Edward I, King of Normandy

Edward I, King of Normandy (Born 1147, Died 1211) inherited his fathers lands in Normandy, Brittany and southern England upon his fathers death in 1176. On the 4th of August 1176, he was proclaimed King of Normandy at the age of 29.

In 1170 Edward married Constance of Penthièvre, Duchess of Brittany. Constance's father, Conan IV, Duke of Brittany had formed an alliance with Samuel I, King of Normandy against King Henry II of England. In a bid to end to hostilities Henry demanded that Conan's daughter marry his son, Geoffrey. Henry was said to be furious when Constance married Edward and invaded Brittany in retaliation. Conan was supported by King Samuel of Normandy and the King of France and quickly quashed Henry's invasion in Brittany.

Edward further angered Henry II by backing Richard the Lionheart, Henry's youngest son in his claim for the English throne. Edward supported Richard and his two brothers in the English Revolt of 1173 against there father. When Richard was proclaimed King of England in 1189, he rewarded Edward with lands in Kent.

Crusade
In 1189, Edward agreed with King Richard of England and King Phillip of France to join the Third Crusade. He left his brother, George, Duke of Sussex, in control of his lands and as guardian of Prince Samuel. Edward swore an oath to renounce his past wickedness in order to show himself worthy to take the cross. He started to raise and equip a new crusader army. After all his preparations he had an army of 6,000 men-at-arms, 6,000 foot soldiers and a fleet of 200 ships.

Edward and King Philip left Sicily directly for the Middle East on March 30, 1191, and arrived in Tyre in mid-May where they joined the siege of Acre on May 20. After the fall of Acre, Edward moved south along with King Richard, defeating Saladin's forces at the Battle of Arsuf on 7 September 1191. In November of 1191, following the fall of Jaffa, the Crusader army advanced inland towards Jerusalem. The army then marched to Beit Nuba, only 12 miles from Jerusalem. Muslim morale in Jerusalem was so low that the arrival of the Crusaders would probably have caused the city to fall quickly. However, the weather was appallingly bad, cold with heavy rain and hailstorms; this, combined with the fear that the Crusader army, if it besieged Jerusalem, might be trapped by a relieving force, caused the decision to retreat back to the coast to be made. In the first half of 1192 he and his troops refortified Ascalon.

The Crusader army made another advance on Jerusalem, and in June 1192 it came within sight of the city before being forced to retreat once again, this time because of dissension amongst its leaders. In particular, Edward and Richard and the majority of the army council wanted to force Saladin to relinquish Jerusalem by attacking the basis of his power through an invasion of Egypt. The leader of the French contingent, the Duke of Burgundy, however, was adamant that a direct attack on Jerusalem should be made. This split the Crusader army into two factions, neither of which was strong enough to achieve its objective. Without a united command the army had little choice but to retreat back to the coast.

Edward and Richard then decided to invade Egypt, attacking Saladin's chief supply-base—but failed. After this failure, Richard left the Crusade, leaving an army of 4,000 under the command of Edward. Edward made a second attack on Egypt this time besieging the city of Alexandria, which fell to Edward's army on 3 March 1194. Edward fought Saladin one last time at the Battle of Damietta in June 1194. Both sides suffered huge losses at Damietta and were forced to sign a treaty. Edward returned to Alexandria, where he remained for six months before returning to Normandy. Before leaving Egypt, Edward made his youngest brother, Christopher, Duke of Alexandria, creating the Duchy of Alexandria.

In 1204 Edward acquired the eastern half of Crete from Boniface of Montferrat and created the Duchy of Eastern Candia. His son, William was created Duke of Candia. The Venetians purchased Western Candia and Prince William formed a strong alliance with the Venetians.

In 1208, Edward sought permission from the Pope to take the island of Majorca, which had been taken by the Muslim Almohad dynasty. The Pope granted Edward permission to take the island and on 18 May 1208, Prince Samuel departed Marseille along with his brother, Prince Christopher and an army 20,000 strong. Prince Samuel's force was joined by his brother, Prince William, who bought a 1000 Candian foot soldiers. The army was further supplemented with Knights from Marseille, Venetia and the Knights Templar.

The Conquest of Majorca began in 1208 and was to last 3 years. The city of Madina Mayurqa (now Palma de Mallorca) fell in December during the first year of the battle, but the Muslim resistance in the mountains lasted another three years. Prince Samuel left Majorca in 1211 along with his brothers upon hearing the news that King Edward had fallen ill. William Beaumont remained on the island and was created Duke of Majorca.

Issue

 * Samuel II, King of Normandy - Born 1184, Died 1264.
 * Eleanor - Born 1184
 * William, Duke of Candia - Born 1186, Died 1255.
 * Isabel - Born 1186
 * Christopher - 1188
 * Mary - 1190
 * George - 1193
 * Katherine of Thouars (1201 – c. 1240), Dame of Vitre; she married Andre III de Vitre who was noteworthy for rebuilding the Château de Vitré.