General Notes

Princess of France, Countess of Vexin: Alixe was the full sister of King Philip II Augustus, who was born 1165. Alix had been engaged as a young child to Richard the Lion Hearted, son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. As a child, Alix was sent to the English court. Henry began a sexual relationship with her, and she bore his child out-of-wedlock before she was 18; the child was stillborn. Richard refused to marry Alix; instead, Richard had a homosexual relationship with Alix's brother, Philip. Alix was banished from the English court by Eleanor when Henry died, and Alix was locked up for a period. Ultimately, Alix's granddaughter, the Countess of Ponthieu born about 1216, married Henry and Eleanor's great-grandson, King Fernanado II of Castile and Leon. Alix's great-granddaughter thru that union, Eleanor of Castile, married a great-great grandson of Henry and Eleanor in 1254 and ascended to the throne of England in 1272 when her husband became King Edward I. The union between Eleanor of Castile and Edward I was a happy one.