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current King Richard – of whom there were many. Some thought was given to Eleanor, daughter of Richard’s deceased brother Geoffrey and sister to Arthur, the duke of Brittany, who was one of Louis’s companions at court. But an ongoing conflict between Richard and Arthur made this match less attractive, so Philip turned his attentions to the daughters of Alfonso VIII of Castile (who was married to Richard’s sister Eleanor) of whom three were of a suitable age. Negotiations began in early 1199 but were interrupted by Richard’s sudden death in April at the siege of Châlus.
    Richard’s youngest brother John immediately claimed the throne of England, as his brother’s heir, but this was challenged by Arthur and his supporters in Brittany, Anjou and Maine; Arthur’s late father, Geoffrey, had been John’s elder brother, so if the laws of primogeniture were to be strictly interpreted then Arthur’s claim was superior. However, primogeniture was not yet the exact science it would later become, and it was more open to interpretation about whether the younger son of a former king had a better claim to the throne than a grandson whose own father had never ruled – the question of casus regis (this related only to royal inheritance, not non-royal succession to other estates, which muddied the waters still further). Norman custom favoured the son and Angevin custom the grandson, thus setting the barons of Normandy and Anjou against each other; there was little point in looking to England for a precedent as the line of succession there had been bent and twisted almost out of all recognition over the preceding two hundred years. In general there was a preference for an adult man over a child, and consideration also needed to be given to the practicalities of the situation. In this particular case Eleanor of Aquitaine, John’s mother, who was duchess of Aquitaine in her own right and therefore had many resources at her disposal, favoured her son over her grandson, which tipped matters in John’s favour. Meanwhile, Arthur’s claim was hampered by the inconvenient facts that he had never been to England and that he was twelve years old.
    All of this provided Philip with an opportunity to profit, so he suspended the marriage negotiations and invaded Normandy. During the next few years he would switch his support from John to Arthur and back again depending on what was more politically convenient at the time.
    A truce was declared in October 1199. John, by then in desperate need of peace with Philip, agreed to the marriage of one of his nieces with Louis, promising 30,000 marks of silver, the castle and lands of Gisors, the county of Evreux and those castles and lands which had been occupied by the French king at the time of Richard’s death. Philip agreed, and French representatives were dispatched to Castile, where they encountered the elderly Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had been enlisted by John to help with the marriage arrangements. She met the princesses and after careful consideration recommended Alfonso’s third daughter Blanche as the future queen of France. The French ambassadors accepted her choice and returned to Philip with the news; Eleanor undertook to bring the girl north.
    Further negotiations took place in early 1200 to arrange a more long-term peace between Philip and John, and a treaty was sealed at Le Goulet on 22 May. Louis, who had presumably been awaiting with some interest the outcome of the decision on his future life partner, was summoned, and he and Blanche were married the next day; they were both twelve. As we will see in later chapters, this was to be one of the most successful royal marriages of the Middle Ages; Blanche and Louis would form an effective partnership which would go from strength to strength. But neither of them could know that as, no doubt dazed by events, they returned to Paris to start their life together.
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    When Eleanor of Aquitaine had met her three granddaughters she