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Arthur I, Duke of Brittany

Arthur I (Breton: Arzhur 1añ[a]; French: 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 Constance, Duchess of Brittany. His father, Geoffrey, was the son of Henry II, King of England.

Arthur I

1196–1203

Constance (1196–1201)

1199–1203

29 March 1187
Nantes, Brittany

presumed c. 1203 (aged 15–16)

In 1190 Arthur was designated heir to the throne of England and its French territory by his uncle, Richard I, the intent being that Arthur would succeed Richard in preference to Richard's younger brother John. Nothing is recorded of Arthur after his incarceration in Rouen Castle in 1203, and while his precise fate is unknown, it is generally believed he was killed by John. Some of the ways that it is believed or rumored of how he would have been murdered would be that John had either drowned him in a lake or stabbed him to death when in a drunk fury.

Treaty of Le Goulet[edit]

The Treaty of Le Goulet was signed by the kings John of England and Philip II of France in May 1200 and meant to settle once and for all the claims the Norman kings of England had as Norman dukes on French lands, including, at least for a time, Brittany. Under the terms of the treaty, Philip recognised John as King of England as heir of his brother Richard I and thus formally abandoned any support for Arthur. John, meanwhile, recognised Philip as the suzerain of continental possessions of the Angevin Empire.


Philip had previously recognised John as suzerain of Anjou and the Duchy of Brittany, but with this he extorted 20,000 marks sterling in payment for recognition of John's sovereignty of Brittany.[b]

Succession[edit]

The mystery surrounding Arthur's death complicated his succession. This succession was presumably influenced by both King John and King Philip II.[c] There were no male heirs to the ducal crown and so his succession as duke was constrained to several choices among his sisters.


His sister Eleanor, the 'Fair Maid of Brittany', was also King John's prisoner. Eleanor also presented a complicating factor, if not a threat, to John's succession plans as King of England. While permitted by John to succeed Richmond and claim her rights to Brittany, she remained imprisoned for the rest of her life, through the reign of John's actual successor, his son Henry III of England. While imprisoned, she never married and had no issue. Her imprisonment and the fact that she was located in England made it impossible for her to reign as hereditary Duchess of Brittany.


Arthur I was succeeded by his half-sister, Alix of Thouars, the daughter of Constance and her third husband Guy of Thouars.[d]

Memorial[edit]

In 1268, Henry III gave the manor of Melksham, Wiltshire, to Amesbury for the souls of Eleanor and Arthur,[16][17] ordering the convent to commemorate them along with all kings and queens.[18]

(c.1589) anonymous tragedy

The Troublesome Reign of King John

Below the Salt (1957) novel by Thomas B. Costain

Jean sans Terre ou la mort d’Arthur (1791) tragedy by

Jean-François Ducis

King John (1800) tragedy by

Richard Valpy

Le petit Arthur de Bretagne à la tour de Rouen (1822) poem by

Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

La Mort d’Arthur de Bretagne (1826) poem by

Alexis Fossé

Arthur de Bretagne (1824) tragedy by

Joseph Chauvet

Arthur de Bretagne (1885) drama by

Louis Tiercelin

Arthur de Bretagne (1887, posthumous) drama by

Claude Bernard

(1935) novel by Frederick Rolfe

Hubert's Arthur

Devil’s Brood (2008), Lionheart (2011) and A King’s Ransom (2014) novels by

Sharon Kay Penman

Carley, James P.; Riddy, Felicity, eds. (1998). Arthurian Literature XVI. D.S. Brewer.

Carpenter, David (2003). . Penguin. pp. 265. ISBN 9780140148244.

The Struggle for Mastery

Everard, J. A. (2004). Brittany and the Angevins: Province and Empire 1158–1203. .

Cambridge University Press

Gillingham, John (1984). The Angevin Empire. Hodder Arnold.

Jones, Dan (2014). The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England. Penguin Books.

(1982), "William the Marshal and Arthur of Brittany", Historical Research, volume 55

Legge, M. Dominica

Luard, Henry Richards, ed. (1864). . Longman.

Annales Monastici

McAuliffe, Mary (2012). Clash of Crowns: William the Conqueror, Richard Lionheart, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

McDougall, Sara (2017). Royal Bastards: The Birth of Illegitimacy, 800-1230. .

Oxford University Press

(October 1909), "King John and Arthur of Brittany", The English Historical Review, volume 24, pp. 659–674

Powicke, F. M.

Seel, Graham E. (2012). King John: An Underrated King. Anthem Press.

Warren, W. L. (1961). King John. Yale University Press.  9780300073744.

ISBN

. Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.

"Arthur (duke)" 

. New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

"Arthur (duke)"