Alix, Duchess of Brittany

Alix
Duchess of Brittany
Reign	April 1203 – 21 October 1221
Predecessor	Arthur I
Successor	John I
Co-ruler	Peter I (as Duke jure uxoris)
Spouse	Peter I
Issue
John I, Duke of Brittany Yolande, Countess of Penthièvre
House	House of Thouars
Father	Guy of Thouars
Mother	Constance, Duchess of Brittany
Born	5 September 1201(1201-09-05) Brittany
Died	21 October 1221(1221-10-21) (aged 20)
Burial	24 November 1225 Villeneuve Abbey, Nantes
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Alix of Thouars (5 September 1201 – 21 October 1221) (in Breton Alis) was the nominal Duchess of Brittany from 1203 to her death.

Life

Alix was born on or shortly before 5 September 1201. She was the daughter of Constance, Duchess of Brittany and Guy of Thouars. Constance died after giving birth to Alix and her twin sister Catherine. Alix's older half-brother was Arthur I, Duke of Brittany and her half-sister was Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany, the children of Constance and Geoffrey Plantagenet. Upon the death of Richard I of England, a power struggle commenced between her brother Arthur and King John of England. At the Battle of Mirebeau in 1202, Arthur and Eleanor were captured. Both children were imprisoned at Corfe Castle and Arthur mysteriously disappeared the next year.

The Breton barons recognized Alix as Duchess of Brittany after the death of Arthur, instead of her older sister, Eleanor. This was due to fears that King John might claim to rule Brittany as regent for the imprisoned Eleanor. Her father Guy became regent for Alix until 1206, when King Philip II of France made himself the regent of the duchy in Alix’s name.

In 1213, the French King arranged her marriage to his cousin Peter of Dreux, who became the regent. Alix died in childbirth, without having exercised much control over her own inheritance. She was succeeded in the duchy by her son John I, but Peter remained the de facto ruler of Brittany until 1237. Alix had two surviving children.

Children

1. John I, Duke of Brittany (1217–1286). Married 1236 Blanche of Navarre, whom he had issue.
2. Yolande of Brittany (1218 – 10 October 1272), Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet. Married January 1236 Hugh XI of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Angouleme, by whom she had issue.
3. Arthur of Brittany (1220–1224)

Source

• Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 96-28, 135-29, 271-28

See also

• Dukes of Brittany family tree

Alix, Duchess of Brittany House of Thouars Born: 5 September 1201 Died: 21 October 1221
French nobility
Preceded by Arthur I	Duchess of Brittany 1203–1221 with Peter I (1213–1221)	Succeeded by John I