#my best guess is etienne is probably one of alan le noir's sons

[ardenrosegarden]

Officially, Constance is Conan and Margaret’s only child, but a certain William, brother of the Duchess is cited as a witness in acts C45 and A16. He is either an illegitimate son of Conan or a second child of the ducal couple because the first name William translates easily into English, which would suit Margaret perfectly by recalling her English royal parentage. In any case, William was removed from the succession by the marriage of his sister, who received the duchy as a dowry because it is clear that the presence of a son could only thwart Henry's intentions. An only child allows him to conquer the duchy by marrying her to his son Geoffrey without waiting for Conan's death, which the presence of a male heir barred him from doing. William is therefore set aside to maintain an official version allowing Conan to abdicate and Henry II to obtain custody of Constance and therefore of the duchy. Perhaps Conan kept the Count of Tréguier for this disinherited son. Nevertheless, William, trained as a cleric, remained in his sister’s entourage and contented himself with intervening in the administrative life of the duchy.

Constance's mother, Margaret, is mentioned on only one occasion in her daughter's deeds (C36) to have her confirm one of her gifts, an act which is also attested by Henry de Bohun, Margaret's son from her second marriage and therefore Constance's half-brother. Although they had a very close relationship, Margaret did not stay at her daughter's court. Her possessions in England and her remarriage kept her away from Brittany.

Finally, certain acts of Constance are attested by Etienne (Stephen) qualified as the duchess's uncle. Acts C3, C5 and C19 drawn up in Quimperlé and Nantes prove that at one time Etienne lived at court and followed it in its travels. Unfortunately, we don't have any information on the figure to establish his relationship to either Conan IV or Margaret.

Mari-Anna Sohier, Étude des actes de la duchesse Constance et de sa famille

#historyedit #twelfth century #william clericus #margaret of huntingdon #etienne of brittany #constance of brittany #my edit #my best guess is etienne is probably one of alan le noir's sons #he had several bastard children and a significant age difference with bertha #and etienne would be an established name in that part of the family if his grandfather was etienne de penthièvre #so my gif choice was primarily based on that