When Richard I captured Sicily in 1191, he signed an agreement making his little nephew Arthur, Duke of Brittany, his heir. But when Richard lay dying in 1199, he changed his mind and gave the crown to his brother John, prompting Philip II of France, who favoured Arthur, to throw his weight behind a rebellion.

Arthur besieged the French castle where John’s mother Queen Eleanor was staying, but John lifted the siege and imprisoned the twelve-year-old Duke at Falaise. When the boy’s guardian there refused to participate in murder, Arthur was moved to Rouen, only to vanish in April 1203. Rumours persisted that John himself had murdered him, though nothing was ever confirmed.

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