Guy of Thouars
| Guy of Thouars | |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | Constance, Duchess of Brittany |
| Noble family | House of Thouars |
| Father | Geoffroy IV of Thouars |
| Mother | Aénor de Lusignan |
| Died |
13 April 1213 Chemillé |
Guy of Thouars (died 12 April 1213) was the third husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany, whom he married in 1199 in Angers, County of Anjou between August and October 1199[lower-alpha 1][1] after her son Arthur of Brittany entered Angers to be recognized as count of the three countships of Anjou, Maine and Touraine. He was an Occitan noble, a member of the House of Thouars.
Between 1196 and the time of her death delivering twin daughters, Constance ruled Brittany with her young son Arthur I, Duke of Brittany as co-ruler. When Duke Arthur I died in 1203, he was succeeded by his infant maternal sister, Alix of Thouars. Guy served as Regent of Brittany for his infant daughter Alix, Duchess of Brittany from 1203 to 1206.
In 1204, Guy de Thouars as regent of Duchess Alix, vassal of the Philip II, King of France, undertook the siege of the Normans island fortress of Mont Saint-Michel. Because the abbey would not surrender, he set fire to the village and massacred the population. He was obliged to beat a retreat under the powerful walls of the abbey. The fire which he himself lit extended to the buildings, and the roofs fell prey to the flames. Philip II paid Abbot Jordan for the reconstruction cost.
In 1206 Philip II took the regency of Brittany himself, much to the consternation of the Breton nobles. [lower-alpha 2]
Guy of Thouars died in 1213 in Chemillé in the county of Maine, and was buried with Constance at Villeneuve Abbey, or the Abbaye de Villeneuve in Les Sorinières outside of Nantes. 'Situated at Nantes south gate, Abbey de Villeneuve' was 'founded in 1201 by Constance de Panthièvre, the Duchess of Brittany ...'[2]
Issue
Guy married Constance of Brittany in 1199.[3] They had two daughters:
- Alix of Thouars (1200 - 1221), who succeeded her maternal brother in 1203 as suo jure Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Richmond;
- Catherine of Thouars (1201 - c. 1240), Dame of Aubigné; she married Andrew III, Baron of Vitré,[4] in 1212;
Several sources indicate that Constance and Guy might have had a third daughter:[5]
- Margaret of Thouars,[lower-alpha 3][6][7][8][lower-alpha 4][9][10][lower-alpha 5] (1201 - 1216/1220) first wife of Geoffrey I, Viscount of Rohan.[11][12][13]
In 1203, Guy married as his second wife Eustachie of Chemillé. They had a son:
- Peter, Lord of Chemillé (1204-1254/55), who married Eleanor of Porhoët.
- Thomas of Chémillé (d. after January 1246).
Ancestry
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See also
References
- ↑ Judith Everard, & Michael Jones. The Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and Her Family, 1171-1221, The Boydell Press, 1999, p 135
- ↑ http://www.abbayedevilleneuve.com/en/component/content/article/9-presentation/1-abbaye-de-villeneuve>
- ↑ Amy Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings, (Harvard University Press, 1978), 351.
- ↑ Michael Lower, The Barons' Crusade: A Call to Arms and Its Consequences, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 48
- ↑ Arthur Le Moyne de La Borderie, Histoire de Bretagne, Tome troisième, p. 288
- ↑ Pierre-Hyacinthe Morice, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 129 and 150
- ↑ Charles Taillandier, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome second, p. IX
- ↑ Prudence Guillaume de Roujoux, Histoire des rois et des ducs de Bretagne, Tome second, p. 231
- ↑ Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, comte Daru, Histoire de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 407
- ↑ François Manet, Histoire de la Petite-Bretagne, ou Bretagne Armorique, depuis ses premiers habitans connus, Tome second, p. 308
- ↑ Medieval Lands
- ↑ Pierre-Hyacinthe Morice, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 129"
- ↑ Prudence Guillaume de Roujoux, Histoire des rois et des ducs de Bretagne, Tome second, p. 231
- Everard, J.A. & Jones, M. Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and her Family, The Boydell Press, 1999
- Everard, J.A. Brittany and the Angevins, Cambridge University Press, 2000
Footnotes
- ↑ The first act mentioning Constance and Guy dates back to October 1199 and on 27 August 1201, Guy “was still in his second regnal year” (Everard & Jones. The Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and Her Family, 1171-1221, 1999, p 135.
- ↑ The young Arthur had already sworn fealty to Philip as king in 1199; Philip now chose this opportunity to exert direct influence in Brittany. In 1213 Philip II of France arranged for Alix of Thouars to marry Peter of Dreux.
- ↑ 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, called Margaret.
- ↑ Historians Pierre Daru and François Manet state that Constance and Guy had three daughters, but do not specify their names.
- ↑ 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 website.