Alan I (; died 907), called the Great,F. McNair (2015), "Vikings and Bretons? The Language of Factional Politics in Late Carolingian Brittany", ''Viking and Medieval Scandinavia'' 11: 183–202. was the Count of Vannes and

Duke of Brittany This is a list of rulers of Brittany. In different epochs the rulers of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary right. Hereditary ...

(''dux Brittonium'') from 876 until his death. He was probably also the only King of Brittany (''rex Brittaniæ'') to hold that title by a grant of the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Expulsion of Vikings

Alan was the second son of Count Ridoredh of Vannes. He succeeded his brother

Pascweten Pascweten (died 876) was the count of Vannes and a claimant to the Duchy of Brittany, rule of Brittany. He was a son of Ridoredh of Vannes, a prominent and wealthy aristocrat first associated with the court of Erispoe in the 850s. He owned vast lan ...

in Vannes when the latter died, probably in the middle of 876, and contended for leadership of Brittany with Judicael of Poher. Alan represented the power bloc of southeastern Brittany while Judicael represented western Breton interests. Eventually he and Judicael made peace in order to fight the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

. Judicael died in the Battle of

Questembert Questembert (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. It is located approximately from Vannes. Demographics Inhabitants of Que ...

in 888 or 889, after which Alan gained sole leadership of Brittany. In 890, Alan defeated the Vikings at

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.Salomon. He ruled not only the Breton territories of Léon,

Domnonée Domnonée is the modern French form of Domnonia or Dumnonia (Latin for "Devon"; ), a historic kingdom in northern Armorica ( Brittany) founded by British immigrants from Dumnonia ( Sub-Roman Devon) fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britain in t ...

Cornouaille Cornouaille (; , ) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princes from Cornwall ...

, and the Vannetais, but also the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

counties of

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

Coutances Coutances () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History The capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town was given the name of ''Constantia'' in 298 during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantius ...

, and

Avranches Avranches (; ) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''. History Middle Ages By the end of the Roman period, th ...

, as well as the western parts of

Poitou Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...

(the so-called ''

pays de Retz The Pays de Retz (; ; ) is a historical subregion of France that currently forms part of the Loire-Atlantique department, but once formed part of the Duchy of Brittany. The area lies between the southern shore of the Loire estuary and the '' Mara ...

'') and

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

. In the east his rule extended as far as the river

Vire Vire () is a town and a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Vire Normandie. Geography The town is located on the river Vire. Much o ...

. He was the first Breton ruler to rule this entire territory without great opposition within the west and the last to rule the whole bloc of Franco-Celtic countries. His strongest opponent was Fulk I of Anjou, who disputed control of the Nantais with him, though Alan seems to have had the upper hand in his lifetime. His power base remained in the southeast and he was powerful and wealthy in land in around Vannes and Nantes. According to the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'', after the death of

Carloman II Carloman II ( 866 – 6 December 884) was the King of West Francia (future France) from 879 until his death. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he and his elder brother Louis III, divided the kingdom between themselves and ruled jointly until ...

in 884,

Charles the Fat Charles the Fat (839 – 13 January 888) was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 887. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was t ...

succeeded to all of

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

save Brittany, thus making Brittany an independent kingdom; but this does not seem to have been true. A charter datable to between 897 and 900 makes reference to the soul of ''Karolus'' on whose behalf Alan had ordered prayers to be said in the monastery of Redon. This was probably Charles the Fat, who, as emperor, probably granted Alan the right to be titled ''rex''. As emperor he would have had that prerogative and he is known to have had contacts with Nantes in 886, making it not improbable that he came into communication with Alan. Charles also made a concerted effort to rule effectively in the entirety of his empire and to make former enemies, with dubious ties to the empire, like the Viking Godfrid, men of standing in return for their loyalty. Throughout his reign, Alan used

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

symbols of regalia and Carolingian forms in his charters. Alan augmented his power during the weak reigns of

Odo Odo is a name typically associated with historical figures from the Middle Ages and before. Odo is etymologically related to the names Otho and Otto, and to the French name Odon and modern version Eudes, and to the Italian names Ottone and Udo; a ...

and

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

Death and succession

Alan I died in 907. The succession was disputed and Count Gourmaëlon of

seized the throne. Brittany was soon overrun by Vikings, who defeated and slew Gourmaëlon in battle in 913/914 and held the region until 936 when Alan I's grandson Alan II returned to Brittany from exile in

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, vanquished the Vikings, and succeeded in reestablishing Christian rule. However, Brittany's geographic territory was never as extended as in Alan I's time and no future Breton rulers were called kings until the Breton Ducal crown was merged with the French crown in the 16th century (q.v.

List of rulers of Brittany This is a list of rulers of Brittany. In different epochs the rulers of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary right. Hereditary ...

Reputed connection with House of Rennes

According to an 11th-century genealogy composed for the

Count of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald, Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the t ...

, Alan I's son, Pascweten the Younger, was the father of

Judicael Berengar Judicael (or Juhel, Judhel, Judhael), thus called in Breton sources, alias Berengar (or Berengarius) his name in Frankish sources, and sometimes known as Judicael Berengar, with both names being used together, was a Count of Rennes in the 10th centu ...

, whose son was

Conan I of Rennes Conan I (died 27 June 992), nicknamed ''Le Tort'' (The Crooked), was the Duke of Brittany from 990 to his death. Life Count to Duke Conan was the son of Judicael Berengar, succeeding his father as Count of Rennes in 970. Conan assumed the tit ...

, founder of the House of

Children

By his wife Oreguen, Alan had the following children: *Pascweten (died c. 903), married Gerberga. An 11th-century collection of Angevin genealogies describes him as the father of

. *Guerec *Budic * Rudalt, Count of Vannes, fled the Viking invasion c. 919 *Daughter, name unknown, who married

Mathuedoï I, Count of Poher Mathuedoï I (circa 875 - 930) was a Count of Poher. He was the son - in - law of Alan I, King of Brittany, known as Alan the Great through his marriage to Hawise of Vannes. He obtained his countship at Alan's death circa 907. He is listed in seve ...

, and was the mother of Alan II *Daughter, name unknown, who married Tangui, Count of Vannes, died before 913

Sources

*Smith, Julia M. H. ''Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians''. Cambridge University Press: 1992. {{Breton monarchs 9th-century births 907 deaths 9th-century monarchs of Brittany 10th-century monarchs of Brittany Dukes of Brittany Year of birth unknown 9th-century people from West Francia

Expulsion of Vikings

Death and succession

Reputed connection with House of Rennes

Children

See also

Sources