{{Unreferenced, date=August 2007
Guy, also called Guido, (died before 819) was appointed to replace the late
Roland as
Warden of the Breton March after his death at the
Battle of Roncesvalles
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass (French and English spelling, ''Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the ...
in 778. Guy no more effectively exercised control over
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
than his predecessor, but was the chief contact by which the Bretons knew French policy. His actual territory of control was the
County of Nantes The counts of Nantes were originally the Frankish rulers of the Nantais under the Carolingians and eventually a capital city of the Duchy of Brittany. Their county served as a march against the Bretons of the Vannetais. Carolingian rulers would s ...
. Carolingian infighting distracted Guy and prevented him from exhibiting any real authority. It was to be
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
pressure on the Bretons which would open a portal to a French dynasty in Brittany under
Berengar of Rennes
Berengar II (died 896) was the Count of Bayeux and Rennes and Margrave of the Northern or Norman March from 886 until his death a decade later.
In 874, Brittany's internal politics were thrown into turmoil when King Salomon was murdered by a ri ...
.
Guy was the son of Lambert and Teutberga of the
Austrasian family of the
Widonids
The Widonids, also called Guidonids,; german: Guidonen or ; it, Guideschi or or Lambertiner, after their leading names, were an Italian family of Frankish origin prominent in the ninth century. They were descended from Guy of Nantes, whose or ...
. Guy received his charge in Neustria and Nantes about 799, at the same time that his brother
Frodoald received the
county of Vannes. Royal annals note in the year 799 that "Guy, prefect of the marches of Brittany, who in the same year traversed the whole province with the counts his colleagues, came to present
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Guy's name subsequently appears, notably in 814, in the many acts recorded in the cartulary of the Redon Abbey, abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Redon, where it is found beside that of Jarnhitin, ''machtiern'' or ''princeps plebis'' (prince of the people). The cartulary says "Jarnhitin rules, Guy is count."
Guy died before 819, leaving his son
Lambert as count of Nantes and prefect of the march.
Counts of Nantes
Guideschi dynasty