ABSTRACT
In 1196 Richard the Lionheart gave his widowed sister Joan in marriage to Raymond VI, count of Toulouse. Despite the words of William of Newburgh, generally considered the most judicious of chroniclers, they have believed that the priorities of these kings lay elsewhere. This chapter traces the course of the conflict and assesses its significance. The dispute over the succession to Toulouse went back to the last decade of the eleventh century. In 1141 Louis VII planned an expedition to Toulouse to vindicate Eleanor's claim. Given the boldness with which Henry II had pursued, and made good, his claim to England, it was readily predictable that he would also decide to pursue his wife Eleanor's claim to Toulouse. In 1159 he concluded an alliance with Count Ramon-Berengar IV of Barcelona, ruler of the kingdom of Aragon, and old foe of the counts of Toulouse, and also with some of Ramon-Berengar's friends, notably with Raymond Trencavel, viscount of Béziers and Carcassonne.
