Prince Arthur 3rd Duke Brittany 1187-1204

In July 1181 [his father] Geoffrey Plantagenet 2nd Duke Brittany [aged 22] and [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany [aged 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 [aged 36]. He the son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England [aged 48] and Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England [aged 59]. They were half second cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.

On 19th August 1186 [his father] Geoffrey Plantagenet 2nd Duke Brittany [aged 27] died at Paris [Map].

Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet. 1187. Henry, king of England, crossed over into Normandy on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of March [17th February 1187]. Gilbert of London died on the twelfth day before the Kalends of March [17th February 1187]. [his mother] Constance [aged 26], countess of Brittany, widow of [his father] Geoffrey, gave birth on the fourth day before the Kalends of April [29th March 1187] to a posthumous son, who was called Arthur.

1187. HENRICUS rex Angliæ, decimo tertio cal. Martii, in Normanniam transfretavit. Obiit Gilebertus Londoniensis duodecimo cal. Martii. Constantia comitissa Britanniæ, relicta Galfridi, posthumous quarto cal. Aprilis peperit filium, qui vocatus est Arthurus.

On 29th March 1187 Prince Arthur 3rd Duke Brittany was born posthumously to Geoffrey Plantagenet 2nd Duke Brittany and Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany [aged 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 [aged 18] and [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany [aged 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 [aged 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.

Before 1200 [his step-father] Guy Thouars [aged 59] and [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany [aged 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 [aged 54]. They were half fourth cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.

On 5th September 1201 [his mother] Constance Penthièvre Duchess Brittany [aged 40] died. Her son Prince [aged 14] succeeded 3rd Duke Brittany, 4th Earl Richmond.

In 1202 Prince Arthur 3rd Duke Brittany [aged 14] besieged at Château de Mirebeau, Montreuil.

Chronicum Anglicanum by Ralph Coggeshall. In this year [1204], after the middle of Lent, King John, having taken counsel, sent envoys to the King of France, namely the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Norwich and Ely, as well as Count William Marshal and the Earl of Leicester, in order to sound out the king's intentions and to discuss with him some form of peace settlement. But King Philip, elated because everything was turning to his advantage, was altogether unwilling to agree to any peace unless Arthur¹ were delivered to him alive. If Arthur was already removed from the scene, then he demanded Arthur's sister in marriage, together with all the land beyond the sea. And when the form of peace was debated in various ways, King Philip, unwilling for peace, since he was confident he would soon gain all of King John's territory, always proposed some unacceptable or impossible condition in the terms, something that would both cause shame and diminish the dignity of the English crown, and detract from royal majesty. He raged most fiercely over the murder of Arthur, whom he had heard had been drowned in the Seine; and it is said that he swore never in all his life to cease harassing King John until he had stripped him of his whole kingdom. Soon after, at the following Easter, King Philip assembled his army, besieged Falaise, and quickly captured it with no resistance. Then, coming to Caen, he was at once peacefully received by the townsfolk, since they had no one who could defend them. After this he seized the whole of that province as far as Barfleur, Cherbourg, and Domfront.

Hoc anno, post mediam Quadragesimam, rex Johannes, concilio habito, nuncios direxit ad regem Galliæ, Cantuariensem scilicet archiepiscopum, Norwicensem episcopum atque Elyensem, necnon et comitem Willelmum Marescallum, cum comite Leircestriæ, ut explorarent animum regis, ac de aliqua pacis formula cum eo tractarent. Sed rex Philippus nimis efferatus, quia omnia ei pro voto succedebant, nequaquam aliquam pacis concordiam componere volebat, nisi Arturus ei vivus traderetur. Quod si ille de medio jam sublatus esset, sororem ejus in matrimonium expetebat, cum tota terra transmarina. Cumque diversis modis de formula pacis tractaretur, rex Philippus pacem nolens, qui in brevi totam terram regis se adepturum confidebat, semper aliquod inconveniens, aut aliquod impossibile, in forma pacis componenda proponebat, quod et pudorem et principatus minorationem regi Anglorum incuteret, et regiæ majestati derogaret. Sæviebat autem permaxime pro nece Arturi, quem in Sequana submersum fuisse audierat; unde et jurasse fertur quod nullo tempore totius vitæ suæ ab infestatione regis Johannis desisteret, donec eum toto regno suo privasset. Mox autem, Pascha subsequenti, coadunato exercitu, rex Galliæ obsedit Falesiam et in brevi cepit, nullo ei resistente; deinde, Cadomis veniens, a Cadomensibus pacifice statim receptus est, cum neminem haberent qui eos defendere valeret. Post hæc cepit totam illam provinciam usque Barbefleot, et Chereburch, et Danfrunt.

Note 1. Annals of Margam: "The King of the Franks captured the castle of Chinon, and later all the fortifications of Normandy, Anjou, and the city of Poitiers, along with other castles, towns, and cities that he wanted to possess. This happened because when King John had captured Arthur and had kept him alive in prison for some time, he eventually, drunk and possessed by demons, personally killed him in the tower of Rouen on the Thursday before Easter, after lunch. He tied a large stone to his body and threw him into the Seine; the body was found in a fishing net called 'sagena' and brought to the shore. It was discovered and secretly buried in the priory of Bec, known as Saint Mary's of the Meadow, due to fear of the tyrant."

Walter of Coventry: "Arthur, while imprisoned by his uncle John, King of England, was taken from the world under uncertain circumstances; and his tomb has never been found to this day, as it is said, yet not without the vengeance of God, who breaks the pride of all the haughty. For the Bretons, taking from his name a sort of omen, rashly and foolishly boasted that the ancient Arthur had been revived in this one, and that through him the destruction of the English and the transfer of the kingdom to the Britons was now at hand."