Conan III. (Brittany)

Conan III. (* 1095 - 17 September 1148 ), called the fat one ( le Gros ), was Duke of Brittany and Count of Nantes . He was the son of Duke Alain IV ( House of Cornouaille ) and Ermengarde of Anjou.

He followed his father when he abdicated in 1112. In the security of an alliance with the Capetian Ludwig VI. , the king of France , who protected him from surprises from the east, he took up the fight against the feudal lords, whereby he brought the country great progress in the maintenance of the peace. Conversely, he united his army with that of Louis VI. in his fight against Henry I , the King of England , although he was married to an illegitimate daughter of Heinrich, Mathilde († after 1128).

Descendants and dispute over succession

He had three children with Mathilde:

• Hoël († 1156), Count of Nantes;
• Berthe († 1158/64), ∞ I) Alain "the black" from Penthièvre , Lord of Richmond, ∞ II) Odo († 1170), Vice Count of Porhoët;
• Konstanze († 1148), ∞ Gottfried III., Lord of Mayenne († 1169) ( House Mayenne ).

On his deathbed he disinherited his son Hoël with a view to the Duchy of Brittany. Hoël had to be content with the county of Nantes. Instead of his he recognized his grandson Conan IV. , The son of his daughter Berthe from her first marriage to Alain von Penthièvre, who was under the tutelage of Odo von Porhoët, Berthe's second husband, as heir. Disagreements about this succession resulted in a civil war that devastated Brittany for 50 years.

literature

• Patrick André et al. (Ed.): Dictionnaire d'histoire de Bretagne. Skol Vreizh, Morlaix 2008, ISBN 978-2-915623-45-1 .
• André Chédeville, Noël-Yves Tonnerre: La Bretagne féodale. XIe-XIIIe siècle (= Université. ). Ouest-France, Rennes 1987, ISBN 2-7373-0014-2 .
• Arthur de La Borderie, Barthélemy Pocquet: Histoire de la Bretagne. 6 volumes. Editions régionales de l'Ouest et al., Mayenne 1998, ISBN 2-85554-089-5 .
• Arthur de La Borderie (ed.): Recueil d'actes inédits des Ducs et princes de Bretagne. (XIe, XIIe, XIIIe siècles). Catel, Rennes 1888, ( digitized version ).
• Arthur de La Borderie (ed.): Nouveau recueil d'actes inédits des ducs et princes de Bretagne XIIIe et XIVe siècles. Prost, Rennes 1902, ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Conan de Bretagne at fmg.ac (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Alain IV.	Duke of Brittany 1112–1148	Odo von Porhoet (for Conan IV. )
Alain IV.	Count of Nantes 1112–1148	Hoel III.