Duchy of Brittany - Traditional Vassals

Traditional Vassals

This is an incomplete list of traditional vassals of the Duke of Brittany. Some titles were promoted to duchy rank after the Duke of Brittany title merged with the French crown.

Titles as rendered into the Breton language:

• duke, duchess: dug, dugez
• count, countess: kont, kontez

Counts (Comtes)

The earliest Counts Each of these Counts could trace the origins of their titles to the most ancient of kingdoms or settled areas of Brittany during the period prior to the creation of the Duchy. Each Countship controlled one of the four major Breton cities, which became, at various times, the capital of Armorica or the Duchy of Brittany. Each Count of Rennes, Vannes and Nantes, in turn, rose to become Duke of Brittany

• Count of Cornouaille (Breton: Kernev) - centered around Carhaix; in the earliest periods, sometimes the Count of Carhaix;
  • Carhaix was considered the capital of ancient Armorica by the Roman Empire; it was known as Vorgium;
  • the Countship eventually passes to the Lord-Bishop of Quimper
• Count of Nantes (Breton: Naoned) - centered around Nantes
  • frequently an opponent to the ruler of independent Brittany, initially one of the Counts of Charlemagne
  • the leader of the Breton March was frequently the Count of Nantes
  • Brittany gained control of County of Nantes in the 9th century although it continued at times to be passed temporarily to outsiders, such as Henry II of England
• Count of Rennes (Breton: Roazhon) - centered around Rennes
• Count of Vannes (Breton: Gwened) - centered around Vannes

The later Counts These Countships generally arose after the formation of the Duchy of Brittany.

• Comte de Guingamp; Count of Guingamp (Breton: Gwengamp)
• Count of Montfort - Montfort of Brittany
• Count of Penthièvre (Breton: Penteur)
• Comte de Saisy de Kerampuil - delivered Remonstrances from the Breton Parliament to King Louis who responded by dissolving the Parliament;
• Count of Tréguier (Breton: Landreger)

Viscounts

• Viscount of Léon -
  • initially appointed by the Count of Cornouaille;
  • claimed independent sovereignty from the Duke of Brittany
• Viscount of Porhoët (Porhoët or Breton: Poutrecoet) created c. 990
• Viscount of Rohan
  • founded by Alain I de Rohan, the 1st Viscount de Porhoët, the third son of Viscount Eudon I de Porhoët;
  • the Viscountship became a Dukedom, and then entered the Peerage of France;
  • initially a cadet line of the Viscounts of Porhoët
  • after Brittany was joined with France, achieved the rank of Prince Etranger (Foreign Prince) at the French Court and thereby survived the merger of the Duchy of Brittany with the Kingdom of France and the eventual elimination of the French Nobility during the French Revolution.