The attacks on Toulouse made clear that peace between Louis and Henry was not peace at all but just an opportunity for Henry to make war elsewhere. Louis was in an awkward position: his subject Henry was largely more powerful than he was, and Louis had no male heir.
Constance, his second wife, died in childbirth in 1160, and Louis announced he would remarry at once, in the urgent need of a male heir, with
Adèle of Champagne. Louis' daughter Margaret was betrothed to Henry's son Henry the Young King on 2 November 1160. Henry the Young King was five years old at the time of this agreement while Margaret was about two. Margaret's
dowry was the vital and much disputed territory of Vexin. Thus, if Louis died without a male heir, Henry would have been a strong candidate for the French throne. , where he was archbishop.In 1164 Louis found a dangerous ally in Archbishop of Canterbury
Thomas Becket. Louis and Becket had met previously in 1158, but now the circumstances were different; France was already a refuge to a few clerical refugees, and Louis was known as
Rex Christianisimus (most Christian king), called so by
John of Salisbury. Becket took refuge in France, and following this there were
growing conflicts between Henry and Becket. Henry finally provoked Becket's murder in 1170 by announcing, "What miserable traitors have I nourished in my household who led their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born clerk!" Christendom blamed Henry, whereas Louis gained widespread approval through his protection of Becket. Louis' secular power was much weaker than Henry's, but Louis now had the moral advantage. In 1165 hopes of Henry the Young King's future accession to the French throne were dashed when Adèle gave birth to a son,
Philip. Following this, the fragile Anglo-French peace ended. In 1167, Henry II marched into Auvergne, and in 1170 he attacked Bourges. Louis answered by raiding Vexin, forcing Henry to move his troops north, giving Louis the opportunity to free Bourges. At this point, Gillingham mentions in
The Angevin Empire that he believes Louis "must have wondered whether there was ever going to be an end to Henry's aggressively expansionist policies". Henry did not treat his territories as a coherent empire, as the term "Angevin Empire" would suggest, but as private, individual possessions that he planned to distribute to his children. Henry The Young King was crowned king of England in 1170 (though he never ruled); Richard became Duke of Aquitaine in 1172; Geoffrey became Duke of Brittany in 1181; John became Lord of Ireland in 1185;
Eleanor was promised to
Alfonso VII with Gascony as dowry during the campaign against Toulouse in 1170. This partition of the lands between his children made it much harder for him to control them, as now they could fund their own ventures with their estates and attempt to overrule their father in their respective dominions. Following his coronation in 1173, Henry the Young King asked for part of his inheritance, at least England, Normandy, or Anjou, but his father refused. Young Henry then joined Louis at the French court to otherthrow his father together, and his mother Eleanor joined the new
revolt against Henry II. Both Richard and Geoffrey soon joined Henry II. Enemies that Henry II had made joined the conflict with Louis, including
King William of Scotland,
Count Philip of Flanders,
Count Matthew of Boulogne and
Count Theobald of Blois. Henry II emerged victorious; his wealth meant he could recruit large numbers of mercenaries. He had captured and imprisoned Eleanor early on, and the capture of King William allowed him to force Scotland into the
Treaty of Falaise. Henry bought the County of Marche, then he asserted that Vexin and Bourges should be given back at once. However, this time there was no invasion to back the claim.
Richard I and Philip II Louis died in 1180 and was succeeded by his 15-year-old son, crowned as Philip II. The man who would later become Philip's main rival, the future Richard I, had administered Aquitaine since 1175 but his policy of centralisation of the Aquitanian government had grown unpopular in the eastern part of the duchy, notably
Périgord and
Limousin. Richard was further disliked in Aquitaine because of his apparent disregard for Aquitaine's customs of inheritance, as shown by events in
Angoulême in 1181. If Richard was unpopular in Aquitaine though, Philip was equally disliked by his contemporaries with comments describing him as:
astute, manipulative, calculating, penurious and ungallant ruler. In 1183 Henry the Young King joined a revolt to overthrow the unpopular Duke Richard, led by the
viscount of Limoges and
Geoffrey of Lusignan, where Henry would take Richard's place. Joined by Philip, Count
Raymond V of Toulouse, and Duke
Hugh III of Burgundy, Henry died suddenly of a fatal illness in 1183, and Richard thus became the next in line for the English throne. Henry ordered Richard to hand Aquitaine to his brother John, but Richard refused. Henry was busy with Welsh princes contesting his authority, William the Lion was asking for his castles to be given back that had been taken in the Treaty of Falaise, and Philip wanted Vexin back. Henry decided instead to insist Richard to nominally surrender Aquitaine to his mother whilst Richard would retain actual control. Still, in 1183, Count Raymond had taken
Cahors back and so Henry asked Richard to mount an expedition to retake the city. At the time,
Geoffrey of Brittany had been quarrelling violently with Richard, and Philip planned to use this, but Geoffrey's death in 1186 in a tournament killed the plot. The next year, Philip and Richard had become strong allies: In 1188 Raymond attacked again, joined by the Lusignans, vassals of Richard. It was rumoured that Henry had financed the revolts. Philip attacked Henry in Normandy and captured strongholds in
Berry, then they met to discuss peace again. Henry refused to make Richard his heir, with one story reporting that Richard said "Now at last, I must believe what I had always thought impossible." Henry's plans collapsed. Richard paid homage to Philip for the continental lands his father held, then they attacked Henry together. The Aquitanians refused to help whilst the Bretons seized the opportunity to attack him too. Henry was encircled at Chinon and was compelled to surrender. He gave a large tribute in money to Philip and swore that all his subjects in France and England would recognise Richard as their lord. Henry died two days later after learning that his son John had joined Richard and Philip. He was buried in
Fontevraud Abbey. Eleanor, who had been Henry's hostage since the revolt, was freed while Rhys ap Gruffydd, ruler of
Deheubarth in South Wales, began to reconquer the parts of Wales that Henry had annexed. Richard was crowned King Richard I of England in
Westminster Abbey in November 1189, and had already been installed as Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Duke of Aquitaine. Richard demanded Philip surrender the Vexin, but then the issue was settled when Richard announced he would marry Philip's sister
Alys. Richard also recognised Auvergne as being in
Philip's royal demesne and not as part of the Duchy of Aquitaine, as Henry had claimed. King William of Scotland and Richard opened negotiations to revoke the Treaty of Falaise, and an agreement was reached.
Third Crusade The next priority for Richard was the
Third Crusade; it had been delayed since Richard had taken the cross in 1187. This was not just a religious pilgrimage, however; his great-grandfather,
Fulk had been
King of Jerusalem, and the current pretender to the throne,
Guy de Lusignan, was a Poitevin noble, related to many of Richard's vassals, while Guy's wife
Sybilla was Richard's cousin. The crusade, excluding disputes in France, would be the main reason for Richard's absence from England; he would spend less than six months of his reign in England. Before leaving, Richard consolidated his reign over the empire. He suspected Count Raymond would expand his lands into Aquitaine so he allied with
Sancho VI the Wise, the
king of Navarre, by marrying his daughter
Berengaria to counter the threat. On the way to the Holy Land,
the ruler of Cyprus offended Richard's bride, and Richard's army
conquered the island. They married in 1191 in
Limassol, Cyprus, therefore repudiating Alys, but the issue had been settled earlier in
Messina: to placate Philip, Richard had given him 10,000 marks and agreed that if he had two sons, they would both hold lands in France directly under Philip. The administration Richard left behind worked considerably well, as an attack from Raymond was repelled with the help of Navarre. and
Philip II at
Acre|alt=Richard and Philip at Acre The
siege of Acre, which had been the last Christian stronghold in
Holy Land, was over by July 1191, and Philip decided to return to France. It is unclear whether Philip returned due to dysentery, anger towards Richard, or that he thought he could gain
Artois following the death of the
Count of Flanders, as he had married the count's daughter. Whilst back at France, Philip boasted he was "going to devastate the king of England's lands," and in January 1192 he demanded the Vexin from
William FitzRalph, Seneschal of Normandy, claiming that the treaty he had signed with Richard in Messina contained the intention of Richard that—as the Vexin had been Alys' dowry and since Richard had married Berengaria—he was entitled to the land. Although Philip threatened invasion, Eleanor of Aquitaine intervened in stopping her son John from promising to concede the land. Philip's nobles refused to attack the lands of an absent crusader, though Philip instead gained lands in Artois. Philip's return resulted in castles throughout the empire being in a "state of readiness". The alliance with Navarre helped again when Philip attempted to incite revolt in Aquitaine but failed. Richard yielded Cyprus and left the Holy Land over a year later than Philip in October 1192, and he possibly could have retrieved his empire intact had he reached France soon after. However, during the crusade
Leopold V, Duke of Austria, had been insulted by Richard, and so he arrested Richard near
Vienna on his journey home. Richard had been forced to go through Austria as the path through
Provence was blocked by Raymond in Toulouse. Leopold also accused Richard of sending assassins to murder his cousin
Conrad, and then handed Richard over to his overlord,
Emperor Henry VI. In January 1193, Richard's brother John was summoned to Paris, where he did homage to Philip for all of Richard's lands and promised to marry Alys with Artois as her dowry. In return, the Vexin and the
castle of Gisors would be given to Philip. With the help of Philip, John went to invade England and incite rebellion against Richard's justiciars. John failed and then had worse luck when it was discovered Richard was alive, which was unknown until this point. At the
imperial court in
Speyer, Richard was put on trial where he spoke very well for himself: Richard was to be set free after a deal was finalised in June 1193. However, whilst the discussions had been going on, Philip and John had created war in three different areas of the Angevin Empire. John had attempted to take over England, asserting that Richard would never return. The justiciars pushed his forces back to the castles of
Tickhill and
Windsor, which were besieged. A deal was made that allowed John to keep Tickhill and
Nottingham but return his other possessions. In Aquitaine,
Ademar of Angoulême claimed that he held his county directly as a fief of Philip's, not as a vassal of the duke of Aquitaine. He raided Poitou but was stopped by the local officials and captured. In Normandy, Philip had taken Gisors and Neaufles, and the lords of
Aumâle,
Eu, and other smaller lordships, as well as the counts of
Meulan and
Perche, had surrendered to Philip. Philip failed to take Rouen in April but gained other castles; Gillingham summarises "April and May 1193 were wonderfully good months for Philip". When Philip heard of Richard's deal with Emperor Henry, he decided to consolidate his gains by forcing Richard's regents to concede with a treaty at
Mantes in July 1193. Firstly, John was handed back his estates in both England and France. Secondly, Count Ademar was to be released and no Aquitanian vassals were to be charged or penalised. Thirdly, Richard was to give four major castles to Philip and pay the cost of garrisoning them, along with other compensation. Richard failed to be reconciled with John, so John went to Philip and created a new treaty in January 1194, surrendering all of Normandy east of the
Seine except Rouen and Tours and the other castles of Touraine to Philip,
Vendôme to
Louis of Blois, and
Moulins and
Bonsmoulins to
Count Geoffrey of Perche. The county of Angoulême was to be independent of the Duchy of Aquitaine. The Angevin Empire was being split by John's actions. Philip continued to bargain with Emperor Henry, and the emperor cut a new deal with Richard after being offered large sums of money by Philip and John. Richard would surrender the kingdom of England to Henry, who would then give it back as a fief of the
Holy Roman Empire. Richard had become a vassal of Henry. Richard was released, and whilst still in Germany he paid for the homage of the archbishops of
Mainz and
Cologne, the
bishop of Liège, the
duke of Brabant, the
duke of Limburg, the
count of Holland, and other lesser lords. These allies were the beginning of a coalition against Philip. Although Philip had been granted many Norman territories, it was only nominally. In February, he captured
Évreux,
Neubourg,
Vaudreuil, and other towns. He also received the homage of two of Richard's vassals, Geoffrey de Rancon and Bernard of Brosse. Philip and his allies were now in control of all the ports of Flanders, Boulogne, and eastern Normandy. Richard finally returned to England and landed at
Sandwich on 13 March 1194.
Richard's return Richard was in a difficult position; Philip II had taken over large parts of his continental domains and had inherited
Amiens and Artois. England was Richard's most secure possession;
Hubert Walter, who had been to the crusade with Richard, was appointed his justiciar. Richard besieged the remaining castle that had declared allegiance to John and not capitulated:
Nottingham Castle. He then met with William the Lion in April and rejected William the Lion's offer to purchase Northumbria, to which William possessed a claim. Later, he took over John's
Lordship of Ireland and replaced his justiciar. began under Richard's rule, but he died before it could be seen finished. Richard I had merely crossed the
English Channel to claim back his territories that John Lackland betrayed Philip II by murdering the garrison of
Évreux and handing the town down to Richard I. "He had first betrayed his
father, then his
brother and now our
King" said
William the Breton.
Sancho the Strong, the future King of Navarre, joined the conflict and attacked Aquitaine, capturing Angoulème and Tours. Richard himself was known to be a great military commander. The first part of this war was difficult for Richard who suffered several setbacks, as Philip II was, as described by John Gillingham, "a shrewd politician and a competent soldier." But by October the new Count of Toulouse,
Raymond VI, left the Capetian side and joined Richard's. He was followed by
Baldwin IV of Flanders, the future
Latin Emperor, as this one was contesting Artois to Philip II. In 1197, Henry VI died and was replaced by
Otto IV, Richard I's own nephew.
Renaud de Dammartin, the Count of Boulogne and a skilled commander, also deserted Philip II. Baldwin IV was invading Artois and captured
Saint-Omer while Richard I was campaigning in Berry and inflicted a severe defeat on Philip II at
Gisors, close to Paris. A truce was accepted, and Richard I had almost recovered all Normandy and now held more territories in Aquitaine than he had before. Richard I had to deal with a revolt once again, but this time from
Limousin. He was struck by a bolt in April 1199 at
Châlus-Chabrol and died of a subsequent infection. His body was buried at
Fontevraud like his father. ==Collapse==