Chapter X
The Lion in Waiting
The death of Henri was a hard blow to Charles. Not that he mourned his brother much, but he was still in the dark as to this “secret”, and it annoyed him greatly. The next couple of years were quiet. Charles spent his time raising his children, and on the occasional pheasant hunt with his vassals.
In May 1105 Charles’ eldest daughter, Almodos, matures into a fine woman. Charles arranges her marriage to the count of Avranches, who is heir to the Duchy of Normandy. Charles’ own heir, Geraud, also reaches manhood. He plans to wed him to the daughter of the heir to the English throne, but she is not old enough, so it’ll have to wait a couple of years. Charles continues keeping a low profile, seeing a few family members mature, two daughters fall ill, and his 2nd son becoming spymaster.
Géraud and Aelfwyn
are joined
Charles marries his heir to Aelfwyn de Normandie, and with a little luck their offspring will rule both England and France. He also marries his daughter, Helvis, to the Count of Taranto. A foot inside on the Italian Peninsula could prove valuable. 1107 does indeed see many a wedding bells a ringing.
Charles builds a church in Poitiers. How very pious of him.
England starts to expand into Wales. They will no doubt succeed in this endeavor.
Eléonore of France dies of illness on August 11th 1108. Her 17 year-old son, Bouchard d’Albret, succeeds her. A d’Albret is now King of France, but it is a weakened France. Charles still intends to claim the title for himself, and create a true France, a unified France.
In December 1108 Charles’ wife dies. He is 39 years old, has plenty of children, and therefore sees no reason to re-marry. Instead he focuses on finding suitable company for his sons.
The Duchy of Britanny is still independent, and Charles starts planning for invasion. The Duchy is not very strong, and Charles himself can muster an army over twice the size of the enemy’s. Defeat is not a possibility, especially if the King of England decides to join in. But that is for the future, as Charles’ reputation isn’t what it could be at this point, and so he decides to wait.
To be continued...