Line of the Young King

[kasumigenx]

On 1189, on the death of Henry II, he would be succeeded by his grandson, William III of England, the son of Henry the Young King and Margaret, Queen of Hungary, he is 12 years old at this time, he needed three years to reach his majority.

Richard of England is made as regent and freed his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine from her imprisonment by his father of Henry II and he would take the rulership of Aquitaine as Richard I of Aquitaine, while his brother, John was married off to Hawise of Gloucester who was forbidden from consummating the marriage, he would bring him on crusades and nullified the marriage of Hawise to John.

Only two children of Geoffrey of Brittany and Constance of Brittany would survive after his own death and that would be Eleanor(1184) and Matilda(1185) and Constance of Brittany would remarry to Guy de Thouars, the two daughters would go to royal custody of Richard I, duke of Aquitaine.

Richard of England would marry Berengaria of Navarre which would bolster the relations between Aquitaine and Navarre which would end his long betrothal with the sister of the French king, Alys of France who was sent back to France which would anger the French King.

 

[kasumigenx]

On 1193, King William III of England would marry Ingeborg of Denmark who is a few years older than him, Ingeborg’s marriage with William III was arranged by his uncle, Richard I, Duke of Aquitaine in 1191, Ingeborg of Denmark would arrive in 1193 which would start good relationship between Denmark and England, she is beautiful and has more knowledge and wisdom than her husband William III of England.

The dowry of the marriage of Ingeborg would include the Danish claims to the English throne which they had many centuries ago.

Children of Ingeborg of Denmark and William III of England

Henry III of England b. 1194

Richard b. 1196

Joan b. 1197

Margaret b. 1200

Eleanor b. 1201

 

[kasumigenx]

In the year 1190, Philip II of France entered into a remarriage with Matilda of Saxony the Younger, formerly named Richeza, a union that played a pivotal role in establishing peace with the Plantagenets. As part of the diplomatic negotiations, an agreement was reached regarding the annulment of the engagement between Alice of France and Richard I of England. The marriage treaty further stipulated that the Norman Vexin County of France would come under French royal domain after the marriage of Matilda with Philip II of France.

Matilda of Saxony the Younger bore two offspring from this union, namely, Marie of France(1196) and Philippe of France(1200). This event had significant implications for the succession of the French throne, solidifying the lineage of the Capets through a cadet branch for Philip II of France.

 

[kasumigenx]

William II of Sicily would be replaced by his son, Bohemond I of Sicily in 1189(born in 1182) with his mother, Joanna of England and Tancred of Sicily as his regents, the presumptive heir of Bohemond I of Sicily is Constance of Sicily is Constance of Sicily who only have a surviving daughter, who she named as Margaret of Swabia(1186) who would be the eventual heiress of Bohemond I of Sicily before he married himself.

Tancred of Sicily would have a good relation with Bohemond I of Sicily and made sure that Tancred would have good relations with Bohemond I and secured him from threats, however they would be concerned with the match of Bohemond I and later Margaret of Swabia as Philip II of France would set eyes over Margaret of Swabia as the match for his son, Louis which would result in a marriage but that would not matter later as Bohemond would have a wife and children due to his marriage with Constance of Aragon.

 

[the Rogue prince]

⚔⚔🔥🔥🔥🔥⚔⚔🥳

 

[kasumigenx]

Berengaria would give birth to one surviving son for Richard, who she would name William in 1191 in the insistence of Eleanor of Aquitaine in honor of her father, Richard and Berengaria would no longer be able to be together as Richard would focus on the regency with William until 1193 and after that, he would focus on his own Crusades and bring his brother, John with him in the crusade.

Richard I of Aquitaine would arrange the marriages of his nieces, Eleanor to Peter II of Aragon and Matilda to Eudes III of Burgundy which would establish the strong alliance of Aquitaine with Aragon and Burgundy.

Following the death of Conrad of Montferrat in 1192, Richard I strategically arranged for his brother, John, to marry Isabella of Jerusalem. This alliance was instrumental in securing the inheritance of Jerusalem for the Plantagenets. Isabella, in turn, bore a son named Henry I of Jerusalem in 1201, alongside two daughters, Eleanor (1195) and Philippa (1197).

In 1199, Richard I, Duke of Aquitaine, passed away, leading to the succession of his son, William XI of Aquitaine, Berengaria would bear a posthumous daughter to Richard I who would be named as Eleanor on 1200. Concurrently, Eleanor of Aquitaine's death in 1204 left Berengaria of Navarre as the sole regent of Aquitaine. Despite this, Richard I's son was placed under the custody and regency of Berengaria of Navarre. It is noteworthy that the English Kings retained control over the remainder of the Plantagenet or Angevin inheritance, comprising of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Touraine, after the demise of Richard I of Aquitaine and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Only William XI of Aquitaine and his sister Eleanor was the pregnancy of Berengaria that reached to term and into adulthood.

 

[kasumigenx]

In 1202, Margaret of Swabia entered into a union with Louis of France, a marriage that intricately intertwined their offspring with the succession line of Sicily, following the descendants of Bohemond I of Sicily. This development raised concerns for Joanna of England, who worried about the potential implications for Sicily's succession.

Bohemond I's marriage to Constance of Aragon yielded only two children, William (1203) and Bohemond (1209). This limited offspring situation troubled Joanna of England, as it left the door open for the French heirs to potentially inherit Sicily and attempt an invasion if Bohemond I's children were to pass away without issue. While Margaret of Swabia refrained from actively pursuing Italian territorial ambitions, the looming threat prompted Joanna to carefully consider the situation.

The potential threat persisted until the assurance of the good health of Bohemond I's two children, who managed to navigate the challenges and uncertainties surrounding their succession. Bohemond I took proactive measures to safeguard against the rise of his illegitimate relatives, ensuring that they did not amass excessive power. This concerted effort contributed to stabilizing the situation and alleviating the concerns regarding the succession of Sicily.

 

[kasumigenx]

The only surviving portrait of Margaret of France

On 1183, on the death of Henry the Young King would die leaving behind his son, William and his widow Margaret, the disagreements between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Margaret of France would force Margaret to go back to her brother, Philippe Auguste or Philip II who would remarry her to Bela III in 1186 which meant that Margaret would not have a way to be able to see her son, William again for a long time.

On 1189, William III would start to reign and he would start to want to meet his mother again but he learned that his uncle Philip II of France had married his mother into Hungary and wanted to meet his mother again but his duties and fragility at his childhood would prevent it, he would wait until he had a child with his wife Ingeborg of Denmark before he would plan to meet her again.

William III would meet his cousin, Matilda of Saxony in his court and his uncle’s court as the second wife of Philip II who would say the news about his own father.

William III would meet his mother, Margaret again with his wife Ingeborg and Richard the Lionheart in 1197 in the Holy land before she would die in 1200, she told her son that she had realized that her pregnancy with William III had rendered her infertile which would mean she would not have children with Bela III of Hungary.

On the way and departing from the holy land he would meet his aunt, Joan of England and her son Bohemond I of Sicily, the heir to Sicily.

 

[kasumigenx]

On 1193, when Ingeborg met William III of England, she was hesitant to marry him as he was young than her and she wanted an older man but it turned out that William III is more livelier and has more energy than her, she was withdrawn from the German court and grew up in the German court so she has no difficulty in learning English as English is a Germanic language like German and Danish which she both knew and she is very much annoyed that the Germans have dismissed her as brides for one of Emperor Frederick’s son, her own issue would be learning French with her husband because he would need to go to summons for his own continental lands in Anjou, Touraine, Maine, and Normandy.

When she entered the court she would be content of gossip as she is rumored to be in a liaison with William Marshal like her mother in law which would persist until she finished giving birth to all of her children which made her withdraw from the court and focus in pleasing her husband.

On 1190s, when Ingeborg and William III were in France for summons in the continental possessions of Normandy and Anjou-Maine-Tourraine, Phillip II of France is annoyed of William III’s wife Ingeborg and Philip II would tell William III that he is the prefect wife for him, William III would say to Philip II that she is perfect as a wife and also fertile and has a good wisdom and complimented him as King and Philip II would later learn that one of the brothers of his second wife, Matilda is married to a sister of Ingeborg in the 1200s.

Ingeborg would later meet her sister Helena of Denmark when she visited Germany, she is annoyed at Philip of Swabia and his wife Isabella of Blois seeing that Frederick dismissed her as a match for one of his sons and dismissed her in favor of Berengaria of Castile, Margaret of Blois, and Isabella of Blois which turned out to be cousins of her husband, but she is happy that Berengaria was never able to consummate her marriage with Conrad as she learned that he is an awful person.

 

[kasumigenx]

Margaret of Swabia would give birth to a daughter in 1204 who would be named as Matilda, named for her step mother in law and she would be the only child of Louis of France for a long time until the birth of her brothers in the next decade which are Louis IX(1214), Robert of Artois(1216), Philip of France(1218), Isabella of France(1220), and Charles of France(1223), as she had difficulty in bringing a pregnancy to term and having a child survive before the baptism in between the birth of her daughter Matilda and Louis IX.

Margaret of Swabia was the heiress to her cousin, Bohemond I of Sicily before the birth of his sons with Constance of Aragon which would cause her marriage with Louis VIII to be viewed in suspicion with Sicily and the reason why she did not marry her husband until 1201, three years after the death of her father in 1198 which she would stay in the custody of her uncle, Philip of Swabia, but she is betrothed to Prince Louis since 1195.

 

[kasumigenx]

After Constance of Brittany's remarriage, the nobility in Brittany became apprehensive about the uncertain succession of the Duchess, particularly because her first daughters were under the guardianship of Richard I of Aquitaine. Fearing potential instability, the nobles rebelled, ultimately selecting William of Brittany as the new duke. William, who had previously emerged from a monastery, seized the throne from his sister Constance in 1192. This resulted in the complete expulsion of the former Duchess and her husband Guy of Thouars from Brittany to Thouars.
William of Brittany, having taken control, arranged a marriage with Isabelle of Blois, a relative of both William III of England and Philip II of France. He subsequently crowned himself as William I of Brittany. The rebellion by the Bretons meant that Brittany would once again be under the House of Penthievre and aligned with Philip II of France. In the midst of this turmoil, neither Margaret of Brittany, the wife of the Lord of Molina, nor William III of England and his regent Richard I of Aquitaine showed any inclination to support Constance of Brittany and Guy of Thouars.
Constance of Brittany, now married to Guy of Thouars, who sired two daughters named Alix (1191) and Margaret (1200). The children stayed with their parents at the French court until the time of their respective marriages.

Note
I think @Brita will love this chapter.