[236] Rob. Torigni, a. 1168; Epp. ccccix., ccccxxxiv. (Robertson, _Becket_, vol. vi.), pp. 408, 455, 456. Henry meanwhile was endeavouring to strengthen his political position by alliances in more remote quarters; the marriage of his eldest daughter with the duke of Saxony had taken place early in 1168;[237] two years before, the hand of one of her sisters had been half promised to the marquis of Montferrat for his son, in return for his good offices with the Pope;[238] and a project was now on foot for the marriage of Henry’s second daughter, Eleanor, with the king of Castille--a marriage which took place in 1169;[239] while the infant Jane, who was scarcely four years old, was betrothed to the boy-king William of Sicily.[240] For Richard his father was now endeavouring to gain the hand of Adela of France, the younger daughter of Louis and Constance, as a sort of security for the investiture of Aquitaine; while at the same time Henry was on the one hand making interest with the Emperor’s Italian foes, the rising commonwealths of Lombardy and the jurisconsults of Bologna;[241] and on the other, Frederic was endeavouring to regain his alliance by an embassy headed by his own cousin, Henry’s new-made son-in-law, the duke of Saxony.[242] [237] Gerv. Cant. (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 205. From the Pipe Roll of the year, with Mr. Eyton’s comment (_Itin. Hen. II._, p. 109), it seems that Matilda and her mother crossed the sea together in September 1167, and that Matilda went on to Germany, where she was married early next year, while Eleanor returned to England before Christmas. Rob. Torigni, a. 1167. [238] Ep. cclii. (Robertson, _Becket_, vol. vi.), p. 68. [239] R. Diceto (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 334. The original scheme seems to have been for marrying both Eleanor and Jane to Spanish sovereigns, among whom, however, Castille is not named. In a letter written in the summer of 1168 John of Salisbury speaks of “regum, Navariensis aut Aragonensis scilicet, quibus filias suas dare disponit [rex].” Ep. ccccxxxiv. (Robertson, _Becket_, vol. vi.) p. 457. [240] Ep. dxxxviii. (_ib._ vol. vii.) p. 26. Jane was born at Angers in October 1165; Rob. Torigni, _ad ann._ [241] Epp. dxxxviii., dxxxix. (Robertson, _Becket_, vol. vii.), pp. 26, 30, 31. [242] Rob. Torigni, a. 1168. Gerv. Cant. (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 205. _Draco Norm._, l. iii. cc. 4, 5, vv. 191–360 (Howlett, _Will. Newb._, vol. ii. pp. 718–724).