Sibylla of Anjou

When Fulk V of Anjou married his daughter Sibylla (c. 1112 – 1165) to William Clito, a grandson of William the Conqueror, it seemed like a match with much potential. Unfortunately, King Henry I of England, who had invaded Normandy and taken it from his brother Robert Curthose (William Clito's father), objected and convinced Pope Calixtus II to annul the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity.

William Clito's fate was covered here, but what happened to Sibylla? She was not even a teen when the marriage took place and still not a teen when it was annulled a year later. Her dowry was the County of Maine (which came to her through her mother), so she would have been not an inconsequential match for someone else. She did not re-marry until 1134 at the age of 22, when she was wedded to Thierry, Count of Flanders.

In a curious twist, had Sibylla remained married to William Clito, she would have become Countess of Flanders sooner: Louis VI of France helped William get the position (against objections from people like Thierry). In fact, it was opposition to William by Thierry's forces that led to William's wounding and death in 1128. Thierry succeeded him as count. (Thierry was already married at the time, but his wife, Margaret of Clermont, died in 1132.)

Thierry had one daughter by Margaret, but several children with Sibylla. When Thierry went on the Second Crusade, Sibylla was left as regent in Flanders. During this time, Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut thought it was a good time to attack Flanders, but Sibylla was ready for him. She plundered Hainaut in a counter-attack. In response, Baldwin attacked the territory of Artois. It took the Archbishop of Rheims to negotiate a truce. (Still, when Thierry returned from overseas in 1149, he took revenge on Baldwin.)

Their children were Philip I, who became Count of Flanders; Matthew of Alsace who became the Count of Boulogne; Margaret, who married Baldwin of Hainaut's son, Count Baldwin V of Hainaut; Gertrude of Flanders, who married Humbert III, Count of Savoy. There was also a daughter Matilda, who became abbess of Fontevrault, and a son Peter who was slated to become bishop of Cambrai but was never consecrated.

The illustration shows her with her husband on the facade of the Holy Blood Basilica in Brugge. She was not buried in Brugge, or even in Europe, however, but on the southeastern slop of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. How that came about, and how she abandoned her husband and children, is a story for tomorrow.

Marriage Alliances

It was expected that kings and other nobles would try to gain alliances (and therefore security) by marrying their sons and daughters to important people in other realms, and King Henry II of England was no exception. He had gained Aquitaine and Poitou on the continent by marriage to Eleanor, and was already Duke of Normandy.

Not all marriage plans come to fruition, however, for one reason or another.

Henry's first plan was to marry his eldest legitimate son, Henry the Young King, to Marguerite the daughter of Louis VII of France. Ideally, their offspring would rule both France and England. They were married in 1172, when Henry was only 17 and Marguerite 14 (it had been negotiated when he was only five). Young Henry died in 1183 from dysentery while rebelling against his father. His one child, a son named William, did not survive. The attempt to bring several territories together failed.

Another son, Richard "Lionheart," was betrothed to another daughter of Louis, Alys, in 1169. But the rumor became that Alys, being fostered in the care of Henry II, became his mistress. As the sister of the new king of France, Philip II, Richard was reluctant to renounce the betrothal. When Henry died in 1189 and Richard was crowned, he broke off the intended marriage in 1190 while speaking with Philip on the Third Crusade. A year later Richard married Berengaria of Navarre.

Alys was offered by Philip to Prince John, but Eleanor stopped it. Alys went on to marry William IV Talvas, Count of Ponthieu, in 1195; she was 35, he was 16.

Another son, Geoffrey, was married to Constance of Brittany, daughter of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, in order to quell problems of rebellion there.

While Henry II was figuring out how his kingdom would be divided among his sons, he had nothing left for the youngest son, John. John's nickname of "Lackland" reflects this. Looking far afield for some way to use his youngest, he made an arrangement to marry John to Alice, the daughter of Humbert III of Savoy. John was promised to inherit from his father-in-law Savoy, Piedmont, Maurienne, and other possessions in northern Italy. Alice of Maurienne traveled to England to become a ward of Henry II, but she died before the wedding could take place. John later married twice, both women named Isabella; "local" women whose fathers were important and wanted their grandchildren to rule England.

Political marriages don't always work out as planned.

I've used Henry the Young King mostly as a footnote, but he was much written about while he lived, and accomplished more than being crowned prematurely and dying while rebelling unsuccessfully against his father. I want to dive into his life and motives a little more...next time.