King Henry II travelled to France to meet Louis VII the French King and propose a marriage between his son Henry and Louis' daughter Margaret. This was accepted but the actual betrothal did not occur until November of 1160. Louis' children were all female, two by Eleanor of Aquitaine and the third, Margaret, by Constance , the daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile. Henry was only three years old and Margaret was less than a year old. ^[1]

At the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 Alfonso, along with a coalition of Christian leaders, defeated the Almohads and the Muslim-held lands in Spain were retaken.