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Alix, Duchess of Brittany

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Alix
File:Alix of Thouars.jpg
Duchess of Brittany
ReignApril 1203 – 21 October 1221
PredecessorArthur I
SuccessorJohn I
Co-rulerPeter I (as Duke jure uxoris)
Born1201
Brittany
Died(1221-10-21)21 October 1221
Burial24 November 1225
Villeneuve Abbey, Nantes
SpousePeter I
IssueJohn I, Duke of Brittany
Yolande, Countess of Penthièvre
HouseHouse of Thouars
FatherGuy of Thouars
MotherConstance, Duchess of Brittany
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Alix of Thouars[a] (1200 – 21 October 1221) (in Breton Alis) was hereditary Duchess of Brittany and 5th Countess of Richmond[b] from 1203 to her death.[1][2]

Life

Alix was born in 1201. She was the daughter of Constance, Duchess of Brittany and Guy of Thouars.[3] According to several French historians, Constance died after giving birth to Alix's sisters Catherine and Margaret[4] · [5] · [6] · [7] · [8] · [9] · [10] · .[11] 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 half-brother Arthur and John, King of England. At the Battle of Mirebeau in 1202, Arthur and Eleanor were captured. Arthur was imprisoned at the Château de Falaise and in 1203 disappeared. Eleanor was imprisoned at Corfe Castle.

The Breton barons recognized Alix as Duchess of Brittany after the death of Arthur, instead of Eleanor. This was due to fears that John might claim to rule Brittany as regent for the imprisoned Eleanor. Alix's father Guy became regent for Alix until 1206, when Philip II of France made himself the regent of the duchy in Alix’s name. King Philip II broke off the betrothal of Alix and the Breton prince Henry of Penthièvre, [c] and turned to his French cousin Peter of Dreux, as Alix's husband.[12][13] Pierre married Alix on 27 January 1213, and paid homage to the French king for Brittany.

Alix died on the 21st of October 1221, 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 as John I's regent until 1237.

Children

  1. John I, Duke of Brittany (ca. 1217-1286)[14]
  2. Yolande of Brittany, (1218 - 1272), married Hugh XI of Lusignan, Count of Angoulême and Count of Marche
  3. Arthur of Brittany (1220–1224), betrothed to Jeanne de Craon, daughter of Amaury I de Craon and Jeanne des Roches

Ancestry

Family of Alix, Duchess of Brittany
16. Geoffroy III, Viscount of Thouars (brother of 21)
8. Aimery V, Viscount of Thouars
17. Ameline
4. Geoffroy IV, Viscount of Thouars
18. William IX, Duke of Aquitaine
9. Agnes of Aquitaine
19. Philippa, Countess of Toulouse
2. Guy of Thouars
20. Hugh VI of Lusignan
10. Hugh VII of Lusignan
21. Ildégarde de Thouars (sister of 16)
5. Aénor de Lusignan
11. Saracena de Lezay
1. Alix of Thouars
24. Stephen, Count of Tréguier
12. Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond
25. Hawise de Guingamp
6. Conan IV, Duke of Brittany
26. Conan III, Duke of Brittany
13. Bertha, Duchess of Brittany
27. Maud FitzRoy
3. Constance, Duchess of Brittany
28. David I of Scotland
14. Henry, Earl of Northumbria
29. Maud, Countess of Huntingdon
7. Margaret of Huntingdon
30. William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
15. Ada de Warenne
31. Elizabeth of Vermandois

Sources

References

  1. ^ Chronicon Britannicum
  2. ^ Judith Everard and Michael Jones, The Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and her Family (1171-1221)
  3. ^ John W. Baldwin, The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages, (University of California Press, 1986), 239.
  4. ^ According to historians Dom Morice, Dom Charles Taillandiers, Prudence-Guillaume de Roujoux and Arthur Le Moyne de La Borderie, Constance and Guy had a third daughter, Margaret.
  5. ^ Pierre-Hyacinthe Morice, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 129 and 150
  6. ^ Charles Taillandier, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome second, p. IX
  7. ^ Prudence Guillaume de Roujoux, Histoire des rois et des ducs de Bretagne, Tome second, p. 231
  8. ^ According to historians Pierre Daru and François Manet, Constance and Guy had three daughters.
  9. ^ Pierre Daru, Histoire de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 407
  10. ^ François Manet, Histoire de la Petite-Bretagne, ou Bretagne Armorique, depuis ses premiers habitans connus, Tome second, p. 308
  11. ^ Margaret is called Peter Mauclerc's sister in a 1232 charter, which means that she was either his sister, or his sister-in-law. See Medieval Lands.
  12. ^ Chronique de Guillaume de Nangis
  13. ^ Brittany, Julia M.H. Smith, Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, Ed. William W. Kibler, (Garland Publishing Inc., 1995 ), 148.
  14. ^ Chronicon Ruyensis Cœnobii

Notes

  1. ^ Her name is sometimes spelt Alice (See Everard and Jones, The Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and her Family (1171-1221))
  2. ^ Although Eleanor of Brittany was styled Countess of Richmond as well as titular Duchess of Brittany from 1203 to 1219 by her uncle John, this was only a titular title, as Alix herself was styled Countess of Richmond and even made charters about this estate (See Everard and Jones, The Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and her Family (1171-1221), p 169).
  3. ^ Henry and his family would later become dispossessed of the Countship of Penthièvre by Pierre Mauclerc, who would then bestow the title on Alix's daughter Yolande of Brittany

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alix, Duchess of Brittany.
Alix, Duchess of Brittany
Regnal titles
Preceded by Duchess of Brittany
1203–1221
with Guy of Thouars (1203-1213)
Eleanor (1203-1214)
Peter (1213-1221) 		Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Countess of Richmond
1203–1221
with Guy of Thouars (1203-1213)
Eleanor (titular) (1203-1219)
Peter (1213–1221) 		Succeeded by
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