Born 4 October 1160, Alys was the daughter of
Louis VII, King of France and his second wife,
Constance of Castile. She was the half-sister of
Marie and
Alix of France, Louis's children by
Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the younger sister of
Margaret of France. Just five weeks after Constance died giving birth to Alys, Louis married
Adèle of Champagne, by whom he had two further children, including the future King
Philip II of France. In January 1169, Alys was contracted, by Louis and King
Henry II of England, for marriage to Henry's son
Richard the Lionheart. The 8-year-old Alys was then sent, with no dowry, to England as Henry's ward. In 1177, Cardinal Peter of Saint Chrysogonus, on behalf of
Pope Alexander III, threatened to place England's continental possessions under an
interdict if Henry did not proceed with the marriage. There were widespread rumors that Henry had not only made Alys his mistress, but that she had a child with him..According to some sources, he might have raped her. Henry died in 1189, and Richard ascended the English throne. Richard broke off Alys' betrothal in 1190, during personal talks with her brother the French king, Philip Augustus, on their way towards the Holy Land during the
Third Crusade. Richard made financial restitutions and married
Berengaria of Navarre on 12 May 1191. Philip had offered Alys to
Prince John, but Eleanor prevented the match. Alys married
William IV Talvas,
Count of Ponthieu, on 20 August 1195. They had a daughter,
Marie, Countess of Ponthieu. Alys died between 1218 and 1220. ==References==