Clavis Angliae - Scarecrow's new timeline
Well here it is. My new Medieval timeline. I present:
Clavis Angliae
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Chapter 1: The Wheel of Fortune
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“The Lions of God: The Plantagenet Dynasty.”
By John Mauvoisin
The failings of King John I Lackland’s continental ambitions became apparent in the first years of the 13th Century. A year earlier he had seized the Plantagenet treasure at Chinon, but Aquitaine remained in the hands of his mother Eleanore, and the other Plantagenet possessions, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Poitou [1] and Touraine had rallied around young Arthur, Duke of Brittany who had the support of King Philip II Augustus. Arthur had paid formal homage French King, and should he succeed the lands would come under French control. Normandy remained the sole possession of Lackland’s on the continent, and so John had to act quickly to reverse his fate.
Fearful that Eleanore would act against in concert with her son John, Arthur captured her at Mirabeau castle in Poitou. When John received word of this he marched to rescue his mother. On the 31st of July, 1202 John surprised the forces of the Duke of Brittany, and defeated him in battle. It was a stunning victory for John, who managed to capture two hundred knights along with many of his political enemies, including the Duke himself.
John sent Arthur to Falaise Castle in Normandy, where he was guarded by Hubert de Burgh. He remained there for almost a year, until he was sent to Rouen. However it was there that Arthur disappeared. His fate is best recorded in the Margarm Annals:
After the murder of Duke Arthur what was called by historian Charles de Joineville as ‘that grand generational conflict’ between the Capetians and the Plantagenets exploded. John’s allies abandoned him, and across the Plantagenet lands Barons rebelled. In 1204 after the fiasco at Rouen King Philip readied his army and invaded Normandy, conquering the land with ease.
Much of the defence of Normandy had been left in the hands of the jailor of Arthur; Hubert de Burgh. King John had granted de Burgh the control of two castles: Falaise in Normandy, and Chinon in Touraine. Chinon was crucial to the defence of the Loire valley, and de Burgh commanded the castle personally. Philip took Falaise with some ease, and turned to lay siege in July 1204. De Burgh sought to defend it admirably, but luck was against him, the Chinon garrison was not as prepared as he had hoped: and only had supplies for three months. Fearing starvation and revolt de Burgh surrendered to Philip after only a month of siege [2]. De Burgh was taken prisoner by Philip, and ransomed back to England in 1206 [3]. With the capitulation of Chinon Philip was free to act as he would throughout the Loire valley. In 1205 he invaded Brittany [4]. The land had been in rebellion against John since the murder of Duke Arthur, and it fell quickly to him. Philip became regent of Brittany in the place of Alice, half sister of the deceased Duke Arthur. Alice would marry Peter of Dreux in 1213, who became the new Regent of Brittany shortly after.
Hubert de Burgh was a personal confident of King John and until 1204 he had gained many titles and offices. Hubert came from Norfolk gentry stock, but with roots that traced back to Arlotta, mother of William I, and through her back to Charlemagne himself. Hubert’s service to King John began as a minor official in the Lackland household in 1197, and when John became King in 1199 he promoted de Burgh to the office of chamberlain. In that same year he was granted Corfe, and in 1201 he was granted three castles in the Welsh Marches: Grosmont, Skenfrith and Llantilio Castle. He was also made High Sheriff of Dorset, Somerset, Herefordshire and Berkshire, along with castellan [5] of Launceston and Wallingford castles, and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
Along with his titles he joined the circle great nobility of England in 1200 by marrying Beatrice de Vernon, daughter of William de Vernon, Earl of Devon.
When he returned to England in 1206 he incurred the wrath of his King for the surrender of Chinon. He was stripped of his offices of Chamberlain, High Sheriff of Dorset, Somerset, Herefordshire and Berkshire, along with command of the castles in the Welsh Marshes. Matthew Paris records that:
The office of Chamberlain was granted to Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Chief Justiciar of England, and his various sheriff titles were scattered amongst Johns favourites. The only land that he retained was Corfe. In 1210 his fortunes changed as England was shaken by the Papal Interdiction. John sought as many allies as he could, and granted Hubert shrievalty of Kent and Essex. However distrust remained between Lackland and de Burgh.
The loss of Normandy and Brittany presented King John with a sudden disaster. The loss of Normandy not only broke the link between England and the other remaining Plantagenet lands, but it robbed the Plantagenets of a rich province, and also separated the lords of England from their ancestral home. Since 1066 Anglo-Normans had replaced the previously Ango-Saxon nobility this loss was a big blow to John’s legitimacy.
The situation was terribly grave for John, and he sought to secure a quick victory as he had over Arthur. John’s attempts to regain his French territories would be put on hold as his conflict with the Pope heated up. On the 13th of July 1205 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter had died. John saw this opportunity to gain control of the Archbishopric, and chose John de Grey, one of his own men, to become the new Archbishop. The monks of Canterbury disagreed with the King, claiming that they had the sole right to choose Hubert’s successor and chose Reginald, one of their own.
Both parties appealed to Rome, to ask Pope Innocent III to settle the election. Innocent chose Cardinal Stephen Langton as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and invested him with the office. King John refused to recognise him as Archbishop, a position that was supported by many of the Barons and English clergy. In 1206 King John expelled the Canterbury clergy, and as a consequence Pope Innocent moved against him, and England was placed under interdict in 1207. Technically under the interdiction worship was banned, all places of worship were closed, and the last rites were denied to those who were dying. In 1209 Innocent excommunicated John, and three years later in 1212 King Philip was commissioned to implement the bull of excommunication.
Even under the threat of excommunication John did not relent. Rather it was the threat of French invasion in 1213 that cowed him. Philip sought to destroy the Plantagenet family, and at Damme near Bruges gathered a fleet with which to land in England and place his eldest son Lewis [6] on the throne.
With a French invasion looming John was suspicious of the military support his Barons would be able to give him, so he sought to make peace with the Papal See. In May 1213 the Papal Legate Pandulph arrived in England to seek surrender from John. At the Templar church in Dover the terms of surrender were decided. The Kingdom of England and the Lordship of Ireland were turned into formal Papal fief. King John would pay an annual tribute of 1000 marks (700 for England, 300 for Ireland) to the Pope.
With the Welsh defeated in 1211, and the conflict with the Pope solved in 1213, John could focus on the defeat of King Philip and the retaking of the Plantagenet possessions within France.
He built a coalition to oppose King Philip; The Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, the Count of Flanders, the Count of Boulogne, and the Count of Toulouse. It was a formidable alliance, and John sought to control the attack on Philip. From Angouleme in Aquitaine, he would go on the offensive against Philip, whilst his Imperial allies attacked Paris. He moved slowly north from Aquitaine with his army of mercenaries and entered Anjou, the old family lands of the Plantagenet’s.
However, Philip was not blind. He saw the Imperial force assembling in the lowlands as his main foe, and planed to tie up the English King in the south and then strike at the Imperial forces. He marched south through Samur and Chinon to cut John’s line of retreat, forcing John to abandon Anjou, and he retreated into Limoges in April. Despite having been forced out of Anjou, John had succeeded to draw Philip south. Philip was not keen to be drawn so south, so he left Prince Lewis to face John Lackland. Lewis had command of 800 knights, 2,000 sergeants and 7,000 infantry to face John.
John believed that the entire force of King Philip had retreated north, and returned to Poitou in May. He crossed the Loire and invaded Anjou, laying siege to La-Roche-aux-Moines. In July John received terrible news: Prince Lewis was approaching, his forced enlarged with new levees drawn up from Anjou and Maine. John retreated from his siege at La-Roche-aux-Moines in such a fit of speed that his siege train was abandoned. On several occasions Lewis’s army came close to engaging Lackland, but his was a campaign of containment not confrontation. Lewis would have to wait two years to meet John on the battlefield.
Meanwhile in the north Emperor Otto IV began to summon his army. He arrived at Nivelles on the 12th of July were he met his Dukes and other allies, including the powerful Earl of Salisbury, William Longsword, who had been dispatched from England with a large army of mercenaries. Now with an army of substance Otto prepared to march on Paris. When word reached Philip he summoned the levees of his northern and eastern lands and vassals. For almost a month Philip and Otto manoeuvred their armies around each other. Philip had assembled his army at Peronne, thinking that Otto was to the east of him. However Otto had assembled his army at Valenciennes, to the south of Peronne. With Otto sitting on Philip’s communication line to Paris Philip was forced to head south. The two armies met north of the town of Saint Amand on the 26th of July 1214. [7]
At that battle some forty thousand soldiers met in a giant clash of arms. The French right flank began the battle, when three hundred knights from Soissons charged the Flemish knights. However the attack was unsuccessful, as the French right and Imperial left wings meshed in a mass melee. The Imperial left wing was under the command of Ferrand, Count of Flanders, who managed to force back the French right wing after several hours of fighting.
The centre of the Coalition’s army were Branbacon and Flemish infantry, the best in Europe at the time, drove back the French army before the reserve of French cavalry lead by the King himself saved the centre. The Flemings dissolved and fled back to the Imperial lines, and the French nobles met the cream of the chivalry of Saxony, Brabant and Limburg.
Despite the failure of the French right wing the French left wing succeeded. Robert, Count of Dreux commanded the left wing, and charged at the Imperial right wing, which was under the command of the Earl of Salisbury. When Robert succeeded in breaking the right wing Salisbury fled the battle rather then be captured. Half his mercenaries fled with him, the others remained to fight on knowing they would receive no mercy from the French.
With the flight of Salisbury Otto’s position was unstable, and in a chance blow, the Holy Roman Emperor was killed, struck through with a lance [8]. The German knights fled under the command of with the body of Otto, and the battle was over. The only remaining commander of the coalition was the Count of Boulogne, who with his force of seven hundred Branbancon pikeman held off all attacks by cavalry during the battle, but once the Emperor had been killed, the Branbancon soldiers were left undefended. Count Ferrand of Flanders, who had managed to hold his line easily fled from the battlefield upon the death of the Emperor, narrowly avoiding capture by the French [9]. The Count of Boulogne surrendered, and the Battle of Saint Amand was over, a resounding French victory. [10] The French did not escape Saint Amand without their own losses and injuries. No one of significant rank was killed in the battle, but Peter II of Courtney – the future Latin Emperor – was wounded in the battle [11]. Legend has it that Peter was knocked from his horse by a Brabancon pikeman. His left leg was broken but despite the pain Peter attacked the Brabancon and Imperial soldiers around him.
When he was rescued by a force of French knights he had killed over twenty soldiers. He was severely injured and it took many months for him to recuperate. Peter would walk away from the Battle of Saint Amand with two things: the first was a pronounced limp in his left leg, and the second was an aura of bravado. While he could no longer fight on the field of battle himself he inspired his knights. When he left for Constantinople in 1217 he was accompanied by an army of four hundred French knights, men who were not fighting in England or the Albigensian Crusade.
The decline of the Plantagenet domain was secured after this battle. John was forced to retreat back to England and the Imperial army withdrew back into the Empire. Philip stood dominant in his domains, and in November he and John signed a peace treaty, guaranteeing peace between the Capetian and the Plantagenet monarchs for six years. But the two families would be at war again within a year. The defeat at Saint Amand had sealed the fate of King John, and his overtaxed English Barons rose against him.
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[1] Poitou had been invaded by Arthur in 1202, but in the other lands the lords had submitted freely to him.
[2] This is the POD by the way. IOTL de Burgh held Chinon for over a year before surrendering to Philip.
[3] He was captured in 1205 by the French and he returned to England in 1207 IOTL.
[4] A year earlier then OTL.
[5] Castellans are governors of castles on behalf of their lord.
[6] Mauvoisin uses the English Lewis rather then the French Louis because of his eventual role in England.
[7] The Battle of Saint Amand is roughly analogous to the Battle of Bouvines IOTL. It’s just happening a day earlier and at a slightly different location, as Philip has moved his forces to intercept Otto’s as he marches toward Touraine.
[8] Which makes Germany a very interesting place at the moment.
[9] Ferrand was captured at the Battle of Bouvines IOTL.
[10] The Battle of Bouvines went a little differently IOTL. Ferrand was captured by the French, as was Salisbury, and Reginald of Boulogne. Philip II was in far more danger in the OTL battle, and Otto IV was saved by a force of Saxon knights.
[11] Peter was at the Battle of Bouvines IOTL but seems to have avoided serious injury.
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Thoughts?
Well here it is. My new Medieval timeline. I present:
Clavis Angliae
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Chapter 1: The Wheel of Fortune
Fortune speaks: “Is the insatiable discontent of man to bind me to a constancy which belongs not to my way? Herein lies my very strength; this is my unchanging sport. I turn my wheel that spins its circle fairly; I delight to make the lowest turn to the top, the highest to the bottom. Come you to the top if you will, but on this condition, that you think it no unfairness to sink when the rule of the game demands it.”
- Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy
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“The Lions of God: The Plantagenet Dynasty.”
By John Mauvoisin
The failings of King John I Lackland’s continental ambitions became apparent in the first years of the 13th Century. A year earlier he had seized the Plantagenet treasure at Chinon, but Aquitaine remained in the hands of his mother Eleanore, and the other Plantagenet possessions, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Poitou [1] and Touraine had rallied around young Arthur, Duke of Brittany who had the support of King Philip II Augustus. Arthur had paid formal homage French King, and should he succeed the lands would come under French control. Normandy remained the sole possession of Lackland’s on the continent, and so John had to act quickly to reverse his fate.
Fearful that Eleanore would act against in concert with her son John, Arthur captured her at Mirabeau castle in Poitou. When John received word of this he marched to rescue his mother. On the 31st of July, 1202 John surprised the forces of the Duke of Brittany, and defeated him in battle. It was a stunning victory for John, who managed to capture two hundred knights along with many of his political enemies, including the Duke himself.
John sent Arthur to Falaise Castle in Normandy, where he was guarded by Hubert de Burgh. He remained there for almost a year, until he was sent to Rouen. However it was there that Arthur disappeared. His fate is best recorded in the Margarm Annals:
“After King John had captured Arthur and kept him alive in prison for some time, at length, in the castle of Rouen, after dinner on the Thursday before Easter, when he was drunk and possessed by the devil (ebrius et daemonio plenus), he slew him with his own hand, and tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the Seine. It was discovered by a fisherman in his net, and being dragged to the bank and recognized, was taken for secret burial, in fear of the tyrant, to the priory of Bec called Notre Dame de Pres.”
After the murder of Duke Arthur what was called by historian Charles de Joineville as ‘that grand generational conflict’ between the Capetians and the Plantagenets exploded. John’s allies abandoned him, and across the Plantagenet lands Barons rebelled. In 1204 after the fiasco at Rouen King Philip readied his army and invaded Normandy, conquering the land with ease.
Much of the defence of Normandy had been left in the hands of the jailor of Arthur; Hubert de Burgh. King John had granted de Burgh the control of two castles: Falaise in Normandy, and Chinon in Touraine. Chinon was crucial to the defence of the Loire valley, and de Burgh commanded the castle personally. Philip took Falaise with some ease, and turned to lay siege in July 1204. De Burgh sought to defend it admirably, but luck was against him, the Chinon garrison was not as prepared as he had hoped: and only had supplies for three months. Fearing starvation and revolt de Burgh surrendered to Philip after only a month of siege [2]. De Burgh was taken prisoner by Philip, and ransomed back to England in 1206 [3]. With the capitulation of Chinon Philip was free to act as he would throughout the Loire valley. In 1205 he invaded Brittany [4]. The land had been in rebellion against John since the murder of Duke Arthur, and it fell quickly to him. Philip became regent of Brittany in the place of Alice, half sister of the deceased Duke Arthur. Alice would marry Peter of Dreux in 1213, who became the new Regent of Brittany shortly after.
Hubert de Burgh was a personal confident of King John and until 1204 he had gained many titles and offices. Hubert came from Norfolk gentry stock, but with roots that traced back to Arlotta, mother of William I, and through her back to Charlemagne himself. Hubert’s service to King John began as a minor official in the Lackland household in 1197, and when John became King in 1199 he promoted de Burgh to the office of chamberlain. In that same year he was granted Corfe, and in 1201 he was granted three castles in the Welsh Marches: Grosmont, Skenfrith and Llantilio Castle. He was also made High Sheriff of Dorset, Somerset, Herefordshire and Berkshire, along with castellan [5] of Launceston and Wallingford castles, and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
Along with his titles he joined the circle great nobility of England in 1200 by marrying Beatrice de Vernon, daughter of William de Vernon, Earl of Devon.
When he returned to England in 1206 he incurred the wrath of his King for the surrender of Chinon. He was stripped of his offices of Chamberlain, High Sheriff of Dorset, Somerset, Herefordshire and Berkshire, along with command of the castles in the Welsh Marshes. Matthew Paris records that:
“Hubert would have faced the same fate as his Breton Prisoner [Duke Arthur], that is to say death, had it not been for the great service and time in Lackland’s household.”
The office of Chamberlain was granted to Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Chief Justiciar of England, and his various sheriff titles were scattered amongst Johns favourites. The only land that he retained was Corfe. In 1210 his fortunes changed as England was shaken by the Papal Interdiction. John sought as many allies as he could, and granted Hubert shrievalty of Kent and Essex. However distrust remained between Lackland and de Burgh.
The loss of Normandy and Brittany presented King John with a sudden disaster. The loss of Normandy not only broke the link between England and the other remaining Plantagenet lands, but it robbed the Plantagenets of a rich province, and also separated the lords of England from their ancestral home. Since 1066 Anglo-Normans had replaced the previously Ango-Saxon nobility this loss was a big blow to John’s legitimacy.
The situation was terribly grave for John, and he sought to secure a quick victory as he had over Arthur. John’s attempts to regain his French territories would be put on hold as his conflict with the Pope heated up. On the 13th of July 1205 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter had died. John saw this opportunity to gain control of the Archbishopric, and chose John de Grey, one of his own men, to become the new Archbishop. The monks of Canterbury disagreed with the King, claiming that they had the sole right to choose Hubert’s successor and chose Reginald, one of their own.
Both parties appealed to Rome, to ask Pope Innocent III to settle the election. Innocent chose Cardinal Stephen Langton as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and invested him with the office. King John refused to recognise him as Archbishop, a position that was supported by many of the Barons and English clergy. In 1206 King John expelled the Canterbury clergy, and as a consequence Pope Innocent moved against him, and England was placed under interdict in 1207. Technically under the interdiction worship was banned, all places of worship were closed, and the last rites were denied to those who were dying. In 1209 Innocent excommunicated John, and three years later in 1212 King Philip was commissioned to implement the bull of excommunication.
Even under the threat of excommunication John did not relent. Rather it was the threat of French invasion in 1213 that cowed him. Philip sought to destroy the Plantagenet family, and at Damme near Bruges gathered a fleet with which to land in England and place his eldest son Lewis [6] on the throne.
With a French invasion looming John was suspicious of the military support his Barons would be able to give him, so he sought to make peace with the Papal See. In May 1213 the Papal Legate Pandulph arrived in England to seek surrender from John. At the Templar church in Dover the terms of surrender were decided. The Kingdom of England and the Lordship of Ireland were turned into formal Papal fief. King John would pay an annual tribute of 1000 marks (700 for England, 300 for Ireland) to the Pope.
With the Welsh defeated in 1211, and the conflict with the Pope solved in 1213, John could focus on the defeat of King Philip and the retaking of the Plantagenet possessions within France.
He built a coalition to oppose King Philip; The Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, the Count of Flanders, the Count of Boulogne, and the Count of Toulouse. It was a formidable alliance, and John sought to control the attack on Philip. From Angouleme in Aquitaine, he would go on the offensive against Philip, whilst his Imperial allies attacked Paris. He moved slowly north from Aquitaine with his army of mercenaries and entered Anjou, the old family lands of the Plantagenet’s.
However, Philip was not blind. He saw the Imperial force assembling in the lowlands as his main foe, and planed to tie up the English King in the south and then strike at the Imperial forces. He marched south through Samur and Chinon to cut John’s line of retreat, forcing John to abandon Anjou, and he retreated into Limoges in April. Despite having been forced out of Anjou, John had succeeded to draw Philip south. Philip was not keen to be drawn so south, so he left Prince Lewis to face John Lackland. Lewis had command of 800 knights, 2,000 sergeants and 7,000 infantry to face John.
John believed that the entire force of King Philip had retreated north, and returned to Poitou in May. He crossed the Loire and invaded Anjou, laying siege to La-Roche-aux-Moines. In July John received terrible news: Prince Lewis was approaching, his forced enlarged with new levees drawn up from Anjou and Maine. John retreated from his siege at La-Roche-aux-Moines in such a fit of speed that his siege train was abandoned. On several occasions Lewis’s army came close to engaging Lackland, but his was a campaign of containment not confrontation. Lewis would have to wait two years to meet John on the battlefield.
Meanwhile in the north Emperor Otto IV began to summon his army. He arrived at Nivelles on the 12th of July were he met his Dukes and other allies, including the powerful Earl of Salisbury, William Longsword, who had been dispatched from England with a large army of mercenaries. Now with an army of substance Otto prepared to march on Paris. When word reached Philip he summoned the levees of his northern and eastern lands and vassals. For almost a month Philip and Otto manoeuvred their armies around each other. Philip had assembled his army at Peronne, thinking that Otto was to the east of him. However Otto had assembled his army at Valenciennes, to the south of Peronne. With Otto sitting on Philip’s communication line to Paris Philip was forced to head south. The two armies met north of the town of Saint Amand on the 26th of July 1214. [7]
At that battle some forty thousand soldiers met in a giant clash of arms. The French right flank began the battle, when three hundred knights from Soissons charged the Flemish knights. However the attack was unsuccessful, as the French right and Imperial left wings meshed in a mass melee. The Imperial left wing was under the command of Ferrand, Count of Flanders, who managed to force back the French right wing after several hours of fighting.
The centre of the Coalition’s army were Branbacon and Flemish infantry, the best in Europe at the time, drove back the French army before the reserve of French cavalry lead by the King himself saved the centre. The Flemings dissolved and fled back to the Imperial lines, and the French nobles met the cream of the chivalry of Saxony, Brabant and Limburg.
Despite the failure of the French right wing the French left wing succeeded. Robert, Count of Dreux commanded the left wing, and charged at the Imperial right wing, which was under the command of the Earl of Salisbury. When Robert succeeded in breaking the right wing Salisbury fled the battle rather then be captured. Half his mercenaries fled with him, the others remained to fight on knowing they would receive no mercy from the French.
With the flight of Salisbury Otto’s position was unstable, and in a chance blow, the Holy Roman Emperor was killed, struck through with a lance [8]. The German knights fled under the command of with the body of Otto, and the battle was over. The only remaining commander of the coalition was the Count of Boulogne, who with his force of seven hundred Branbancon pikeman held off all attacks by cavalry during the battle, but once the Emperor had been killed, the Branbancon soldiers were left undefended. Count Ferrand of Flanders, who had managed to hold his line easily fled from the battlefield upon the death of the Emperor, narrowly avoiding capture by the French [9]. The Count of Boulogne surrendered, and the Battle of Saint Amand was over, a resounding French victory. [10] The French did not escape Saint Amand without their own losses and injuries. No one of significant rank was killed in the battle, but Peter II of Courtney – the future Latin Emperor – was wounded in the battle [11]. Legend has it that Peter was knocked from his horse by a Brabancon pikeman. His left leg was broken but despite the pain Peter attacked the Brabancon and Imperial soldiers around him.
When he was rescued by a force of French knights he had killed over twenty soldiers. He was severely injured and it took many months for him to recuperate. Peter would walk away from the Battle of Saint Amand with two things: the first was a pronounced limp in his left leg, and the second was an aura of bravado. While he could no longer fight on the field of battle himself he inspired his knights. When he left for Constantinople in 1217 he was accompanied by an army of four hundred French knights, men who were not fighting in England or the Albigensian Crusade.
The decline of the Plantagenet domain was secured after this battle. John was forced to retreat back to England and the Imperial army withdrew back into the Empire. Philip stood dominant in his domains, and in November he and John signed a peace treaty, guaranteeing peace between the Capetian and the Plantagenet monarchs for six years. But the two families would be at war again within a year. The defeat at Saint Amand had sealed the fate of King John, and his overtaxed English Barons rose against him.
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[1] Poitou had been invaded by Arthur in 1202, but in the other lands the lords had submitted freely to him.
[2] This is the POD by the way. IOTL de Burgh held Chinon for over a year before surrendering to Philip.
[3] He was captured in 1205 by the French and he returned to England in 1207 IOTL.
[4] A year earlier then OTL.
[5] Castellans are governors of castles on behalf of their lord.
[6] Mauvoisin uses the English Lewis rather then the French Louis because of his eventual role in England.
[7] The Battle of Saint Amand is roughly analogous to the Battle of Bouvines IOTL. It’s just happening a day earlier and at a slightly different location, as Philip has moved his forces to intercept Otto’s as he marches toward Touraine.
[8] Which makes Germany a very interesting place at the moment.
[9] Ferrand was captured at the Battle of Bouvines IOTL.
[10] The Battle of Bouvines went a little differently IOTL. Ferrand was captured by the French, as was Salisbury, and Reginald of Boulogne. Philip II was in far more danger in the OTL battle, and Otto IV was saved by a force of Saxon knights.
[11] Peter was at the Battle of Bouvines IOTL but seems to have avoided serious injury.
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Thoughts?
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