The most interesting of the Angevins

September 23rd, 1158 was the birthdate of the most intriguing and enigmatic of the Devil’s Brood, Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany. I confess he has always been a favorite of mine, his brief rule in Brittany and his premature death raising all sorts of interesting What If questions. There is no doubt that if he’d not died of the injuries suffered in that French tournament, English history would have been changed. But how? I think Geoffrey would have been a successful king, certainly more so than John, for he’d proved his capabilities by winning over the turbulent, contentious Breton barons, and he did not share John’s emotional insecurities. Would Richard have dared to go on crusade had Geoffrey been alive in 1189? Or would they have come to a pragmatic understanding based upon Geoffrey’s likely assumption that his reckless older brother would never die peacefully in bed? After Richard’s death at Chalus, would John have challenged Geoffrey for the throne? Would England have had a King Arthur? Of course these speculations are unanswerable, probably one reason why we find them so fascinating.
I miss writing about Geoffrey, so here is a brief scene from Lionheart in which I managed to infiltrate him into the story line despite being dead for six years. In this scene, Richard is very ill with malaria and running such a high fever that he’s begun to hallucinate.
Lionheart, pages 559-560
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Is this what you want, Richard? A familiar figure emerged from the darkness, holding out Joyeuse, the sword Maman had given him on his fifteenth birthday, when he’d been invested as Duke of Aquitaine. (omission) He reached for it, but his brother pulled it away before his fingers could touch the enameled pommel. What good will a sword do you when you are as weak as a mewling kitten? Geoffrey sat on a nearby coffer, tossing the sword aside. You were so pleased when you heard I’d been trampled in that tournament. Very short-sighted of you, Richard. You’d have been better off with me as your heir, much better off.
As if you’d not have connived for my crown, too! You’d never have been satisfied with a duchy if a kingdom was in the offing
He had no energy for speech, but he did not need it, for Geoffrey seemed to pluck his words from the air, saying with a sardonic smile, Yes, but I would have been willing to wait. Face it, Richard, you’ll never make old bones. Other men lust after women. You lust after Death, always have. You’ve been chasing after her like a lovesick lad and sooner or later she’ll take pity and let you catch her. So I could afford to wait. But Johnny had to entangle himself in Philippe’s web, the damned fool.
You entangled yourself in Philippe’s web, too, Richard reminded him. If you had not been plotting with the French, you’d not have been at Lagny when that tournament was held.
You know why I turned to Philippe. I got tired of Papa treating us like his puppet princes, tired of him dangling that accursed crown before us like a hunter’s lure. So did you, remember? You did me one better, too, doing public homage to Philippe for all your fiefs “on this side of the sea” whilst Papa looked on, dumbfounded. But you could safely make use of Philippe, for you knew you could outwit him and outfight him. So could I. Johnny cannot, as he’ll soon learn to his cost. Ah, well, you’ll be dead by then, so mayhap it will not matter so much
Christ Jesus, Geoffrey, of course it matters! Furious, Richard thrashed about, trying to free himself from his sheets. If you’ve come only to mock me, go back to Hell where you belong!
Purgatory, not Hell, Geoffrey said and laughed before fading back into the blackness. Richard called out to him, but he got no answer. He was alone.
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Henry and Eleanor made some major mistakes as parents, but perhaps their greatest blunder was that they utterly failed to engender a sense of solidarity among their sons. Imagine how different their history would have been if Hal, Richard, Geoffrey, and John had been allies, not enemies?