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Counts and dukes of Penthièvre

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In the 11th and 12th centuries the countship of Penthièvre (Breton: Penteur) in Brittany (now in the department of Côtes-d'Armor) belonged to a branch of the sovereign House of Brittany. It initially belonged to the family of Rennes; Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany, gave it to his brother Eudes in 1035, and his descendants formed a cadet branch of the ducal house. Henri d'Avaugour, heir of this family, was dispossessed of the countship in 1235. The Duke of Brittany, Pierre Mauclerc, founder of the Breton House of Dreux, gave it as dowry to his daughter, Yolande, on her marriage in 1238 to Hugh XI of Lusignan, Count of La Marche. John I, Duke of Brittany, Yolande's brother, seized the countship on her death in 1272.

Heirs of Brittany

In 1337 Joan the Lame, Duchess of Brittany, brought Penthièvre to her husband, Charles de Châtillon, Count of Blois. They were subsequently proclaimed the Duchess and Duke of Brittany, prompting the Breton War of Succession. In 1352, during that war, the Estates of Brittany were established, eventually developing the region's parlement. In 1364, Joan and Charles lost the Breton civil war decisively; while they lost the duchy, they were permitted to keep Penthièvre, and Joan was permitted to keep the empty title Duchess of Brittany until her death.

When John V, Duke of Brittany in 1373 went in exile to England, Charles V of France named his brother Louis, Duke of Anjou, as lieutenant-general of Brittany; Louis was also a son-in-law of Joan de Penthièvre. Joan's eldest son Jean de Blois (1340-1404) left Penthièvre to his son, Olivier (1389-1433), who would forfeit it to the Duke of Brittany in 1420.

In 1420, Duke John the Wise was kidnapped by the Count of Penthièvre, son of Joan de Penthièvre. John's wife, Joan of France, besieged the rebels and set free her husband, who confiscated the Penthièvres' goods.

Olivier and his brother Jean de Blois (1393-1454) died childless, passing the recovered countship to Nicole de Blois (1424-1480), daughter of their brother Charles, seigneur of Avaugour (1396-1434).

In 1437 Nicole married Jean II de Brosse. She was deprived of Penthièvre by Francis II, Duke of Brittany in 1465 - thus undermining the Penthièvre family's position in the country. In 1488, at the death of the last Breton duke, Francis II, the head of the Penthièvre family was Jean de Brosse (died 1502), grandson of Nicole de Blois, who asserted his family's claim to the duchy, but Francis' daughter Anne succeeded.

The countship of Penthièvre was restored to Sebastian of Luxemburg, heir of the Brosse family through his mother, Charlotte de Brosse (1506-1540), great-granddaughter of Nicole de Blois through her son Jean (d. 1502) and grandson Rene (1470-1524). The countship was erected for him into a duchy in the peerage of France in 1569. Afterwards it was held by Sebastian's daughter, Marie de Luxembourg, (1562-1623), who also became Duchess of Mercœur by marriage.

Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur, brother-in-law of Henry III of France (last living male-line grandson of Claude, Duchess of Brittany), and a leader of the Catholic League, was made governor of Brittany by the king in 1582. Invoking the hereditary rights of his wife, Marie de Luxembourg, he endeavoured to make himself independent in that province from 1589 onwards, and organized a government at Nantes, proclaiming their young son, Philippe de Lorraine-Mercœur, (d. 1590), "prince and duke of Brittany". He allied with Spain and defeated Henry IV of France's attempts to subjugate Brittany until 20 March 1598 when Mercœur was forced to surrender and subsequently went in exile to Hungary. Philippe died young, leaving his sister, Françoise de Lorraine-Mercœur the duchy of Penthièvre.

Later dukes from various houses

The Duchess of Vendôme's grandson, Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme, inherited Penthièvre in 1669, but it was taken from him by decree in 1687 and adjudged to Anne Marie de Bourbon, Princess de Princess de Conti. In 1696, it was sold to Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count de Toulouse, whose son, Louis de Bourbon, bore the title Duke de Penthièvre. This title passed by inheritance to the House of Orléans.

Counts of Penthièvre

House de Rennes

  • Eudes (1035–1079), son of Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany
  • Geoffrey I (1079–1093), son of Eudes
  • Stephen I (1093–1125), son of Eudes, brother of Geoffrey I
  • Geoffrey II (1125–1148), son of Stephen I
  • Rivallo (1148–1162), son of Geoffrey II
  • Stephen II (1162–1164), son of Rivallo
  • Geoffrey III (1164–1177), son of Geoffrey II, brother of Stephen II
  • Alan I (1177–1212), cousin of Geoffrey III, grandson of Stephen I through his son Henry, called Henry I
  • Henry II of Avagour (1212–1230), son of Alan I, was dispossessed of Penthièvre by Peter I, Duke of Brittany, who gave it to his daughter Yolande on her marriage to Hugh XI of Lusignan

Lords of Avaugour

  • Alan II (1230–1267), son of Henry II
  • Henry III (1267–1304), son of Alan II
  • Henry IV (1301–1334), son of Henry III
  • Joan (1334–1384), granddaughter of Henry IV

Capetian House of Dreux

House of Blois-Châtillon

  • John III (1384–1404), son of Joan
  • Olivier (1404–1433), son of John III - lost the Countship and the rights of Penthievre to the Duke of Brittany after attempting his imprisonment in 1420, and presumed overthrow.
  • John IV (1433–1454), son of John III, brother of Olivier - some aspects of Penthièvre were restored.
  • Nicole (1454–1479), niece of John IV, married Jean II de Brosse

House of Brosse

  • John V (1454–1482), husband of Nicole
  • John VI (1482–1502), son of John V
  • René (1502–1524), son of John VI
  • John VII (1524–1566), son of René

Dukes of Penthièvre

House of Luxembourg

House of Lorraine

House of Bourbon-Vendôme

House of Bourbon-Penthièvre

House of Orléans

Second Restoration

July Monarchy

References

  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

See also

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