Guy of Thouars (died 13 April 1213) was the third husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany, whom he married in Angers,

County of Anjou The County of Anjou (, ; ; la, Andegavia) was a small French county that was the predecessor to the better-known Duchy of Anjou. Its capital was Angers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brit ...

between August and October 1199 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 ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...

, from 1199 to 1201. 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 Arthur I ( br, Arzhur 1añ; french: link=no, Arthur 1er de Bretagne) (29 March 1187 – presumably 1203) was 4th Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany between 1196 and 1203. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and Constan ...

as co-ruler. Duke Arthur I was captured in 1202 by their uncle

John, King of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

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 ''Alix'', or ''The Adventures of Alix'', is a Franco-Belgian comics series drawn in the ligne claire style by Jacques Martin. The stories revolve around a young Gallo-Roman man named Alix in the late Roman Republic. Although the series is re ...

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 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 ...

island fortress of

Mont Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is ...

. 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. Guy of Thouars died in 1213 in

Chemillé Chemillé () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. In January 2013 it became part of the new commune Chemillé-Melay, which became part of Chemillé-en-Anjou in December 2015.Villeneuve Abbey Villeneuve Abbey, dedicated to Our Lady, was a Cistercian monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (he ...

, now in the commune of

Les Sorinières Les Sorinières (; br, Kersoren) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. It is the location of Villeneuve Abbey Villeneuve Abbey, dedicated to Our Lady, was a Cistercian monastery A monastery is a building o ...

, outside of

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. 'Situated at Nantes south gate, Abbey de Villeneuve' was 'founded in 1201 by Constance de Panthièvre, the Duchess of Brittany ...'

Issue

Guy married Constance of Brittany in 1199. They had two or three 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 in 1212; * Margaret of Thouars.Prudence Guillaume de Roujoux, ''Histoire des rois et des ducs de Bretagne'', Tome second, p. 231 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 Gabrielle may refer to: * Gabrielle (given name), a French female given name derived from Gabriel Film and television * ''Gabrielle'' (1954 film), a Swedish film directed by Hasse Ekman * ''Gabrielle'' (2005 film), a French film directed by Pa ...

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 Léa may refer to: People with the given name Léa *Princess Léa of Belgium (born Léa Inga Dora Wolman; 1951), the widow of Prince Alexandre of Belgium and aunt of King Philippe of Belgium * Léa Bouard (born 1996), German freestyle skier * Léa ...

Ancestry

References

*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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy of Thouars 12th-century births 1213 deaths 12th-century dukes of Brittany 13th-century dukes of Brittany 13th-century viceregal rulers Regents of Brittany Year of birth unknown Jure uxoris officeholders

Issue

Portrayals in literature

Ancestry

See also

References

Footnotes