Life
Guerech was the second illegitimate son of Alan II, Duke of Brittany, Alan II and Judith. He succeeded his brother Hoël I, Duke of Brittany, Hoël I upon his death. Guerech had been brought up at the Abbey of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, near Orléans. He was appointed Bishopric of Nantes, Bishop of Nantes in 981 but was presumably not consecrated. He did not exercise priesthood and it was Hugh (Hugo), who reportedly had the "character of wise and austere life" according to Albertus Magnus, who ruled ''de facto'' over the spiritual part of the Church of Nantes. However, Guerech kept the temporal rule of the Bishopric, which he ruled with the County of Nantes for the seven years of his reign as Duke. He pursued the war his brother had started against the County of Rennes, Count of Rennes Conan I of Rennes, Conan ''Le Tort''. In 982, Guerech signed a treaty with Count William VI, Duke of Aquitaine, William IV of Poitou, who confirmed the possessions of Nantes south of the Loire (river), Loire — the ''pagi'' of Herbauges, Tiffauges and Mauges — which his father Alan II, Duke of Brittany, Alan II of Brittany had obtained in 942. The following year, Guerech wento to the Court of the King of West Francia, Lothair of France, Lothair to pay Homage (feudal), homage. On the way back, he was stopped by Count Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou, Geoffrey I of Anjou, who kept him a prisoner and demanded that Guerech admitted he had received Nantes from the Count of Anjou and became his vassal. The same year, Guerech's wife Aremburga had a strategic fortress built in Ancenis, the Château d'Ancenis.Noël-Yves Tonnerre ''op.cit'' p 327 Conan ''Le Tort'', who had ordered Hoël I's murder according to the Chronicle of Nantes and rightly feared that the Counts of Nantes and Anjou would unite against him, is said to have convinced Guerech's physician, a Heroicus of Redon, Heroicus, also Abbot of the Redon Abbey, to poison the Duke. Like his brother, Guerech died prematurely in 988 and was buried in Redon Abbey.Family
Guerech had married Aremburga of Ancenis. They had an only son, Alan, Count of Nantes (988–90), Alan, who succeeded him as Duke of Brittany but died two years later.References
Bibliography
* André Chédeville & Noël-Yves Tonnerre ''La Bretagne féodale XIème-XIIIème siècles''. Ouest-France Université Rennes (1987) . * Noël-Yves Tonnerre ''Naissance de la Bretagne. Géographie historique et structures sociales de la Bretagne méridionale (Nantais et Vannetais) de la fin du VIIIème siècle à la fin du XIIème siècle'', Presses de l’Université d’Angers Angers (1994) .External links
Guerech's life, as well as his brother Hoël's, is mainly known through the ''Chronicle of Nantes'', compiled in the 11th century and which is unfavourable to the Bretons in general and to the inhabitants of Rennes in particular.