List of rulers of Brittany

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The partial

Kingdom of Armorica

  • 409-421: Conan Mériadoc
  • 421–434: St. Solomon I.
  • 434-445: Grallon
  • 445–464: Audren (Aldroenus)
  • 464-490: Erech
  • 490-509: Budic
  • 513-545: Hoel I.
  • 545-547: Hoel II.
  • 547– ?: Canor (Canao)
  • ? -594: Alain I.
  • 594-615: Hoel III.
  • 615: St. Judicaël († 650)
  • 615-632: Solomon II.
  • 632–634: St. Judicaël (again; † 650)
  • 634– ?: Alain II, the Tall One

Kingdom of Dommonée

  • St. Fracan
  • Riwal I.
  • Conan
  • ? -513: Conothec
  • 513-520: Riwal II.
  • 520-530: Deroch
  • 530-535: Riathen
  • 535-540: Jonas
  • 540; 554-580: St. Judual
  • 580-605: St. Judhael
  • 605–610: Judicaël († 652)
  • 610-615: Haeloch
  • 615–640: Judicaël (again; † 652)

Kingdom of Cornouailles (West Brittany)

  • ? –505: Gradlon Mur, the great
  • 505-515: Daniel Dremruz
  • 515-524: Budic I.
  • 524-531: St. Meliau
  • 531-538: St. Melar
  • 538-570: Budic II.
  • 570-570: Teudric
  • 570-577: St. Constantine
  • 577– ?: Teudric (again)

Kingdom of Vannes

  • ? -550: Werech I.
  • 550-560: Canao I. (Canober)
  • 560-577: Rachiau

Kingdom of Brittany

In the 9th century the country came under the influence of the neighboring Frankish empire , Emperor Ludwig the Pious had appointed the Breton petty king Nominoë as ducatus ipsius gentis (prince of his own tribe) of the Bretons in 831 . His successors emancipated themselves from Frankish rule and also accepted the title of king. However, a chronic lack of dynastic continuity with accompanying power struggles among each other prevented the development of a stable central power among the Bretons for a long time. During the 9th and 10th centuries, the country was regularly attacked by the Normans .

Surname Reign relationship
Nominoë 830-851
Erispoë (851 king) 851-857 Son of his predecessor
Solomon (868 king) 857-874 Nephew of Nominoë
Pascweten
Gurvant
874-876
874-876

Son -in-law of Solomon -in-law of Erispoë
Judicaël
Alain I the Great
876-888
876-907
Son of Gurvant
brother of Pascweten
Gourmaëlon 907-913

The Loire-Normans under Ragenold / Rögnvald, Felecan and Incon exploited the collapse of order following the death of King Alain the Great to conquer Nantes in 919. The Norman Duke Wilhelm Long Sword sometimes called himself "Duke of the Normans and Bretons".

Duchy of Brittany

In 937 the exile Alain Schiefbart returned to Brittany with the support of the Anglo-Saxon King Æthelstan , expelled the Normans from Nantes and assumed the title of duke ( Dux ). He is considered to be the founder of the high medieval duchy of Brittany, which largely corresponded in its scope to today's French region of Brittany .

At the beginning of the 13th century the dukes approached France, but took advantage of France's weakness in the Hundred Years War to secure a largely autonomous position. Despite the interruption by the War of the Breton Succession (1341-1364), the last dukes from the Dreux family were able to develop Brittany into a united principality with a strong central government. With the marriage of the last duchess to the French royal family, Brittany, as one of the last great feudal territories of the Middle Ages, was united with the crown domain at the beginning of the 16th century .

Surname Reign relationship
House Nantes
Alain II wrybeard 937-952 Grandson of Alain I the Great
Drogo 952-958 Son of his predecessor
Hoël I. 958-979 Brother of his predecessor
Guérech 979-988 Brother of his predecessor
Alain 988-990 Son of his predecessor

Conan the Crooked eliminated the House of Nantes in 990 and rose to become Duke. His defeat in the second Battle of Conquereuil led to a lasting weakening of the ducal power. Duke Alain III. recognized the Duke of Normandy as a feudal lord.

Surname Reign relationship
House of Rennes
Conan I. the crooked 990-992 Descendant of Gurvants von Rennes
Gottfried I. 992-1008 Son of his predecessor
Alain III. 1008-1040 Son of his predecessor
Conan II. 1040-1066 Son of his predecessor
Hawisa 1066-1072 Sister of her predecessor
House Cornouaille
Hoël II. 1066-1084 Husband of Hawisa
Alain IV Fergant 1084-1102 Son of his predecessor
Conan III. the thick 1102-1148 Son of his predecessor
Hoël III. 1148 Son of his predecessor
Bertha 1148-1158 Sister of her predecessor
Eudon of Porhoët 1148-1158 Husband of Bertha

Henry II Plantagenet , King of England and Duke of Normandy , ordered Conan IV to be appointed Duke in 1158 .

Surname Reign relationship
Penthièvre house (younger line of the Rennes house)
Conan IV the little one 1158-1166 Descendant of Gottfried I.
Constance 1166-1201 Daughter of her predecessor

Duke Conan IV. Was forced to abdicate by Heinrich II. Plantagenet in 1166 in favor of his son Gottfried II. During the time of the plantation rule, Brittany was assigned to the so-called Angivinian Empire , but Gottfried II paid homage to the French king for the first time.

Surname Reign relationship
House Plantagenet
Gottfried II. 1169-1186 first husband of Konstanze
Arthur I. 1196-1203 Son of his predecessor
House of Thouars
Guido von Thouars 1203-1206, 1207-1213 third husband of Konstanze
Alix 1203-1221 Daughter of her predecessor

In 1206, under pressure from King Philip II of France , Guido von Thouars had to give up the duchy, but remained regent for his daughter. After his death in 1213, the king ordered the marriage of the Duchess Alix with his distant cousin Peter Mauclerc , who was a descendant of King Ludwig VI. was the thick of France . However, the French crown refused to recognize Peter and his son as dukes. This was only given to Johann II in 1297.

The coat of arms of Peter Mauclerc corresponds to the coat of arms of the Counts of Dreux. He added the stylized ermine in the (heraldic) right corner in memory of his originally planned clerical career.
Since Duke Johann III. only the ermine is used in the coat of arms. Today it corresponds to the coat of arms of the Brittany region
Surname Reign relationship
Dreux house
Peter I. Mauclerc 1213-1221
Johann I the Red 1221-1286 Son of Alix and Peter Mauclerc
Johann II. 1286-1305 Son of his predecessor
Arthur II 1305-1312 Son of his predecessor
Johann III. the good 1312-1341 Son of his predecessor
Johann IV. 1341-1345 Brother of his predecessor
House of Châtillon
Charles of Blois 1345-1364
Dreux house
Johann V the Conqueror 1364-1399 Son of Johann IV.
Johann VI. 1399-1442 Son of his predecessor
Franz I. 1442-1450 Son of his predecessor
Peter II 1450-1457 Brother of his predecessor
Arthur III from Richmond 1457-1458 Son of Johann V.
Francis II 1458-1488 Nephew of his predecessor
Anna 1488-1514 Daughter of her predecessor

Duchess Anna successively married the French kings Charles VIII (1492) and Louis XII. (1499). In 1532, King Francis I of France , Duchess Claudia's husband , merged the duchy with the French crown following a resolution by the Breton Assembly of Estates in Vannes . The ducal dignity of Brittany was thus bound to the royal family under the law of inheritance to the exclusion of other pretenders, which ended the status of Brittany as a de facto autonomous principality.

Surname Reign relationship
House of Valois-Orléans
Claudia 1514-1524 Daughter of her predecessor
House Valois-Angoulême
Francis III 1524-1536 Son of his predecessor
Heinrich
(King Henry II of France)
1536-1547 Brother of his predecessor

Further use of the ducal title until the end of the monarchy

1973 Francisco Alfonso de Borbón (1972-1984) was awarded the title of "Duke of Brittany" by his grandfather Jaime de Borbón .