Constance, Duchess of Brittany

Constance of Penthièvre (Breton: Konstanza Penture, or Konstanza Breizh; 1161 – 5 September 1201) was hereditary Duchess of Brittany between 1171 and 1196. Constance was the only child of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, by his wife Margaret of Huntingdon, later called Countess of Hereford, a granddaughter of David I of Scotland.

As Duchess

As part of a diplomatic settlement in 1181, twenty-year-old Constance was forced into marriage with Geoffrey Plantagenet, the fourth son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. With Geoffery she had three children: Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany (1184-1241), Matilda/Maud of Brittany (1185-bef 1189) and Arthur (b 1186-1203), the latter born after Geoffrey's death. As Duke-consort, Geoffrey excluded Constance from exercising authority in government. In 1186, in a riding accident in Paris, Geoffrey was stamped to death during a tournament. Constance thereafter became the effective ruler of Brittany.

However, Henry II of England arranged for Constance to marry Ranulph de Meschines, 4th Earl of Chester on 3 February 1188. In 1191 King Richard I of England officially proclaimed his nephew, Constance's son Arthur of Brittany, as his heir in a treaty signed with Philip II of France. To promote her son's position and inheritance, Constance abdicated in his favor in 1194.

Constance's marriage with Ranulph deteriorated, with Ranulph imprisoning Constance in 1196. With Constance imprisoned in England, rebellions were sparked across Brittany on her behalf. Ranulph bowed to growing pressure and had the Duchess released in 1198.

Back in Brittany, Constance had her marriage annulled. Later in 1198 at Angers, Constance took Guy of Thouars as her 'second' husband. Throughout these years, Constance advised her son towards a French alliance, pursuing the policy of her late husband Geoffrey II.

When Richard I died in 1199, Phillip II agreed to recognize Arthur as count of Anjou, Maine, and Poitou, in exchange for Arthur swearing fealty to Phillip II, becoming a direct vassel of France. However 13-year-old Arthur was captured while besieging Mirabeau, and the following year he was transferred to Rouen, under the charge of William de Braose, and then vanished mysteriously in April 1203.

During the conflict, Constance's eldest daughter Eleanor was captured and imprisoned at Corfe Castle in Dorset, where she remained imprisoned until her death.

Constance bore her third husband twin daughters; Alix of Thouars, who married Peter de Dreux, first Breton ruler of the House of Dreux; and Katherine of Thouars (1201-c. 1240) who married Andre III of Bretagne, Sire of Vitre.

Death and Burial

Constance died, age 40, on 5 September 1201 at Nantes. She was buried at Villeneuve Abbey in Nantes.

Constance's cause of death is debated. Some historians believe she died of leprosy. Others believe she died from complications of childbirth, shortly after birthing twin girls. Still others believe that she had leprosy, leading to a difficult delivery, and ultimately to her death shortly after the birth of the twins, thus both leprosy and childbirth being the causes of death. That Constance was birthing twins, at the age of forty, in the unsanitary conditions of the age, should be taken greatly into account in this debate. As the exact date of the twins birth is not currently known, and may never be known, there may never be a resolution to this question.

Media

Constance is a character in the play King John by William Shakespeare, in which she has several very eloquent speeches on grief and death. On screen, she has been portrayed by Julia Neilson in the silent short King John (1899), which recreates John's death scene at the end of the play, Sonia Dresdel in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre version (1952), and Claire Bloom in the BBC Shakespeare version (1984). She was also played by Paula Williams (as a girl) and Nina Francis (as an adult) in the BBC TV drama series The Devil's Crown (1978).

See also

• Dukes of Brittany family tree

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