Upon his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1154, King Henry II of England inherited vast territories in France and founded what would become known as the Angevin dynasty. These lands, combined with his existing holdings in England, bequeathed him an empire that stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. Naturally, such unfettered expansion of English power was a concern for the French monarchy.
The Capetian dynasty, which had ruled since 987, sought to assert its authority and centralise power in France. King Philip Augustus saw the Angevin dynasty as a threat to French sovereignty and worked tirelessly to undermine English influence. In 1183, he began hostilities against Henry of England, taking advantage of a dispute between the English king and his sons, and allying himself with the princes, Richard and John. But when Henry died in 1189, Richard inherited his father’s title and Angevin territories, and he was of no mind to cede any of them to his former ally, King Philip.
The two fought a war of attrition for ten years, both Angevin and Capetian at one another’s throats until finally, in 1199, they settled upon a truce. A treaty between the two seemed inevitable, the Angevin Empire finally secure under the watchful gaze of the powerful King Richard the Lionheart.
But no king lives forever…