I hope this doesn't get me into trouble.
I've just come back to this idea, and have come up with a short timeline for the short-term effects of Henry's death.
1. Henry dies crossing the Channel. His brother, Geoffrey, inherits Anjou, Maine and Normandy, but this claim is contested by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is pregnant with Henry's child. Geoffrey declares his right to succeed by proximity of blood and/or declares Eleanor's child a bastard. He then turns his attention to Brittany, planning to make it his vassal or preferably gain it through marriage.
2. Either beaten or biding her time, Eleanor returns to Aquitaine, where she gives birth to Henry's son, William. She later remarries to Raymond V, Count of Toulouse, and forms a betrothal alliance with Burgundy - betrothing her eldest son, William, to Odo II's youngest daughter, Mahaut.
3. Stephen still dies in 1154, but Eustace becomes King of England. As part of a plan to reconquer Normandy, he marries off his sister, Marie, to Conan, heir to the Duchy of Brittany. Duchess Bertha also arranges a betrothal between her eldest daughter, Constance, and the young King of Scotland, Malcolm IV. She is shipped off to Scotland before Geoffrey can get to her, so he instead kidnaps Bertha's younger daughter, Enoguen.
4. Eventually, Geoffrey is either killed or deposed without issue, while Enoguen returns to the Abbey of Saint Sulpice. Anjou and Maine pass to his last brother, William, who is married either to Adela of Champagne (OTL third wife of Louis VII or France and mother of Philip II Augustus) or Matilda of Burgundy (sister of Odo II, Duke of Burgundy). Normandy is left up in the air...
Any thoughts?
I've just come back to this idea, and have come up with a short timeline for the short-term effects of Henry's death.
1. Henry dies crossing the Channel. His brother, Geoffrey, inherits Anjou, Maine and Normandy, but this claim is contested by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is pregnant with Henry's child. Geoffrey declares his right to succeed by proximity of blood and/or declares Eleanor's child a bastard. He then turns his attention to Brittany, planning to make it his vassal or preferably gain it through marriage.
2. Either beaten or biding her time, Eleanor returns to Aquitaine, where she gives birth to Henry's son, William. She later remarries to Raymond V, Count of Toulouse, and forms a betrothal alliance with Burgundy - betrothing her eldest son, William, to Odo II's youngest daughter, Mahaut.
3. Stephen still dies in 1154, but Eustace becomes King of England. As part of a plan to reconquer Normandy, he marries off his sister, Marie, to Conan, heir to the Duchy of Brittany. Duchess Bertha also arranges a betrothal between her eldest daughter, Constance, and the young King of Scotland, Malcolm IV. She is shipped off to Scotland before Geoffrey can get to her, so he instead kidnaps Bertha's younger daughter, Enoguen.
4. Eventually, Geoffrey is either killed or deposed without issue, while Enoguen returns to the Abbey of Saint Sulpice. Anjou and Maine pass to his last brother, William, who is married either to Adela of Champagne (OTL third wife of Louis VII or France and mother of Philip II Augustus) or Matilda of Burgundy (sister of Odo II, Duke of Burgundy). Normandy is left up in the air...
Any thoughts?