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{{short description|11th-century Breton noble who became an earl in England}} |
{{short description|11th-century Breton noble who became an earl in England}} |
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[[File:LauncestonCastle.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The motte at [[Launceston Castle]]]] |
[[File:LauncestonCastle.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The motte at [[Launceston Castle]]]] |
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'''Brian of Brittany, |
'''Brian of Brittany''', or '''Brien de Bretagne''' in French (c. 1042 – bef. 1086), was a [[Brittany|Breton]] nobleman who fought in the service of [[William I of England]]. A powerful magnate in south-western England, he has been considered the first post-[[Norman conquest of England|Conquest]] [[earl of Cornwall]] since the twelfth century. |
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Brian was born in about 1042, a son of [[Odo, Count of Penthièvre]].{{efn|It is believed that he was an illegitimate son and among Odo's offspring, the third son.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geni.com/people/Brien-de-Bretagne/6000000001744971251|title=Brien de Bretagne (based on Cawley's ''Medieval Lands'')|last=Wilson|first=Pam|accessdate=5 May 2010}}</ref> Brian joined in the [[Norman Conquest of England]], along with his brothers [[Alan the Black]] (Alain le Noir),{{efn|Alan the Black, Brian's brother, is not to be confused with his brother [[Stephen, Count of Tréguier|Stephen]]'s son, also sometimes called [[Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond|Alan the Black]].}} and [[Alan Rufus|Alan the Red]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of Richmond, in the County of York|author=Christopher Clarkson |publisher=Thomas Bowman|location= Richmond|date=1821|page=14}}</ref> |
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[[Godwin, son of Harold Godwinson|Godwine]] and [[Edmund, son of Harold Godwinson|Edmund]], sons of [[Harold II of England|Harold Godwinson]], escaped after the Battle of Hastings to Leinster, where they were guests of [[Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó|Diarmait]]. In 1068 and 1069 Diarmait lent them the fleet of [[Dublin]] for attempted invasions of England. At midsummer in 1069 Brian and Alan led a force that defeated a raid by a fleet of 64 ships on the mouth of the [[River Taw]] in Devon. Later in the same year Brian and [[William fitz Osbern]] were sent to relieve sieges at [[Shrewsbury]] and [[Exeter]] by English forces rebelling against Norman lordship. They were too late to save the former but a sally by the defenders of Exeter drove the English into the path of Brian and William who "punished their audacity with great slaughter".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dot-domesday.me.uk/william.htm|title=Rebellion and Retribution|last=William of Poitiers|accessdate=5 May 2010}}</ref> |
[[Godwin, son of Harold Godwinson|Godwine]] and [[Edmund, son of Harold Godwinson|Edmund]], sons of [[Harold II of England|Harold Godwinson]], escaped after the Battle of Hastings to Leinster, where they were guests of [[Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó|Diarmait]]. In 1068 and 1069 Diarmait lent them the fleet of [[Dublin]] for attempted invasions of England. At midsummer in 1069 Brian and Alan led a force that defeated a raid by a fleet of 64 ships on the mouth of the [[River Taw]] in Devon. Later in the same year Brian and [[William fitz Osbern]] were sent to relieve sieges at [[Shrewsbury]] and [[Exeter]] by English forces rebelling against Norman lordship. They were too late to save the former but a sally by the defenders of Exeter drove the English into the path of Brian and William who "punished their audacity with great slaughter".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dot-domesday.me.uk/william.htm|title=Rebellion and Retribution|last=William of Poitiers|accessdate=5 May 2010}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 17:11, 11 February 2019
Brian of Brittany, or Brien de Bretagne in French (c. 1042 – bef. 1086), was a Breton nobleman who fought in the service of William I of England. A powerful magnate in south-western England, he has been considered the first post-Conquest earl of Cornwall since the twelfth century.
Brian was born in about 1042, a son of Odo, Count of Penthièvre.[a][1] Brian joined in the Norman Conquest of England, along with his brothers Alan the Black (Alain le Noir),[b] and Alan the Red.[2]
Godwine and Edmund, sons of Harold Godwinson, escaped after the Battle of Hastings to Leinster, where they were guests of Diarmait. In 1068 and 1069 Diarmait lent them the fleet of Dublin for attempted invasions of England. At midsummer in 1069 Brian and Alan led a force that defeated a raid by a fleet of 64 ships on the mouth of the River Taw in Devon. Later in the same year Brian and William fitz Osbern were sent to relieve sieges at Shrewsbury and Exeter by English forces rebelling against Norman lordship. They were too late to save the former but a sally by the defenders of Exeter drove the English into the path of Brian and William who "punished their audacity with great slaughter".[3]
After defeating Harold's sons, Brian's forces went north to counter the rebellion by Eadric the Wild, while William the Conqueror's army travelled west; the two armies joined and won the Battle of Stafford.[4]
Brian received grants of land in Suffolk and Cornwall, although the first mention of him as Earl of Cornwall was not made until 1140, by his nephew Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond who had been given the same title by King Stephen and may have been trying to improve the legitimacy of his new rank.[5] Brian's name is often associated with the construction of Launceston Castle.[6]
Brian may have left England soon after the battles of 1069,[citation needed] or perhaps following the rebellion of Ralph de Gaël in 1075.[7] In any case, his estates became part of the grants made by King William to Robert of Mortain.[8]
Brian may have lived the rest of his life as a semi-invalid in and near Brittany, staying with his wife.[9] E. A. Freeman however has him holding Kastoria in Thessaly for Bohemond I of Antioch in 1083. In 1084 he witnessed a charter of his eldest brother Geoffrey Boterel in Brittany[10] and another in Anjou in that year;[citation needed] he may have died before 1086.[citation needed]
It is not clear whether Brian had descendants,[11] but there are intriguing references in the Domesday Book: three to sons "of Brian": Ralph[12] as a Lord in six locations in Essex and one in Suffolk, of which the tenants-in-chief were Ranulf (Ranulph) Peverel (see William Peverel) and the Bishop of London St Paul; William[13] who is listed as a Lord in Totham under the Bishop of London St Paul; and Everard,[14] recorded as "Euerardus filius Brientii", who was a juror on the Inquisitio Comitatus Cantabrigiensis[15][16] and whose name is listed in first place in the Domesday Book entry for Cambridgeshire's Cheveley Hundred[17] where Brian's brother Alan Rufus was the principal magnate, held land in Ashley and in Saxon Street (villages either side of Cheveley village) under Aubrey de Vere I, a magnate and Breton subordinate of Alan's; another to "Brian's wife"[18] as a Lord of the third listed property in Stepney (together with Roger the Sheriff) of which the tenant-in-chief was the Bishop of London St Paul.
Notes
- ^ It is believed that he was an illegitimate son and among Odo's offspring, the third son.
- ^ Alan the Black, Brian's brother, is not to be confused with his brother Stephen's son, also sometimes called Alan the Black.
References
- ^ Wilson, Pam. "Brien de Bretagne (based on Cawley's Medieval Lands)". Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Christopher Clarkson (1821). The History of Richmond, in the County of York. Richmond: Thomas Bowman. p. 14.
- ^ William of Poitiers. "Rebellion and Retribution". Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Tallent, Mike. "Battle of Stafford". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ Golding, Brian (1991). Robert of Mortain. pp. 119–44. ISBN 9780851152868. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help); p. 126 - ^ Herring, Peter; Gillard, Bridget. "Launceston" (PDF). Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Wilson: Brien-de-Bretagne
- ^ Ditmas, E. M. R. "Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Breton families in Cornwall". Welsh History Review; Vol. 6, no. 1-4. pp. 451–61. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (2002) Domesday Descendants (2002), p. 221
- ^ Morice, H. (1742) Histoire Ecclesiastique et Civile de Bretagne, Preuve, i, Paris, page 458, cited by Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. in William I and the Breton Contingent in the Non-Norman Conquest 1060–1087, in Proceedings of the Battle Conference (1991), edited by Marjorie Chibnall
- ^ Cawley, Charles. "Comtes de Penthièvre". Medieval Lands. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ "Ralph son of Brian". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ "William son of Brian". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ "Everard son of Brian". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ "Feudal Cambridgeshire". pp. 41–50. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ "Inquisitio Comitatus Cantabrigiensis". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Cheveley Hundred".
- ^ "Brian's Wife". Retrieved 24 February 2014.