Treaty of Paris (1259)

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Ratification of the Treaty of Paris by Henry III, 13 October 1259.
Archives Nationales (France).

The Treaty of Paris (also known as the Treaty of Albeville) was a treaty between Louis IX of France and Henry III of England, agreed to on 4 December 1259, ending 100 years of conflicts between the Capetian and Plantagenet dynasties.




Under the treaty, Henry acknowledged loss of the Duchy of Normandy. However, Philip had failed in his attempts to occupy the Norman islands in the Channel. The treaty held that "islands (if any) which the King of England should hold" would be retained by him "as peer of France and Duke of Aquitaine"[1] (the islands came to be collectively called the Channel Islands, consisting of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and some smaller islands).

Henry agreed to renounce control of Maine, Anjou and Poitou, which had been lost under the reign of King John, but remained Duke of Aquitaine, and he kept the lands of Gascony and parts of Aquitaine but only as a vassal to Louis.



Doubts on the treaty's interpretaton began almost as soon as it was signed.[3] The agreement resulted in the fact that the English kings had to pay homage liege to the French monarchs for territories on the continent. The situation did not help the friendly relationship between the two states, as it made two sovereigns of equal powers in their countries in fact unequal. According to Professor Malcolm Vale,[citation needed] the Treaty of Paris was one of the indirect causes of the Hundred Years' War.

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