Constancy of Brittany

Constancy of Brittany (towards 1161 - September 1201), was Duchesse of Brittany starting from 1166, and countess of Richmond starting from 1171.

She was the girl of Conan IV of Brittany and Marguerite, girl of Henry de Northumberland, prince of Scotland, Count de Northumberland and of Huntingdon, and sister of the kings of Scotland Malcolm IV and Guillaume the Lion.

In 1166, his/her father abdicates in his favor and it becomes duchess of Brittany, whereas the reality of the capacity is in the hands of Henri II of England.

She marries successively:

  1. in 1181, Geoffroy Plantagenêt, wire of the king Henri II of England.
  2. in 1189, Ranulph de Blondeville, count de Chester.
  3. in 1199, Guy de Thouars.

As husband of Constancy, Geoffroy Plantagenêt is proclaimed duke of Brittany under the name of Geoffroy II of Brittany in 1181, but he dies prematurely following wounds received during a tournament organized on August 19th 1186 in Paris by the king of France, Philippe Auguste. Of this first marriage, Constance has two children:

  1. Arthur, which will succeed to him.
  2. Éléonore (or Aliénor), born in 1184 and will be kept captive by Jean without Ground of 1202 until the August 10th 1241, date of its death with Bristol.

After the death of its first husband, Constance exerts really the capacity in Brittany, even after it was remariée with Ranulph de Blondeville, count de Chester, that Henri II of England had imposé.
to him In 1196, it makes recognize his/her son Arthur, only eight years old, like duke by a general meeting of the aristocracy. In reaction of this event which thwarted its intentions, Richard Heart-of-Lion makes it remove by her own husband. The duchess is kept captive with Pontorson or Teillay.
Once released, it makes break its marriage with Ranulph and remarie with Guy de Thouars and gives him two girls:

  1. Alix de Thouars (Alice or Aelis), future wife of Pierre Mauclerc   ;
  2. Catherine married with Andre III of Glazed.
She dies in Nantes between the 1 {{er}} and the September 4th 1201. The November 24th 1225, it is buried with the Abbaye Notre-Dame of Villeneuve from which it had asked the foundation close to Nantes in 1201.

Sources

  • The Charters off Duchess Constancy off Brittany and her Family (1171-1221) /edited by Judith Everard and Michael Jones. - Woodbridge: the Boydell Near, 1999

  • Michael Jones, “family life of the duchess Constancy: the testimony of the charters”, in Celtic Brittany and countries, languages, history, civilization: mixtures offered to the memory of Leon Fleuriot (1923-1987) , under dir it. G. Menn and J. there. Moing (Saint-Brieuc, Rennes, 1992), p. 349-360.
  • Y. Hillon, “Brittany and the Capétiens-Plantagenêt competition: an example - the duchess Constancy (1186-1202)”, Yearly of Brittany , T. 92,1985, p. 111-144.

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