In aid of Poitiers – A crusades timeline

[kasumigenx]

On 1148, Louis VII would tell Raymond of Poitiers to continue reclaiming Edessa rather than Damascus which they would retake in 1148 from Nur Al Din in 1149 which would be a great victory and the Count of Edessa would be able to regain Edessa, Eleanor and Louis VII would return to France happily in 1152.

Eleanor and Louis VII would have three further children namely Alix(1150), William(1153) and Eleanor(1156) due to their improved relationship, but Eleanor would decide to focus on governing Aquitaine after the birth of her namesake daughter, Eleanor, due to him aiding Raymond of Poitiers, Louis VII would be able to sire his heir and son, William I of France due to his improved relations with his own wife.

Louis VII would die in 1180 and Eleanor of Aquitaine would be regent of France time to time when her son, William I is absent and William I would not be able to get along with his father, Louis VII when he was alive.

Children of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII
-Marie (Maria) of France(1145) married Raymond Berenguer II of Provence, with issue, the marriage was an alliance against the Counts of Toulouse.
-Alix(Azalais) of France(1150) married Bohemond of Antioch, with issue
-William I(Guilhem I) of France(August 17, 1153) married with Beatrice of Swabia, with issue, married to Berengaria of Navarre, no issue
-Eleanor(Alienor) of France(October 13, 1156) married to Alfonso VIII of Castile

 

[kasumigenx]

On 1152, after the joyous return of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII, Eleanor of Aquitaine would marry her widowed younger sister, Alice to Henry of Anjou giving her a large sum of dowry which would be used in the reconquest of England for his own mother which would allow him to defeat King Stephen of England, on the death of her husband on 1180, Eleanor would favor Henry as a vassal of her son William I of France and this was strengthened by the fact that he was married to her sister Alice until her death in 1170, another political match was to marry the widowed Constance of France to Henry I of Champagne.

On 1154, Stephen of Blois would sign a treaty making Henry of Anjou as the heir of Stephen of England on his death after his heir Eustace died.

Alice of Aquitaine and Henry II’s kids
Alice (October 13, 1153) – the original betrothed of William I of France, she ended as the second wife of Amalric of Jerusalem after she was jilted in favor of Beatrice of Swabia.
Henry (February 18, 1155 d. 1183) - betrothed to Maria of Denmark until his death, originally betrothed to Eleanor of France but Eleanor of France jilted him in favor of a Castilian match due to her mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine wanting more ties in the south.
Matilda (June 1156) married to Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria
Richard I of England (September 8, 1157 d. 1199) – never married
Joanna (October 1165) wife of William III of Sicily, entered the Fontravraud abbey after her husband died, no issue
John (December 27, 1166) married to Constance of Brittany

 

[kasumigenx]

Charlisa Teron as Eleanor of Aquitaine on the movie Alienor, Queen of France

 

[kasumigenx]

On August 17, 1153, a couple of years after the return of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII, Eleanor of Aquitaine would give birth to a son which would be baptized and named after Eleanor of Aquitaine’s father, William of Aquitaine, he would be known as Guilhem on his mother’s language, Lemosin or Limousin, his mother doted on him as well as his father, the birth of William and his sister Eleanor, Queen of Castile happened after Louis had followed what Eleanor of Aquitaine wanted and Louis fought the Saracens and helped her uncle fight the Sarracens and helping the Principality of Antioch retain its territories and after the birth of her namesake daughter, her daughter Marie of France is betrothed to Raymond Berenguer II of Provence as an alliance against the Count of Toulouse, the marriage would happen in 1159, the Holy Roman Emperor would support the Count of Toulouse against Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband the French King.

Eleanor’s lands are united to the crown after Eleanor of Aquitaine’s death on 1204 and the Limousin language would overwhelm the language in the North or Neustrian in the following centuries due to William being raised on that culture.

“The birth of the Saint King William I of France was said to be the event that solidified the fall of the Northern Culture in favor of the Limousin Culture in France.”
Carles Puigdemont, governor of Barcelona Province of the Kingdom of Aragon
AD 2020

 

[fdas]

Could you explain in greater detail what happened during the second crusade?

 

[kasumigenx]

Could you explain in greater detail what happened during the second crusade?

The Principality of Antioch remains intact.

 

[fdas]

The Principality of Antioch remains intact.

Could you explain in more detail what events happened during the crusade and what was it that threatened Antioch and what effect did Louise VII have on the situation, along with descriptions of what exactly he did?

 

[kasumigenx]

Could you explain in more detail what events happened during the crusade and what was it that threatened Antioch and what effect did Louise VII have on the situation, along with descriptions of what exactly he did?

Raymond of Poitiers survive the Battle of Inab and repel the Saracens in Antioch with the help of Louis VII, so Raymond of Poitiers survive and his relationship with Eleanor was saved, that is the POD of the Story here, IOTL he was defeated by the Sarracens and his head was sent to Al-Muqtafi.

 

[kasumigenx]

William I of France would reign from 1180-1230, he would have two wives Beatrice of Swabia d. 1190, the eldest daughter of Barbarossa, who gave birth to two daughters, Margaret, Queen of Leon(1173), Anna, Queen of Cyprus(1176), and Philip(September 5, 1187) and the other would be Berengaria of Navarre d. 1230 who he married a year after the death of Beatrice of Swabia on 1190, the sister of Sancho VII of Navarre who would not have any issue during the tenure of Beatrice of Swabia as queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine disliked Beatrice of Swabia as her daughter in law as her marriage with her son ruined her plans in regaining the County of Toulouse and the Margraviate of Provence, this was strengthened by the marriage of Ryksa of Silesia, the former Queen of Castile and Leon with Raymond V, Count of Toulouse, who provided him with two children namely Adelaide(1162) and Raymond VI(1170).

Beatrice of Swabia would bring in the lands of Lyons which would be established as the capital of France on the reign of William I of France which would be her own dowry in her marriage to him in 1170 and she took a while to have a son that would be born alive, while his second wife Berengaria would secure peace with Navarre and was the favorite Queen of William I of France despite having no pregnancy coming to term and became his regent along with his mother, Eleanor due to them getting along with each other.

 

[fdas]

Raymond of Poitiers survive the Battle of Inab and repel the Saracens in Antioch with the help of Louis VII, so Raymond of Poitiers survive and his relationship with Eleanor was saved, that is the POD of the Story here, IOTL he was defeated by the Sarracens and his head was sent to Al-Muqtafi.

So was Nur ad Din defeated? Was Edessa reclaimed? Did the crusaders not attempt to attack Damascus then? These would all have significant effects on the future of the region. I would like to know more about what happened during the second crusade and how things went differentlt so that we can think about the future effects.

 

[kasumigenx]

On 1180, William I of France would succeed as the King of France and he would marry his daughter, Margaret to Alfonso IX of Leon on 1189, she would give birth to the three children, Eleanor(1192), Sanchia(1193) and Ferdinand(1191) until her death in 1196, when Alfonso IX would remarry to Berengaria of Castile another cousin of her from Eleanor, the younger sister of King William I.

On 1191, when William I of France went to Jerusalem for the third crusade with his second wife Berengaria and his daughter, Anne of France, intending to marry her to the byzantine emperor or his kin he would encounter Isaac of Cyprus who he have conflict, he would marry his daughter, Anne to Isaac Commenos, however the marriage would not produce any child, as Isaac Commenos would die in 1195, Anne of France would remarry to Theodore Branas, a noble in the Byzantine Empire, who would give birth to her namesake daughter, Anna Branas(1196) and she would have a role in the fourth crusade.

On 1192, William I of France would find out that Isabella of Jerusalem is married to Conrad of Montferrat, who would die of mysterious causes and in 1193, Raymond IV, Count of Tripoli, his nephew from his sister Alice would marry Isabella of Jerusalem but this marriage would have no issue on his death in 1199 and afterwards, she would marry Aimery of Lusignan.

 

[kasumigenx]

So was Nur ad Din defeated? Was Edessa reclaimed? Did the crusaders not attempt to attack Damascus then? These would all have significant effects on the future of the region. I would like to know more about what happened during the second crusade and how things went differentlt so that we can think about the future effects.

Edessa is secured by the crusaders, Damascus is still attacked as OTL.

 

[kasumigenx]

Note: here Eleanor of Aquitaine HATES Barbarossa due to him aiding the Count of Toulouse, we get an earlier Louis XI-like king here in the person of William I.

 

[fdas]

Edessa is secured by the crusaders, Damascus is still attacked as OTL.

If the crusaders are occupied with Edessa, then they won't have the opportunity to attack Damascus.

 

[kasumigenx]

If the crusaders are occupied with Edessa, then they won't have the opportunity to attack Damascus.

They still did since that was prior to the POD.

 

[fdas]

They still did since that was prior to the POD.

The decision to attack Damascus was only made after Louis arrived in Jerusalem, and because the original goal of Edessa was abandoned by the crusaders. If the crusaders decided to focus on the north, then there would be no expedition to Damascus.

 

[kasumigenx]

The decision to attack Damascus was only made after Louis arrived in Jerusalem, and because the original goal of Edessa was abandoned by the crusaders. If the crusaders decided to focus on the north, then there would be no expedition to Damascus.

Indeed but that is prior to the POD, so Edessa is not saved.

 

[kasumigenx]

Children of Marie of France and Raymond Berenguer II of Provence

-Raymond Berenguer III b. 1166 married to Beatrice, Dauphine of Viennois – with issue.

-Eleanor of Provence b. 1172, Countess of Macon – with Issue.

-Maria of Provence b. 1174 married to Peter II of Aragon – with issue.

-Alfonso b. 1179 married to Maria of Montpellier – with issue.



Children of Alice of France and Bohemond III of Antioch

-Raymond IV, King of Jerusalem, Count of Antioch married to Isabella I of Jerusalem.

-Bohemond IV, Count of Antioch.



Children of Raymond V of Toulouse and Richeza of Silesia

-Adelaide of Toulouse b. 1162.

-Raymond VI b. 1169.



Conan IV of Brittany and Adela of Champagne

-Constance I of Brittany b. 1161 – married to John I of England.



Children of Henry I of Champagne and Constance of France

-Henry II of Champagne b. 1156, married Adelaide of Flanders(1160), daughter of Elizabeth of Vermandois and Philip II of Flanders (he had his wife burned for heresy in 1190 due to her turning out to be Waldensian) – with issue, he would remarry to Joanna, Dowager Queen of Sicily – with issue.[1]

-Theobald b. 1157 - 1183, married to Beatrice, Dauphine of Viennois – no issue.

-Alice of Champagne b. 1158 - married to Philip II of Flanders – no issue.

-Stephen b. 1165 – burned at stake for heresy due to him turning out to be Waldensian.

1. We have a Waldensian Crusade here instead of an Albigensian/Cathar.

 

[fdas]

Indeed but that is prior to the POD, so Edessa is not saved.

Rereading the POD again, I dont think it is very plausible for Louis to be able to do much at all. After the fiasco of the siege of Damascus, he didn't really have much left at all which is why he just went home. If you want to have him save Raymond of Poiters, the POD ought to happen earlier.

 

[kasumigenx]

Rereading the POD again, I dont think it is very plausible for Louis to be able to do much at all. After the fiasco of the siege of Damascus, he didn't really have much left at all which is why he just went home. If you want to have him save Raymond of Poiters, the POD ought to happen earlier.

Thanks, changing the POD, I think it would be better re-do the TL from the start this way.