Duke of Brittany from 1305 to 1312
Arthur II (25 July 1261 – 27 August 1312), of the House of Dreux, was Duke of Brittany from 1305 to his death. He was the first son of John II and Beatrice, daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence.
After he inherited the ducal throne, his brother John became Earl of Richmond.
As duke, Arthur was independent of the French crown.[citation needed] He divided his duchy into eight "battles": Léon, Kernev, Landreger, Penteur, Gwened, Naoned, Roazhon, and Sant Malou. In 1309, he convoked the first Estates of Brittany.[a] It was the first time in French history that the third estate was represented.
Arthur died at Château de l'Isle in Saint Denis en Val and was interred in a marble tomb of the cordeliers of Vannes. The tomb was vandalised during the French Revolution, but later repaired and is on display today.
Marriages and children
In 1275, Arthur married Marie, Viscountess of Limoges, daughter of Guy VI, Viscount of Limoges, and Margaret, Lady of Molinot. Her maternal grandparents were Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, and his first wife, Yolande of Dreux. They were parents of three children:
Marie died in 1291. In May 1292, Arthur married Yolande of Dreux, who was Countess of Montfort, daughter of Robert IV, Count of Dreux, and Beatrice de Montfort. Yolande had briefly been Queen of Scotland by her first marriage. They were parents of six children:
See also
Notes
- ^ Brittany would eventually have both an "Estates" and a "Parliament"
References
Sources
- Howell, Margaret (2001). Eleanor of Provence: Queenship in Thirteenth-Century England. Blackwell Publishers.
- Sumption, Jonathan (1990). The Hundred Years War. Vol. I: Trial by Battle. Faber & Faber.
- Walsby, Malcolm (2007). The Counts of Laval: Culture, Patronage and Religion in Fifteenth- and Sixteenth- Century France. Ashgate.
