influence as well. Arguably, his entire position in Ireland is one where they, for the time being, accept his claim to be king but his 'control' over them is largely nominal because they don't exactly HAVE to accept him as king or accept his rule. At the moment, therefore, the Irish are very much beyond the Capetians, Louis can't afford to actually launch a campaign into Ireland in the wake of his lengthy engagement in England and Henry doesn't have the power to enforce his rule in the region. All in all, the Irish are more or less independent of both kings of England for the time being.
 
Chapter 2: The King in Exile (1219-1223)
King Philip II of France and Henry III or Louis I of England
Chapter 3: The King in Exile (1219-1223)

Henry and Verraccio's first priority, upon arrival in Ireland late October 1219, was consolidation, in order to secure their position in both Ireland and England before any moves could be made in an attempt to retake the mainland. Henry's flight had left the Plantagenet supporters defeated and scattered, many having fled North and others still in their estates back home only to be driven out by Louis in the campaigns of 1220-1222. Henry's entourage upon arrival in Ireland mostly consisted of himself, Verraccio, William Marshall, 2nd Earl of Pembroke after his father's death and Ranulf de Blondeville, Earl of Chester. As we know, many of these very same titles would end up being handed out by Louis to his supporters in the next few years leading to a situation in which these titles would frequently change hands during Plantagenet resurgences and Capetian reconquests. Henry's arrival was first greeted by Henry de Loundres, Archbishop of Dublin and Geoffrey de Marisco, Chief Justiciar of Ireland both of whom were supporters of the king. Having set up a court in exile in Dublin, the Plantagenet supporters quickly set about canvassing for support for King Henry, not just in Ireland but in England and even on the continent. Just as Louis invited Stephen Langton to return to England in December 1219, Verraccio would write to Pope Honorius III in an attempt to convince him to reaffirm the excommunication of the rebel barons and of Prince Louis that Innocent III had instituted. Attempts to achieve recognition of Henry III as rightful king by Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire fell flat as, while the Emperor did not specifically show his support for Prince Louis, the recent War of Champagnian Succession in 1218 had seen Frederick II and Philip II fighting on the same side. More importantly, it seems, Frederick was unwilling to risk antagonising either King Philip or the, seemingly, victorious Prince Louis while he made preparations to fulfil his promise to go on crusade. Whatever the reasons, however, Frederick would neither show his distinct support for Henry or for Louis at this stage.

In England, the Plantagenets saw much greater success, especially as Louis' campaigns continued to disinherit various noble lords especially in the North and, while those who were more radically in favour of Louis' rule such as Saer de Quincy and Robert Fitzwalter, would not shift from their position at this point, more ground could be made in regards to those who had sworn allegiance in the wake of Louis' victory or were still relatively neutral. The House de Redvers, for example, would not explicitly turn against Louis but tried to retain some neutrality by not entirely closing themselves off to supporting Henry. As the years went on and Louis' successes turned Northwards, many others soon swore allegiance towards the Plantagenets such as the House de Warenne in 1219 when Saer de Quincy was made the Earl of Surrey. The House de Beaumont was another of those quick to switch sides after fleeing England in 1221 following the elevation of Bohun to the Earldom of Chester and, especially, after the elevation of Henry de Beaumont's nephew, the infant William Maudit to be the 5th Earl of Warwick. William Longespee (the 3rd Earl of Salisbury), already a supporter of the Plantagenets, left England either in 1219 or 1220 and joined Henry in Ireland. 1221 saw many of those of the House Marshal leaving England following Louis' appointment of Gilbert de Clare as the Earl of Pembroke, a title formerly held by the House Marshal but now returned to the House de Clare. This would prove an especially controversial choice by Louis as many of the Marshals, including the eldest son of the famous William Marshal for a time, had actually supported Louis' claim to the throne despite their famous namesakes' support for Henry. By disinheriting the Marshals, Louis had ended any attempt at reconciliation with those elements supporting Henry and had driven the entire family to oppose his claim to the throne. The House d'Aubigny remained torn between Louis and Henry but, despite the allegiances of Philip, the majority stayed in England either with Ralph d'Aubigny or William d'Aubigny, Earl of Lincoln. Another William d'Aubigny had sided with Louis throughout the Baronial Revolt despite being a favourite of King John and was the Earl of Arundel.

However, it was in the North that Henry found maybe the majority of his support. While many of the lords inhabiting border regions such as Northumberland had started paying homage to the Scottish king due to the instability of England at the time, there was still a significant support base available to Henry. This was especially important as Louis was never able to push much further North than Lincoln during the four years of Henry's exile and was compelled by the death of his father to return to France in 1223. The two secular leaders most important to mention here were the High Sheriffs of Northumberland and Lancashire, Philip of Oldcoates (although there were others at the time) and Jordan Fitzroger respectively. In the absence of any major Earldoms as existed in the South, the role of High Sheriff was one that proved crucial to extending and imposing the king's authority and law in the North of England (although the title existed elsewhere). We'll go into detail later on what this role entailed at the time but, for now, what is important is their role in that they effectively helped carry out the laws of the king and as a result were a major conduit through which the king could exercise his authority across the country and a major part of his influence in the North. That said, the support of John de Lacy, who held significant estates in Lancashire was far from secure at the time as he had been involved in the events leading up to the Magna Carta and one of those barons who had initially rebelled against King John in 1215. This was worsened when John married Margaret de Quincy, daughter of Saer de Quincy in 1221 bringing him closer to the very lords who were, at the time, supporting Prince Louis.

Further support, however, could be found amongst the clergy, most famously Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester who had actually crowned Henry in 1216. Roches was very much a pro-Plantagenet bishop, having served as Chief Justiciar from 1213 and as Sheriff of Hampshire, even if only nominally, after 1216. Roches had been a prominent commander and support of Henry during the Baronial War and had fought, most notably, at Lincoln with distinction and so left England probably in 1219 either with Henry's entourage or shortly after Henry's flight from England. He would remain recognised by both Henry and Pope Honorius as the de jure Bishop of Winchester right through Henry's exile and would return in this capacity following the Plantagenet resurgence of 1223. Pandulf Verraccio, the Papal Legate, and Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, the former Papal Legate who had presided over Henry's coronation, were both staunch supporters of the Plantagenets and, though Bicchieri was not in England at the time, both formed important conduits of Papal legitimacy for Henry III and a link between Henry and the church. That said, the church was far from entirely supportive of Henry's position and, when in 1219 the cathedral chapter of Hereford sought permission for the chapter to hold an election, they actually went to the court of Louis rather than that of Henry as the Earl of Hereford began to swing towards supporting the rebellious barons. This act, in turn, provided some sense of religious legitimacy to Louis and resulted in the election of Hugh Foliot as the Bishop of Hereford in 129, only being consecrated in the same month as Henry's flight from England. Robert Grosseteste, the future Bishop of Lincoln and a very influential scholarly and religious figure in the early 13th Century had been educated because of his connections to William de Vere, a former Bishop of Hereford (until his death in 1198) and the brother of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who had supported the barons up until the fall of Castle Hedingham in March 1216 but defected to Louis after his arrival later that year. Vere, in turn, defected to Henry upon his ascension in 1217 despite Louis returning Castle Hedingham to him. However, with the defeat of Henry in 1219, Vere turned his allegiance back to Prince Louis in return for having the rest of his lands that had been seized handed back to him. In the North, Henry found huge support from Walter de Gray, the Archbishop of York who had often been a diplomatic envoy for the young king and now acted as one of the main routes of correspondence between the king and England. Situated in York, Gray fell beyond Louis' control as of 1219. This was of vital importance as the Archbishop of York, along with the Bishop of Durham and the Sheriff of Northumberland were of huge importance to imposing control of the North, especially since one king had little authority there and the other was in exile. Indeed, Richard Marsh (the Bishop of Durham) and Philip of Oldcoates were both pro-Plantagenet at the time. However, this was partly undermined by a long-running dispute between the Bishops of Durham and the High Sheriffs of Northumberland over who actually had jurisdiction of the area. The Bishops held that King Ecgfrith of Northumberland had granted a significant portion of land to St Cuthbert in 684 when he was elected to become the Bishop of Lindisfarne. However, since the time of the Norman Conquest, the area had been typically under the jurisdiction the Sheriffs of Northumberland leading to a conflict between both parties as to whether or not the county should belong to the church or to the sheriff. The third and final important clerical figure in Northern England at the time was Hugh of Beaulieu, the unpopular, greedy and vain Bishop of Cumbria. Between these three men as well as the respective High Sheriffs of Northumberland and Lancashire, Henry still held a significant amount of authority in Northern England during his stay in Ireland.

Indeed, Ireland is the third major region that Henry's entourage began canvassing for support during his four-year regency. Support here generally came from the Anglo-Irish lords, primarily Henry de Loundres and Geoffrey de Marisco who were two of the most important men in Ireland at the time. Men such as Theobald le Botiller, 2nd Chief Butler of Ireland as well as Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath and Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster all gave their support to Henry throughout 1219-1220. These were the same Lacys who, under John de Lacy, held significant estates in the North of England (specifically Lancashire) and, like John, Walter de Lacy had a loyalty that the Plantagenets didn't entirely trust as Walter had actually rebelled against King John in 1215 (before the Magna Carta) due to a dispute with the Chief Justiciar of Ireland at the time. Moreover, he had been married to William de Braose's daughter which, like John, gave him links to a noble family that supported Prince Louis. The House de Braose was an especially dangerous factor, with links to Llywelyn the Great in Wales as well as reasonable grounds to at least claim very significant estates across both England and Ireland following the rise and fall of William de Braose under King John. Moreover, they had links to a number of different families and supported Prince Louis which secured his position in Wales further. This was a danger no less present in Ireland than it was in England through Margaret de Braose, Lady of Trim and the wife of Walter de Lacy. This meant a significant chunk of land in central Ireland was a potentially shaky allegiance for Henry. That said, he did manage to get their support, at least nominally, between 1219 and 1221. County Wexford was mostly brought to Henry's side by 1221 but certain areas took longer, until 1223 in some cases. In comparison, the Irish lords were a different story. The King of Connacht, Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair had already fought against the Norman lords in the past and was far from friendly towards the English especially since certain areas such as Breifne were under Norman control at the time while the Irish lords in Ulster were far from happy either although generally too preoccupied fighting amongst themselves to do much about it. Needless to say, this meant that Henry didn't exactly have a secure position in Ireland by 1223 and neither did he have a massive amount of support to return to in England. Yet, with Louis leaving England due to the illness and eventual death of his father that year, an opportunity finally presented itself in which Henry, now reunited with most of his supporters from before his flight to Ireland and with a relatively stable launching point in Ireland for his return to England as well as an available landing point (Lancashire or Cumbria), could finally try to return to England and reclaim his inheritance. News of the death of Philip Augustus in July 1223 reached Ireland quickly and the Plantagenets sprung into action readying ships for a return to England at the first possible opportunity and calling whatever support they could from across Ireland and England. Letters were sent ahead in advance, instructing Plantagenet supporters to ready their forces to meet with the returning king and his army in preparation to retake the country. Now 16, Henry had reached his majority and was ready to become the king of England in his own right, planning to return in spectacular fashion and forces were gathered in from all across the Lordship of Ireland including both Anglo-Irish soldiers are well as soldiers from subject Irish lords. Walter de Lacy and Theobald le Botiller were both to accompany Henry on his campaign (the former possibly to keep an eye on him) along with those supporters who had come from England such as Ranulf de Blondeville, William Longespee, William Marshall, Pandulf Verraccio, Peter des Roches and others.

The returning Plantagenet army wouldn't leave Ireland until October 1223 with the plan being to land in England before winter set in, which might give Louis the chance to return to England and move to intercept the landing and then winter in Lancashire before marching South-East towards Lincoln and then down Ermine Street to London. Upon landing in Lancashire, Henry's army was soon united with the forces that had been building in the North commanded by Walter and Gilbert Marshal (who hadn't joined Henry in Ireland alongside others of the House Marshal but had remained in the North, probably staying in York with Walter de Gray). The forces were reunited and letters distributed across the country urging the 'rebellious barons' (an important distinction for the Plantagenets who refused to accept the supporters of Louis as anything other than simply rebelling in favour of a pretender) to surrender to the king. As an inducement, Henry swore a solemn oath to uphold the Magna Carta and only to remove nobles from positions they had 'usurped'. While some who were still wavering such as the House de Redvers in the South were more likely to accept this and once again turn their allegiance to Henry, many of those had been rewarded by Louis for their services in the Baronial War were far from enthusiastic about the promises Henry had made because he had effectively promised to take away the lands they had just been given. On one hand, the letter may have simply been a method to try and build more support in England prior to actually pushing south. But it is possible that the term 'usurp' intended to be quite a loosely used term in this case through which Henry may well have intended to justify removing a number of hostile nobles (in a similar manner to what Louis had done). The Earl of Cornwall, for example, would likely have ended up having his lands taken by the king and redistributed to his own supporters while Earl of Hereford may have kept his main Earldom but would have undoubtedly lost Pembroke which would have been returned to the House Marshal. It's also possible that by issuing this letter, Henry was maybe angling for a situation in which he could use the refusal to surrender as a justification to completely disinherit the earls who had refused and thus effectively purge the nobility of his enemies. Whatever the case, the letter didn't go down well for the most part and Henry found himself with little choice but to settle down for winter and prepare his campaign for the following spring.


 
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