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Lordship of Léon

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Arms of the House of Léon

TheLordship of Léon,laterPrincipality of Léonwas a formerBretonfieflocated in the Léon province, in north-westernBrittany,which corresponds roughly to the FrenchdépartementFinistère.This lordship was created after theViscounty of Léonwas divided into a viscounty and the lordship at the end of the 12th century. The lordship of Léon was a large fief made of about sixtyparishesandtrèves[fr].The estates of the lordship are located around the valley of theÉlornriver, the town ofLanderneauand the castle ofLa Roche-Maurice.The lordship was initially held by the junior branch of the Viscounts of Léon, which was founded byHarvey I.AfterHarvey VIIIdied without issue, the fief was inherited by theViscounts of Rohan.In the middle of the 16th century the fief became known as "Principality of Léon".Landerneau,Landivisiau,Daoulas,Coat-Méal,PenzéandLa Roche-Mauricewere the seats of the jurisdictions of this huge Breton lordship.

History

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In the 12th century, the Viscounts of Léon rebelled againstHenry II of Englandin order to escapePlantagenet's domination in theDuchy of Brittany.In 1179, after the death ofGuihomar IV,who had submitted to the Ducal power not long before, Henry II of England confiscated the Léon estates. Following the confiscation ofMorlaixbyDukeGeoffrey Plantagenet,Guihomar IV's two sons Guihomar V et Harvey recovered their inheritance.Guihomar Vgot the castellanies ofLesneven,Brest,Saint-RenanandLe Conquetas well as the title ofViscount.Harvey got the estates of Landerneau and Daoudour, as well as the lordship of Coat-Méal. Being ajuveigneur,i.e. a younger son endowed with an estate, Hervé had to content himself with the title ofLord of Léonand founded the junior branch of the House of Léon, which managed to keep his fief ofLa Roche-Mauricefor 8 generations (fromHarvey ItoHarvey VIII).

List of Lords and Princes of Léon

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Lords of Léon

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House of Léon

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Seal of Harvey IV, Lord of Léon
  • Harvey I:younger son ofGuihomar IV, Viscount of Léonand his wife Nobilis, died in July 1203.
  • Harvey II:his son, married Anne (?) of Hennebont. He died in 1218.
  • Harvey III:his son, married Margaret ofChâteauneuf(younger daughter of Hugues IV de Châteauneuf,Lord of Châteauneuf-en-ThymeraisandSenonches,and Eleanor of Dreux). He died c. 1241.[1]
  • Harvey IV:his son, married c. 1260 Matilda of Poissy, Lady ofNoyon-sur-Andelle,Radepont,Hacqueville,Acquigny,died c. 1290 and was buried in theAbbey of Fontaine-Guérard.[2]In September 1281 he exchanged all his estated in Châteauneuf and Senonches with KingPhilip III the Bold.This part of the inheritance went to Louis of Valois, Count of Chartres, who had obtained the estate of Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais. When KingPhilip VIdied childless in 1329, he gave his brotherCharles II of Valois,Count of Alençon and Perche, a part of their brother's inheritance, and gave him in a charter dated May 1335 the lands of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais, Senonches andChamprondamong others.
  • Harvey V:his son, died in 1304
  • Harvey VI:his son, died in 1337, married Joan of Montmorency.
  • Harvey VII:his son, died in 1344, married Margaret of Avaugour; Lord ofNoyon-sur-Andelle.
  • Harvey VIII:his son, born in 1341, died in 1363. His birth certificate has been conserved: "In the Lord's year 1341, the Sunday after the transfer of Saint Martin, during the night, about two hours before sunrise, was born in La Roche-Morice, Harvey of Léon from parents belonging of the highest nobility. His father was My Lord Harvey of Léon and his mother was My Lady Margaret of Avaugour (…)".

During theWar of the Breton Successionwhich started in 1341, the Lords of Léon supportedCharles of Bloispartly because of their links with the House of Avaugour. Harvey VII of Léon was captured by the English in 1342 and spent two years imprisoned in theTower of London.He died in 1344 soon after he was released. The fief of La Roche-Maurice was inherited by his son Harvey VIII of Léon, then aged 3. A note in the Lords of Léon's Bible indicates that Harvey VIII was born in La Roche-Maurice in 1341. During the War of the Breton Succession, the situation became confused. The last Lord of Léon died without issue in 1363. The fief was inherited byJohn I, Viscount of Rohanthrough his marriage with Joan of Léon, Harvey VIII's sister.[3]

In 1363, Harvey VIII died without issue: the Lordship of Léon was inherited by his sister Joan, wife ofJohn I of Rohan.[4]The Lordship became part of the estates held by theRohans.From this time up to 1517, the Rohans' eldest sons would live in the castle of La Roche-Maurice and style themselves Lord of Léon before becoming Viscounts of Rohan.

House of Rohan

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Princes of Léon

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TheViscounts of Rohan,laterDukes of Rohanstyled themselves Prince of Léon in the early 16th century and the Lordship becamePrincipalityof Léon.

Arms of the House of Rohan
Arms of the House of Rohan-Chabot

The heir apparent is the present Duke Josselin de Rohan's son, Alain Louis Marc de Rohan-Chabot (b. 1975)

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^Seigneurs de Chateauneuf et ThymeraisArchived2011-01-24 at theWayback Machine,on racineshistoire.free.fr website, accessed 5 April 2013
  2. ^Genealogy of the Harveys of Léon,on tudchentil.org website, accessed 5 April 2013
  3. ^La Roche-Maurice et LanderneauArchived2013-11-05 at theWayback Machine,Bulletin de la Société archéologique du Finistère, May 2011
  4. ^The Viscounts of Rohan sometimes styled themselves Viscounts of Léon

Sources

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  • Patrick Kernévez et Robert le Roy,La seigneurie de Léon aux XVe-XVIe siècles,in Bulletin de la Société archéologique du Finistère, tome CXXXV, 2006,read online,p. 299-319.
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