Guy of Thouars

Guy of Thouars
Guy of Thouars
Died	13 April 1213; Chemillé
Noble family	Thouars
Spouse(s)	Constance, Duchess of Brittany; Eustachie of Chemillé
Father	Geoffroy IV of Thouars
Mother	Aénor de Lusignan

Guy of Thouars (died 13 April 1213) was the third husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany, whom he married in Angers, County of Anjou between August and October 1199[lower-alpha 1][1] after her son Arthur of Brittany 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. He is counted as a duke of Brittany, jure uxoris, from 1199 to 1201.

Arms of the Viscounts 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, Duke of Brittany as co-ruler. Duke Arthur I was captured in 1202 by their uncle John, King of England and disappeared in 1203; with his full elder sister Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany captured along with him and imprisoned by John, he was succeeded by his infant maternal sister, Alix of Thouars. Guy served as Regent of Brittany for his infant daughter Alix from 1203 to 1206.

In 1204, Guy de Thouars as regent of Duchess Alix, vassal of Philip II, King 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.[lower-alpha 2]

Guy of Thouars 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 ...'[2]

Issue

Guy married Constance of Brittany in 1199.[3] They had two or three[4] daughters:

Alix of Thouars, succeeded her maternal 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[5] in 1212;
Margaret of Thouars.[lower-alpha 3][6][7][8][lower-alpha 4][9][10][11][12]

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).

Portrayals in literature

Guy of Thouars is a secondary character in the novels Le Poids d’une couronne (légende bretonne) (1867-1868) by Gabrielle d’Étampes and A King’s Ransom (2014) by Sharon Kay Penman and is mentioned in the novel Dans l’Ombre du Passé (2020) by Léa Chaillou.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Guy of Thouars

16. Aimery IV of Thouars (#26)

8. Geoffroy III of Thouars

17. Aurengarde de Mauleon (#27)

4. Aimery V of Thouars

9. Ameline

2. Geoffroy IV of Thouars

20. William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine

10. William IX, Duke of Aquitaine

21. Hildegarde of Burgundy

5. Agnes of Aquitaine

22. William IV, Count of Toulouse

11. Philippa, Countess of Toulouse

23. Emma of Mortain

1. Guy of Thouars

24. Hugh V of Lusignan

12. Hugh VI of Lusignan

25. Almodis de la Marche

6. Hugh VII of Lusignan

26. Aimery IV of Thouars (#16)

13. Ildégarde de Thouars

27. Aurengarde de Mauleon (#17)

3. Aénor de Lusignan

7. Saracena

References

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

Footnotes

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

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[2] Judith Everard, & Michael Jones. The Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany and Her Family, 1171–1221, The Boydell Press, 1999, p 135

[4] "Abbaye de Villeneuve - Abbaye de Villeneuve". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.>

[5] Amy Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings, (Harvard University Press, 1978), 351.

[6] Arthur Le Moyne de La Borderie, Histoire de Bretagne, Tome troisième, p. 288

[7] Michael Lower, The Barons' Crusade: A Call to Arms and Its Consequences, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 48

[9] Pierre-Hyacinthe Morice, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 129 and 150

[10] Charles Taillandier, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome second, p. IX

[11] Prudence Guillaume de Roujoux, Histoire des rois et des ducs de Bretagne, Tome second, p. 231

[13] Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, comte Daru, Histoire de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 407

[14] François Manet, Histoire de la Petite-Bretagne, ou Bretagne Armorique, depuis ses premiers habitans connus, Tome second, p. 308

[15] Pierre-Hyacinthe Morice, Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne, Tome premier, p. 129"

[16] Prudence Guillaume de Roujoux, Histoire des rois et des ducs de Bretagne, Tome second, p. 231

[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.

[3] 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.

[8] 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.

[12] Historians Pierre Daru and François Manet state that Constance and Guy had three daughters, but do not specify their names.