Alys of France, (or Alice) Countess of
Vexin (4 October 1160 – c. 1220) was a French princess, the daughter of
Louis VII, King of France and his second wife,
Constance of Castile
Constance of Castile (1136 or 1140 – 4 October 1160) was Queen of France as the second wife of Louis VII, who married her following the annulment of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was a daughter of Alfonso VII of León and Berengar ...
.
Life
Alys was the half-sister of
Marie
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in ...
and
Alix of France
Alice of France (french: Alix; July/August 1150 – 1197/1198) was countess consort of Blois by marriage to Theobald V, Count of Blois. She was regent of Blois during the absence of her spouse in 1190-1191, and regent during the minority of Loui ...
, Louis's children by
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
, and the younger sister of
Margaret of France. Just five weeks after Constance died giving birth to Alys, Louis married
Adèle of Champagne, by whom he had two further children, including the future
King Philip II of France.
In January 1169, Louis and
King Henry II of England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...
signed a contract for the marriage between Alys and Henry's son
Richard the Lionheart. The 8-year-old Alys was then sent to England as Henry's ward.
In 1177, Cardinal Peter of Saint Chrysogonus, on behalf of
Pope Alexander III, threatened to place England's continental possessions under an
interdict if Henry did not proceed with the marriage. There were widespread rumors that Henry had not only made Alys his mistress, but that she had a child with him. Henry died in 1189. King Richard married
Berengaria of Navarre on 12 May 1191, while still officially engaged to Alys.
Philip had offered Alys to
Prince John, but Eleanor prevented the match.
[W.L. Warren, ''King John'', 43.] Alys married
William IV Talvas,
Count of Ponthieu
The County of Ponthieu (, ), centered on the mouth of the Somme, became a member of the Norman group of vassal states when Count Guy submitted to William of Normandy after the battle of Mortemer.Dunbabin.France in the Making. Ch.4. The Principa ...
, on 20 August 1195. They had two daughters:
Marie, Countess of Ponthieu
Marie of Ponthieu (17 April 1199 – 21 September 1250) was ''suo jure'' Countess of Ponthieu and Countess of Montreuil, ruling from 1221 to 1250.
Biography
Marie was the daughter of William IV of Ponthieu and Alys, Countess of the Vexin, and gra ...
, and Isabelle; and a
stillborn son named Jean.
See also
*
Cultural depictions of Alys of France
References
Sources
*Churchill, Winston. ''A History of the English Speaking People''.
*
Poole, A.L. ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta''.
*
Ralph of Diceto
*
Roger of Hovedon
*
Benedict of Peterborough
*
Gerald of Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alys, Countess of Vexin
Vexin, Alys, Countess of
Mistresses of Henry II of England
House of Capet
Vexin, Alys, Countess of
Vexin, Alys, Countess of
Year of death uncertain
12th-century English women
12th-century English people
12th-century French women
12th-century French people
13th-century French women
13th-century English women
13th-century English people
Daughters of kings