cted
in the provinces that had declared for Arthur, without any regard to
the interests of that prince. Constantia, seized with a violent
jealousy that he intended to usurp the entire dominion of them [f],
found means to carry off her son secretly from Paris: she put him into
the hands of his uncle; restored the provinces which had adhered to
the young prince; and made him do homage for the duchy of Britany,
which was regarded as a rerefief of Normandy. From this incident,
Philip saw that he could not hope to make any progress against John;
and being threatened with an interdict on account of his irregular
divorce from Ingelburga, the Danish princess whom he had espoused, he
became desirous of concluding a peace with England. After some
fruitless conferences, the terms were at last adjusted; and the two
monarchs seemed in this treaty to have an intention, besides ending
the present quarrel, of preventing all future causes of discord, and
of obviating every controversy which could thereafter arise between
them. They adjusted the limits of all their territories, mutually
secured the interests of their vassals; and, to render the union more
durable, John gave his niece, Blanche of Castile, in marriage to
Prince Lewis, Philip's eldest son, and with her the baronies of
Issoudun and Gracai, and other fiefs in Berri. Nine barons of the
King of England, and as many of the King of France, were guarantees of
this treaty; and all of them swore that if their sovereign violated
any article of it, they would declare themselves against him, and
embrace the cause of the injured monarch [g].
[FN [f] Hoveden, p.795. [g] Norman Duchesnii, p. 1055. Rymer, vol.
i. p. 117, 118, 119. Hoveden, p. 814. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 47.]

John, now secure, as he imagined, on the side of France, indulged his
passion for Isabella, the daughter and heir of Aymar Tailleffer, Count
of Angouleme, a lady with whom he had become much enamoured. His
queen, the heiress of the family of Gloucester, was still alive:
Isabella was married to the Count de la Marche, and was already
consigned to the care of that nobleman; though, by reason of her
tender years, the marriage had not been consummated. The passion of
John made him overlook all these obstacles: he persuaded the Count of
Angouleme to carry off his daughter from her husband; and having, on
some pretence or other, procured a divorce from his own wife, he
espoused Isabella; [MN The king's marriag