Dukes of Brittany
Conan I of Brittany, Duke of Brittany, "le Tort", b abt 945, d 27 Jun 992 (killed). He md Ermengarde of Anjou abt 967, daughter of Geoffrey I "Grisgonelle" of Anjou, Count of Anjou, and Adelaide de Vermandois.
Children of Conan I of Brittany and Ermengarde of Anjou were:
  • Judith of Brittany, b abt 970, Bretagne, France, d 16 Jun 1017, Normandy. She md Richard II of Normandy, Duke of Normandy, "le Bon", abt 988, son of Richard I of Normandy, Duke of Normandy, and Gunnora.
  • Geoffrey of Brittany, Duke of Brittany, b abt 973.
Geoffrey of Brittany [a], Duke of Brittany, b abt 973, Bretagne, France, d 1008. He md Hawise abt 997, illegitimate daughter of Richard I of Normandy, Duke of Normandy, "Sans Peur/the Fearless", and Unknown Mistress.
Children of Geoffrey of Brittany and Hawise were:
  • Eudes of Brittany, Count of Brittany and Penthievre, b 999. See LINE A
  • Alan III, Duke of Brittany, b abt 1002. See LINE B
LINE A
Eudes of Brittany [b], Count of Brittany and Penthievre, b 999, Bretagne, France, d 7 Jan 1079. He md Agnes. She was b abt 1025. He also had a son by an unknown mistress.
Children of Eudes of Brittany and Agnes were:
  • Bardolf b abt 1052. See LINE A1
  • Stephen I of Brittany, Count of Brittany, b abt 1058. See LINE A2
Child of Eudes of Brittany and unknown mistress was:
LINE B
Alan III of Brittany, Duke of Brittany, b abt 1002, d 1040. He md Bertha of Blois abt 1028, daughter of Eudes II of Blois, Count of Blois, and Ermengarde of Auvergne.
Children of Alan III of Brittany and Bertha of Blois were:

NOTES:
a. By his wife Hawise, daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy, he had two sons, Alan and Eudes (or Eudon), and a daughter Adela, who became abbess of Saint-Georges at Rennes. During their mother's lifetime, the two sons appear to have been joint rulers of Brittany, but upon her death in 1034, dissentions broke out between them. Peace was eventually reached under a settlement whereby Eudon received a portion of territory, while the remainder of Brittany was retained by Alan. When the latter died in 1040, Eudon siezed the whole to the exclusion of his nephew Conan, who recovered it in 1057.

b. Several of his sons were styled Counts of Brittany. The eldest son, Geoffrey Boterel, succeeded to his father in Penthievre, Treguier, and the remainder of his Breton lands, and was slain in 1093. Brien, another son and a count of Brittany, appears to have had a grant of Cornwall from William the Conqueror, but nothing more is known of him after 1069. Alan I "the Red" (or Rufus), a count of Brittany was most likely at the battle of Hastings, for thereafter he formed one of the immediate entourage of the Conqueror and was a frequent witness to royal charters. He held immense estates in Yorkshire, and a total of over 400 manors. He died unmarried in 1089. Another son, also named Alan II, called "the Black" (Niger) succeeded his brother Alan the Red, but died unmarried in 1093.

c. Eudes' youngest son, he succeeded his brother Alan the Black in the honor of Richmond, as well as succeeding to the Breton lands. He served as a surety for Henry I for the observance of an alliance with Robert, Count of Flanders, and in 1101, at Windsor, witnessed charters of the King for Herbert, Bishop of Norwich. He was a benefactor of St. Mary, York, and from 1125-35 confirmed to that house gifts of churches, tithes and lands in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk, which formed part of the honor of Richmond. Around 1110 he and his wife founded the Augustinian abbey of Ste. Croix at Guingamp, and in 1130, he founded the Cistercian abbey of Begard. Stephen, in addition to son Alan, his successor of the honor of Richmond, also had sons Geoffrey Boterel II and Henry, and three daughters, Maud, wife of Walter de Gant, Tiffany (or Theophania) who married the chamberlain of Tancarville, and Olive, wife of Henry de Fourgeres and William de St. John. Ancestral Roots states there was another daughter, Eleanor (or Agnorie), wife of Alan de Dinan.

d. There is some contradiction in the enumeration of this Alan between Complete Peerage and Ancestral Roots. CP calls him Alan III, while AR states he is Alan II. On CP's part, this may stem from the two earlier brothers, mentioned above, of Stephen, who were both named Alan. But he is identified as the same individual, irregardless of enumeration, who married Bertha, daughter of Conan, Duke of Brittany. He was the second son of Stephen, and appears to have been designated as the successor to his father's lands in England. In 1139 when his nephew was killed at the King's court by the servants of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, and the Bishops of Lincoln and Ely, Alan urged the King to reprisals, thus contributing to the fall of the bishops. In 1140, he seized the castle of Galclint, ejecting William d'Aubigny therefrom, and later ravaged Ripon and the property of the archbishopric of York. In that same year, King Stephen deprived Reynold de Dunstanville of his lands in Cornwall and gave the county to Alan, whereby whether assumed or styled, he became Earl of Cornwall. He fought with King Stephen at the battle of Lincoln in 1141, and later that year was taken prisoner by Ranulph, the Earl of Chester, who forced him to do homage and surrender the earldom of Cornwall to Reynold de Dunstanville. In 1145 he left England and went to Brittany, it is said likely due to his wife having become heiress of the Duchy (as daughter of Conan III, Duke of Brittany), and never returned to England.

e. After the death of Alan, Bertha married Eudon, the Vicomte of Porhoet in or before 1148, who, upon her father's death the same year, was recognized as Duke of Brittany. She held Costessy and other lands in Norfolk in dower.

f. He was under age when he succeeded his father in the Earldom of Richmond. In 1156 he crossed to Brittany, besieged and took Rennes and sent his stepfather, Eudon, to flight. Not long after, Eudon was taken prisoner by Ralph de Fougeres and Conan was recognized as Duke of Brittany. He was in England around 1156-1158, where he executed charters in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Hertfordshire, and by Apr 1158 he was at Rennes, where he executed, with his mother's consent, a charter for the abbey of St. Melaine. When Geoffrey, brother of King Henry II died in Jul 1158, Conan siezed said Geoffrey's comte of Nantes, and in response, Henry II ordered the honour of Richmond to be seized and crossed into France to do so. But Conan met him at Avranches on 29 Sep, surrendered Nantes, and made his peace. Evidently, the honour of Richmond was soon restored to him. Aside from a likely return to England for his marriage to Margaret of Scotland, he appears thereafter to have remained mostly in Brittany. In late 1166, when his only daughter and heir, Contance, was betrothed to Geoffrey, son of Henry II, he surrendered the Duchy of Brittany to the King, retaining only Guingamp and its dependencies. When the King was in Brittany thereafter, Conan appears to have been in his attendance.

g. She was active throughout her life as a benefactress and founder of religious houses. In 1166, when aged five years or less, she was betrothed to Geoffrey, son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the marriage occurring in 1181, and which lasted until Geoffrey's death in a tournament in 1186. The following year she married Ranulph, Earl of Chester, but she was "averse to the marriage and does not seem willingly to have consorted with him". This must have been the case, as in 1196, she was taken by her husband, and imprisoned in his castle, a step which evidently lead to an insurrection in Brittany. But she appears to have recovered her freedom by the summer of 1198. The following year she repudiated her marriage to him, and married Guy de Thouars, who survived her.

h. His brother, Bodin, held Ravensworth, Mickleton and Romaldkirk, etc. at Domesday.

i. Forester of the New Forest and Arkengarthdale, Yorkshire, by grant of Conan, Duke of Brittany.

j. She had Barwick-on-Tees in free marriage.

SOURCES:
AR: Line 39[24-26], Line 96[26-27], Line 119[26-27], Line 121[21-22], Line 143[24], Line 214[21-25], Line 214A[24-25], Line 226[23-28]; CP Vol V[416-417(d)], Vol X[779-796].
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