Pierre de Dreux duc de Bretagne

   Other names for Pierre were Peter I Duke of Brittany and Pierre I Duc de Bretagne.

  General Notes:

~Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition, 135:29 Pierre (de Braine) de Dreux, also styled Mauclerc, married Alix de Thouars, comtessa de Bretagne as his first wife and married as his second wife, Margaret de Montague. Pierre was the great grandson of Louis VI, King of France ¹⁶⁰

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
Piers de Braine, styled Mauclerc, 2^nd son of Robert II, comté de Dreux et Braine, by, his 2^nd wife, Yolande, 1st daughter of Ralph de Couci, Lord of Couci, was born circa 1187-90. The King of France knighted him on 17 May 1209. By his marriage with Alice of Brittany he became duc de Bretagne, in February 1212/3. In 1213 he served in Flanders under the King of France, and helped the French to defend Touraine against King John, whom he defeated in 1214 before Nantes. On 12 Aug 1215, John offered him the honor of Richmond, if he would come to his aid in England, but Piers took the other side and helped Prince Louis. However, on 16 Jan 1218/9, Henry III ordered seizin of the lands of the Earldom of Richmond to be given to Piers, whereupon he became Earl of Richmond. In 1219, he joined in the Crusade against the Albigenses. On 3 Mar 1222/3, he defeated Amaury de Craon at Châteaubriant. In November 1224, he was deprived for a few months of the honor of Richmond. He returned to the Crusade against the Albigenses in 1226.

On 19 Oct 1226, Henry III undertook to marry Piers's daughter Yolande, but the project broke down. In March 1226/7 Piers concluded the Treaty of Vendôme with Louis IX, and in April 1227, Henry ordered his lands to be seized. In October 1229 he did homage to Henry III, and he was restored to the Earldom of Richmond. In June 1230, the French barons declared his forfeiture, and on 23 September he concluded a new treaty with Henry III. With the Earl of Chester he negotiated a 3 year truce between the rival Kings on 4 Jul 1231, but after this expired he was compelled to submit to Louis, and in January 1234/5 his English lands were confiscated. He was included in the 5 year Anglo-French truce of 3 Feb 1235/6. In November 1237 he surrendered the Duchy to his son, after which he styled himself Piers de Braine.

In 1239, Piers led a Crusade to Palestine, and in 1249 he went on Crusade with St. Louis. He was wounded in the face at the battle of Mansourah, and surrendered with the King at Faraskur, 6 Apr 1250. On being released he sailed from Damietta, 7 May 1250, but died at sea. During his rule in Brittany, he was constantly engaged in quarrels with the bishops, and more than once he was excommunicated. He was a benefactor to many monastic foundations and, to the Templars in Brittany.

Piers married, 1^st, in Feb 1212/3, Alice, elder daughter and coheir of Gui de Thouars, sometime duc de Bretagne, by Constance, duchess of Brittany. Alice died 21 Oct 1221, and was buried in the convent of the Cordeliers at Nantes. He married, 2^nd, about January 1234/5, Margaret, Lady of and la Garnache, widow of Hugh de Thouars, Vicomté de Thouars, next brother of Gui previously named, who died s.p., 1230 (before May), and daughter and heir of Maurice de Montaigu, Lord of Montaigu, by Chaboce (parentage unknown). Margaret died about the end of 1241. A charter, as an act of last will, was dated 27 Nov 1241. Piers married, 3^rd, Joan, Lday of Criel, younger daughter of Ralph d'Exoudun, comté d'Eu, by Alice, comtessa de Eu, daughter and heir of Henry, comtée d'Eu. Piers died sometime around 28 May 1250, at sea, and was buried in the abbey of St. Yves-de-Braine, near Laon. His will was made around August 1248. His widow died 3 Oct 1252, in the Hospital of Brackley, Northants, and was buried in the abbey of Foucarmont.

~ Cokayne's Complete Peerage, 2nd Edition, Vol. X, (Richmond) pp. 800-805

• Web Reference: Pier de Dreux.

From Bibliothèque nationale de France

Pierre married Alix de Thouars Duchess of Brittany, daughter of Gui comté de Thouars Duc de Bretagne and Constance duchesse de Bretagne, in Mar 1213 in Bretagne ¹⁴¹.^,160 (Alix de Thouars Duchess of Brittany was born in 1201 in Bretagne,¹⁶⁰ died in Oct 1221 in Bretagne ¹⁶⁰ and was buried in 1225 in Villeneuve Abbey, Nantes ¹⁴¹.)