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Following the death of his brother Duke ] in 1040, Eozen ruled as regent of Brittany in the name of his nephew ], holding Conan in custody. Conan was freed by his supporters in 1047. Eozen's regency should have ended when Conan reached his majority (circa 1054), but Eozen refused to relinquish control of the Duchy.
Following the death of his brother Duke ] in 1040, Eozen ruled as regent of Brittany in the name of his nephew ], holding Conan in custody. Conan was freed by his supporters in 1047. Eozen's regency should have ended when Conan reached his majority (circa 1054), but Eozen refused to relinquish control of the Duchy.
In February 1054, Eozen fought on the side of King Henry I of France at the Battle of Mortemer against William, but William won. Eozen then allied with ] against William.
In February 1054, Eozen fought on the side of King ] at the ] against William, but William won. Eozen then allied with ] against William.
By 1056 Conan gained the upper hand in Brittany, and in 1057 he captured his uncle Eozen and chained him in a prison cell. Eozen's eldest son Geoffrey Boterel continued to fight.
By 1056 Conan gained the upper hand in Brittany, and in 1057 he captured his uncle Eozen and chained him in a prison cell. Eozen's eldest son Geoffrey Boterel continued to fight.
When Eozen's father Duke Geoffrey I died on 20 November 1008 both Eozen and his older brother were minors. Geoffrey had entered into a dynastic double marriage with Richard II, Duke of Normandy, by marrying Hawise of Normandy, Richard's sister, in 996; this was followed by the marriage of Geoffrey's sister Judith of Brittany to Richard around the year 1000.
At Geoffrey's death, Alan became de jure Duke, as Alan III, Duke of Brittany, Hawise took on the role of Regent, and Richard asserted the role of Guardian of Brittany, an arrangement reciprocated on the death of Robert I, Duke of Normandy in 1035.
Also in 1035, after a dispute between Eozen and Duke Alan III, their uncle Judicaël Bishop of Vannes arbitrated, and Alan III gave Eozen the bishoprics of Saint Brieuc, Saint Malo Tréguier and Dol de Bretagne, as well as the counties and baronies of Penthièvre, Goëlo, Avaugour and Lamballe. Eozen placed his capital at Lamballe, where he began issuing coins in his own name.
Following the death of his brother Duke Alan III in 1040, Eozen ruled as regent of Brittany in the name of his nephew Conan II, holding Conan in custody. Conan was freed by his supporters in 1047. Eozen's regency should have ended when Conan reached his majority (circa 1054), but Eozen refused to relinquish control of the Duchy.
By 1056 Conan gained the upper hand in Brittany, and in 1057 he captured his uncle Eozen and chained him in a prison cell. Eozen's eldest son Geoffrey Boterel continued to fight.
On another front, Conan was a legitimate contender for the title of Duke of Normandy and thus a persistent rival of Duke William's.
In 1062, peace was concluded between Conan and Geoffrey. Eozen, who was now free, continued the fight alone.
In histories favourable to the house of Penthievre, Eozen is shown as effectively ruling Brittany between 1040 and 1062. In other histories his rule is shown as ending in 1057, the year in which Conan II captured and imprisoned him in chains. Subsequently, Eozen's liegeman Rivallon I of Dol was a principal in the Breton-Norman War of 1064-1065 in which Normandy, Anjou, Dol de Bretagne and the captive Harold Godwinson combined against Conan II, as depicted in three panels of the Bayeux Tapestry.
Involvement in the Preparations for the Norman Conquest of England
Eozen provided, trained and equipped 5000 Breton soldiers for William the Conqueror's army. Of these, 4000 were professionals, comprising light cavalry, heavy cavalry, archers, crossbowmen and axemen; he also contributed 1000 levied (conscripted) spearmen. Eozen put these troops on 100 ships under the command of his sons Count Alan Rufus and Count Brian, and they sailed from Brittany to join the Norman forces gathering at Barfleur then on to William's staging point at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, in readiness to cross the Channel.
Family
Eozen's children with Agnes include:
Geoffrey Boterel I, count of Penthièvre (d. 24 August 1093).
Alan Rufus (alternatively Alain Le Roux, or Alan Ar Rouz in Breton, called Count Alan in the Domesday Book, his name means "Red Deer") (d. between 1093 and 1098) - effectively the first Earl of Richmond, though the majority of his manors were in East Anglia. The Honour of Richmond in North Yorkshire was originally called "The Land of Count Alan" (it is so named in the Domesday Book), so technically he was Alan the Count of the Land of Count Alan, a title that he understandably never used.
Alan the Black I (alternatively Alain Niger, or Alan Ar Du in Breton, his name means "Black Deer") (d. 1098), inherited from Alan Rufus.
Another sister, who married Enisandus Musardus de Ploveno who was the Lord of Cheveley in Chambridgeshire and subsequently first Constable of Richmond Castle and lord of some twenty manors in the Land of Count Alan in North Yorkshire.
The title of Duke of Brittany had not yet been recognized by the King of France, although it was in use since Alan II, Duke of Brittany. Since Brittany was not in fact under the French Crown until the late 15th century, and not incorporated into the French State until the French Revolution, what the King of France thought is a moot point.
In some histories Eozen is shown co-Duke with his brother Alan, followed by a period where Alan ruled as Duke of Brittany alone. Eozen's position as co-Duke is unlikely and remains an historical uncertainty in search of documented proof. In any event Alan would go on to shed the control of Normandy circa 1026, and from this date it is clear there was no ruling role for Eozen until Alan died.
Not to be confused with Alan the Black II, the son of Stephen, Count of Tréguier, who also would inherit the Earldom, after Stephen. There is little reliable written documentation of his life save for a record of his death - possibly in the same year as his brother Alan Rufus, as he is believed to have held the Earldom for a very brief period of time before it passed to Stephen.
The detailed documented histories are lacking and limited. The website of Charles Cawley reports that Brian (French: Brien; Latin: Briennius) defeated a second raid in the southwest of England, launched from Ireland by Harold's sons in 1069. Brian participated in the conquest of England and afterwards held the honor of Richmond, but died without issue. He is presumed to have been illegitimate and is recorded as a witness to a document in 1084. He spent the latter part of his life as an invalid in Brittany, with his wife. The timing of the lives of Alan Rufus and Stephen of Tréguier, suggest that Brian did not hold the Honour of Richmond. It is reported elsewhere that he was an Earl of Cornwall but resigned the title and returned to Brittany; Brian's lands in England were then granted by King William I to the latter's half-brother Robert, Count of Mortain. During the Anarchy, Alan the Black II claimed Cornwall on the basis of his uncle Brian having held it; a claim that was accepted by King Stephen.
Middleham later passed by marriage and female descent to the House of Neville.
Richard Sharpe (historian) has hypothesised on the basis of a record stating that her son William had "royal lineage" that Matilda D'Aincourt may instead have been the daughter of Alan Rufus and his lover Gunhilda/Gunnilda, the daughter of Harold Godwinson and Edith the Fair (Ealdgyth of Mercia, also known as Edith Swannesha, "Gentle Swan"). However, since the Normans and Bretons did not acknowledge Harold as ever having been King, this is unlikely to be the reason for the statement. More likely, it refers to his descent from the ancient royal house of Brittany which, moreover, had on several occasions intermarried with the ducal house of Normandy.
Green, Judith A. (2002) The Aristocracy of Norman England, p. 41
Further reading
Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1991). "The Bretons and Normans of England 1066-1154: the family, the fief and the feudal monarchy". Nottingham Medieval Studies. 36: 42–78.
Sharpe, Richard (2007). "King Harold's Daughter". Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History. 19: 1–27.
