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Guy of Thouars (died 13 April 1213) was Duke of Brittany from 1199 to 1201 as the third husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany. They married in Angers, County of Anjou, between August and October 1199 after her son Arthur 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 in 1201, while delivering twin daughters, Constance ruled Brittany with her young son, Arthur I, as co-ruler. Duke Arthur was captured in 1202 by his uncle John, King of England, and disappeared in 1203. Arthur's elder full sister Eleanor, was captured along with him and imprisoned by John. Arthur was succeeded by his infant half-sister, Guy's daughter Alix of Thouars. Guy served as regent of Brittany for his daughter from 1203 to 1206.

In 1204, Guy as regent of Duchess Alix, vassal of Philip II of France, undertook the siege of the Norman 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 were engulfed in 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.

Guy died in 1213 in Chemillé in the county of Maine, and was buried with Constance at Villeneuve Abbey, now in the commune of 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 ...'

Issue

Guy married Constance of Brittany in 1199. They had two or three daughters:

• Alix of Thouars, succeeded her half-brother in 1203 as suo jure Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Richmond;
• Catherine of Thouars, Dame of Aubigné; married Andrew III, Baron of Vitré in 1212;
• Margaret of Thouars.

Guy remarried Eustachie of Chemillé in 1203. They had two sons:

• Peter, Lord of Chemillé (1204-1254/55), who married Eleanor of Porhoët.
• Thomas of Chémillé (d. c. January 1246).

Ancestry

See also

• Dukes of Brittany family tree
• Viscounts of Thouars

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Historians Pierre Daru and François Manet state that Constance and Guy had three daughters, but do not specify their names.

References

1. Judith Everard, & Michael Jones. The Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and Her Family, 1171–1221, The Boydell Press, 1999, p 135
2. "Abbaye de Villeneuve - Abbaye de Villeneuve". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.>
3. Amy Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings, (Harvard University Press, 1978), 351.
4. Arthur Le Moyne de La Borderie, Histoire de Bretagne, Tome troisième, p. 288
5. Michael Lower, The Barons' Crusade: A Call to Arms and Its Consequences, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 48
6. Pierre-Hyacinthe Morice, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 129 and 150
7. Charles Taillandier, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome second, p. IX
8. Prudence Guillaume de Roujoux, Histoire des rois et des ducs de Bretagne, Tome second, p. 231
9. Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, comte Daru, Histoire de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 407
10. François Manet, Histoire de la Petite-Bretagne, ou Bretagne Armorique, depuis ses premiers habitans connus, Tome second, p. 308
11. Pierre-Hyacinthe Morice, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 129"
12. 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

• 12th-century births
• 1213 deaths
• 12th-century dukes of Brittany
• 13th-century dukes of Brittany
• 13th-century regents
• Regents of Brittany
• Jure uxoris dukes
• Remarried jure uxoris officeholders