Biography of Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany 1187-1203

Paternal Family Tree: Anjou aka Plantagenet

Maternal Family Tree: Adela Valois Countess Blois and Vermandois

In Jul 1181 [his father] Geoffrey Plantagenet 2nd Duke Brittany (age 22) and [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany (age 20) were married. She by marriage Duchess Brittany. He by marriage Duke Brittany. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Conan "The Young" Penthièvre IV Duke Brittany and [his grandmother] Margaret Dunkeld Duchess Brittany (age 36). He the son of [his grandfather] King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England (age 48) and [his grandmother] Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England (age 59). They were half second cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.

On 19 Aug 1186 [his father] Geoffrey Plantagenet 2nd Duke Brittany (age 27) died at Paris [Map].

In 1187 Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany was born posthumously to Geoffrey Plantagenet 2nd Duke Brittany and Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany (age 26). He a grandson of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

In 1188 [his step-father] Ranulf de Blondeville Gernon 6th Earl Chester 1st Earl Lincoln (age 18) and [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany (age 27) were married. She by marriage Countess Chester. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Conan "The Young" Penthièvre IV Duke Brittany and [his grandmother] Margaret Dunkeld Duchess Brittany (age 43). He the son of Hugh de Kevelioc Gernon 5th Earl Chester and Bertrade Montfort Countess Chester. They were half third cousins. He a great x 2 grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.

Death of Richard I

                    On 06 Apr 1199 [his uncle] King Richard "Lionheart" I of England (age 41) was besieging Châlus Chabrol Castle, Domfront. During the course of the evening King Richard "Lionheart" I of England was shot by a crossbow. The wound quickly became gangrenous; Richard died in the arms of his mother [his grandmother] Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England (age 77). His brother [his uncle] King John of England (age 32) succeeded I King of England.
                
                    There was a brother between Richard and John named [his father] Geoffrey Duke of Brittany who had a son Arthur (age 12), who was around twelve, and a daughter [his sister] Eleanor (age 15), who was around fifteen, whose mother was [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany (age 38).
                
                    King Philip II of France (age 33) had planned for Eleanor to marry his son, probably to bring Brittany into the French Royal family, possibly to pursue a claim on England.
                
                    King Philip II of France supported Arthur's claim to the English throne. In the resulting war Arthur was captured, imprisoned and never seen again. Eleanor was captured, probably around the same time as Arthur, and imprisoned, more or less, for the remainder of her life, even after King John's death through the reign of King Henry III since she represented a threat to Henry's succession.

Before 1200 [his step-father] Guy Thouars (age 59) and [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany (age 38) were married. The difference in their ages was 21 years. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Conan "The Young" Penthièvre IV Duke Brittany and [his grandmother] Margaret Dunkeld Duchess Brittany (age 54). She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.

On 05 Sep 1201 [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany (age 40) died. Her son Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany (age 14) succeeded 3rd Duke Brittany, 4th Earl Richmond.

In 1202 Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany (age 15) besieged at Château de Mirebeau, Montreuil.

Battle of Mirebeau

On 01 Aug 1202 Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany (age 15) was imprisoned by William de Braose 4th Baron Bramber (age 58) at Falaise Castle, Falaise, Calvados, Basse Normandie.

On 01 Aug 1202 [his uncle] King John of England (age 35) defeated the army of his nephew Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany (age 15) and Hugh Lusignan X Count Lusignan V Count La Marche (age 19) which was besieging John's mother [his grandmother] Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England (age 80) at Mirebeau Castle. King John of England took Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany 1187-1203's army by surprise capturing most. Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany and, probably, his sister [his sister] Eleanor "Fair Maid of Britanny" 4th Countess of Richmond (age 18), both of whom arguably had better claims to the throne than King John of England were captured.

Annals of Margam. 01 Aug 1202. [his uncle] Rex Johannes (age 35) apud castrum Mirabel cepit Arthurum (age 15) nepotem suum in festum Sancti Petri ad vincula, et cum eo Galfridum de Lizanan¹ et Hugonem de Brun², et Andream de Chavenny, et vice-comitem de castro Haraldi³, et Reymundnm de Troarde, et Savaricum de Maulyon, et Hugonem de Banchai, et omnes alios inimicos suos Pictaviæ, qui ibi erant circiter cc. milites et plures. Ex quibus xxii. nobilissimos et strenuissimos in armis fame interfecit in castello de Corf [Map]; ita quod nec unus ex illis evasit.

King John took his nephew Arthur in chains at the castle of Mirabel on the feast of Saint Peter, and with Geoffrey de Lusignan¹, Hugo the Brown² and Andream de Chavenny, and Hugh III, viscount of Chastelleraud³, and Reymundnm de Troarde, and Savaricum de Maulyon, and Hugonem de Banchai, and all his other enemies of Poitou, who were around 200 soldiers and more. Of which 22 he killed the noblest and bravest men in arms by starvation in the castle of Corfe [Map]; so that not one of them escaped.

Note 1. Geoffrey de Lusignan (age 52).

Note 2. Hugh de Lusignan (age 19), surnamed le Brun, count de la Marche.

Note 3. Hugh III, viscount of Chastelleraud.

In 1203 Arthur Plantagenet 3rd Duke Brittany (age 16) was murdered at Rouen, France [Map]. His half sister [his half-sister] Alix Thouars Duchess of Brittany (age 1) succeeded 5th Countess Richmond. Her half-sister [his sister] Eleanor "Fair Maid of Britanny" 4th Countess of Richmond (age 19), who was imprisoned from 1202 to her death, also used the title Countess of Richmond.