September 1066
King Phillipe I of France sat at a table, in the chambers of the royal council, surrounded by older, more experienced statesmen, whose experience could be invaluable yet dangerous. As he took a sip of some sweet Brugndian, red wine he pondered the members of his council,”T
hese men act as though we are friends, allies and kin. We’ll see if they prove themselves to be loyal or not.”
As he gently put the crystal goblet back on the fine, oak, table his Regent Étienne cleared his throat,”There is much to do your majesty, namely, that you should pick a woman to be your queen, and mother of your heirs.”
Phillipe nodded,”Of course, Regent Étienne. Has The Duchess of Tuscany said whether she’d consider a match with me?”
“Yes she did, she said she would welcome your suit….It would be a fine marriage, if you had children by her the crown would eventually inherit a great deal of land in Italy.”
“That does sound good.”
Duke Guilhèm de Poitou, the French King’s spymaster spoke up, from his seat to the right side of the table,”Yes, but I would consider other brides first, inheriting in Italy could eventually lead to a devastating war with the Holy Roman Empire, as my cousin views himself as rightful lord of Northern Italy.”
The King’s stepfather and chancellor, Raoul, Count of Amiens interjected,”The Duke of Aquitaine does make a good point King Phillipe. But it is still your decision, and I believe you have sound judgement.”
“Thank you for your faith in me stepfather, I do indeed wish to look at other candidates, just to be sure.”
The Regent took a sip of his wine and said,”Another candidate is Rocca de Hauteville, niece of Robert Guiscard, the Duke of Apulia.”
“How old is she?”
“Sixteen, your majesty, they say she is of good character as well.”
Phillipe shook his head,”That may be true, but I want to marry a woman of higher status than the niece of a duke.”
Étienne inclined his head slightly,”Very well, you are in luck that there are a number of eligible princesses as well.”
“Like who?”
“Well the King of Norway has two unwed daughters, only a few years your senior.”
“They are my cousins through my maternal aunt though, even if the pope were to acquiesce to the union, the children we may have may suffer due to our degree of kinship. Even marrying Rocca would be preferable to that.”
“Very well then. The Kings of Denmark, England and Navarra also have unwed daughters and sisters.
“Tell me about Denmark and Navarra, I’d rather not marry into an Anglo Saxon house that’ll be dethroned soon anyways.”
“Well, the Navarrese king’s sisters are Eremnisinda, Ximena and Maior. They are twenty-five, twenty-one and twenty respectively.”
“Hmmm. The eldest is too old for my liking, and last I heard Navarra isn’t very powerful.”
Duke Thiabalt of Champagne nodded in agreeance,”Yes, King Antso can barely muster two thousand men.”
“That won’t do it all then. Tell me of the Danish Princesses.”
Étienne raised his eyebrows,”There are two that are close to in age your majesty. The older of the two is Gunnhild, who is sixteen, they say she has a formidable attitude though. The other is Princess Ingrid, who is the same age as your majesty. Reports from Danish court say she is a spritely, hard working girl, so she may make a fine queen.”
Count Étienne of Boruges chimed in after biting into an apple,”They are both legitimized bastards though, so that may lower how they viewed within our kingdom.”
King Phillipe took a deep breath, and the teen then announced,”I will marry Princess Ingrid of Denmark after we are both of age to wed. Hopefully she will make a good queen.”
As Prince-Bishop Gervais of Reimsas and other members of the council made ready to leave Phillipe brought up more order,”Speaking of marriages, I’d like you to sound out whether King Sancho of Castile would like to be betrothed to my sister, Princess Emma.”
The Prince-Bishop bowed before leaving,”Of course your majesty, hopefully we can help King Sancho drive infidels from Iberia.”
King Philipe nodded, despite his inner doubts,”Yes, defending Christendom there would be a fine venture.”
As the rest of the council prepared to leave for their other duties Phillipe’s stepfather Raoul approached him,”Phillipe, your mother asks if she can request your presence for a short while, before dinner.”
The king nodded,”Of course, I hope she won’t be upset that I arranged Emma’s betrothal without consulting her.”
“We’ll see, you know how she can be sometimes.”
One hour later…
It turned out that Raoul’s prediction was correct, for after Phillipe told his mother of his sister’s betrothal she started stalking her chambers, furious,”You didn’t even think to ask me first? She is my daughter, and you marry her to whoever you see fit to without even asking me?”
“Mother I…”
Anna threw a metal goblet at the wall, and it fell to the stone floor with a clang “You should have asked me dammit, but no you wanted to show how much of a king you are by making the decision yourself.”
Phillipe suddenly felt hot in the face, not the shame that he felt a moment ago, but anger and he raised his voice,”Stop this nonsense now! I made the decision and you are going to have to abide by it, whether you like it or not mother. The same goes for Hugues’s betrothal, I am King here, you are not.”
“Leave me Phillipe, now!”
As Phillipe walked to the door he gave a snippy goodbye,”Very well Mother, I’ll see you at dinner, hopefully you’ll be in a better mood.”