Constance PENTHIÈVRE Dutchess of Brittany

   FamilySearch ID: L612-TTG
Find A Grave ID: 62575454

  General Notes:

Constance of Penthièvre de Bretagne, hereditary Duchess of Brittany

Constance was the only child of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, and Margaret of Huntingdon, later called Countess of Hereford, granddaughter of David I of Scotland.

As part of a diplomatic settlement in 1181, Constance was forced into marriage with Geoffrey Plantagenet, the fourth son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was twenty when they were married and they had three children:
* Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany
* Matilda/Maud of Brittany, died young
* Arthur, born after his father's death

Constance was the hereditary Duchess of Brittany, yet at her marriage, Geoffrey took total control as de jure uxoris Duke. In 1186, in a riding accident in Paris, Geoffrey was stamped to death during a tournament. Constance then became the ruler of Brittany.

Soon after, King Henry II of England arranged her marriage to Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, on the 3rd of February 1188. They had no issue.

King Richard I proclaimed his heir to be her youngest son, Arthur, in 1191 when signing the peace treaty with Philip II of France, and Constance stepped down in his favor in 1194. She and her husband were not on the best of terms as he had her imprisoned in 1194, but released in 1198 after the Bretons rebelled in support of Constance.

Constance had her marriage annulled and married Guy Thouars in 1198 at Angers. They had twin daughters:
Alix, wife of Pierre Mauclerc
Katherine, wife of Andre III de Vitre
Some sources name a third daughter, Margaret of Thouars

England's King Richard I died in 1199, and Phillip of France made thirteen year old Arthur the Count of Anjou, Maine and Poitou in exchange for his loyalty. Arthur was captured at the instruction of King John Lackland during a siege of Mirabeau, transferred to Rouen with William de Braose in charge of the young political pawn, who vanished without a trace in April of 1203. Eleanor was then captured and held prisoner at Corfe Castle until her death in 1241.

Constance died aged 40, on the 5th of September 1201 at Nantes. She was buried at Villeneuve Abbey in Nantes. Her death is still debated, believed to have been leprosy and complications from the birth of her twin daughters.

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Clan: House of Penthièvre,,.

2. Title of Nobility: Duchess of Brittany, between 1166 and 1201,.

3. Title of Nobility: Countess of Richmond, between 1171 and 1201,.

Constance married Geoffroy II PLANTAGENET Duke of Brittany, son of Henry II PLANTAGENET King of England and Eleanor OF AQUITAINE Queen Consort of England, in 1181. (Geoffroy II PLANTAGENET Duke of Brittany was born on 23 September 1158 in , London, City of London, England,¹⁰³⁷ died on 19 August 1186 in Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France ¹⁰³⁷ and was buried in August 1186 in Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France ¹⁰³⁷.). The cause of his death was Injured in a jousting tournament.