Alan de Dinan Dinan

   Another name for Alan was Alan Vicomte de Dinan.

  General Notes:

Weis' Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700, 8th Edition, 108:27, Robert I de Vitre was married to Emma de Dinan, daughter of Alan de Dinan. Alan de Dinan, died 1126, and was the lord of Dinan and Becherel, in Brittany, and the son of Geoffrey Dinan, who died in 1126. ¹⁶⁰

~Gen-Medeival discussion, Moriarty's claim that Count Stephen's daughter actually married Alan de Dinan, rather than his brother, Oliver de Dinan. This claim is supported by Le Baud, Chroniques de Vitré, page 27. If correct, it would explain why Alan de Dinan's grandson, Robert de Vitré, Precentor of Paris, was called "kinsman" by Duke Arthur of Brittany, a known descendant of Count Stephen.¹⁹³

  Noted events in his life were:

• From Gen-Medieval Archives. ^193,599 From: "Douglas Richardson" <royalancestry@msn.com>
Subject: =Ducal kinsfolk: Arthur, Duke of Brittany's kinsman, Robert de Vitré
Date: 24 Nov 2006 17:28:42 -0800

Dear Newsgroup ~
During the course of research for the book, Plantagenet Ancestry (2004), I encountered an interesting charter issued by Arthur, Duke of Brittany, the ill fated nephew of King John, in which Duke Arthur referred to Robert de Vitré as his kinsman [Reference: J.H. Round, Calendar of Documents Preserved in France 1 (1899): 473]. At the time, I was unable to explain the kinship between the two men. I assumed that the matter would be resolved at some future point.

Since that time, I've done additional research both on the Vitré family, as well as on kinship relationships stated in charters before 1250. As I've indicated in recent posts, my analysis of pre-1250 charters indicates that acknowledged kinships in that time period invariably fell within the 4th degree of kindred. As such, it would appear that Duke Arthur and Robert de Vitré were almost certainly blood related within the 4th degree. But how?

Reviewing Duke Arthur's ancestry, I find that his only Breton ancestry (and thus his only likely connection to Robert de Vitré) consists of paternal grandfather's parents, Alan of Brittany, and his wife, Bertha of Brittany. From what is known of Bertha of Brittany's immediate family, it is not likely that the Vitré connection comes through her. As for Alan of Brittany, his parents, Stephen (or Etienne), Count of Brittany, and his wife, Hawise, are known to have had a large family of children, including one alleged daughter, Agnorie, wife of Oliver de Dinan [see, for example, Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, 2 (1984): 75 (sub Brittany)]. However, I elsewhere find it stated in print that Moriarty's Notebooks, Volume 13, identifies the husband of Agnorie of Brittany as Alan de Dinan, the brother of Oliver de Dinan. To date, however, I've unable to find any contemporary source which proves Agnorie's given name, or whether or not she married Oliver or Alan de Dinan. Nor have I been able to consult Moriarty's Notebooks to see what evidence he provided to substantiate his identification of Alan de Dinan's wife.

Although other possibilities may exist, it seems a good bet that Moriarty is correct that Alan de Dinan's wife was the daughter of Count Stephen. My research indicates that Alan de Dinan and his wife were the maternal grandparents of Robert de Vitré, the acknowledged kinsman of Duke Arthur. If Alan de Dinan's wife was the daughter of Count Stephen, then Duke Arthur and Robert de Vitré would be related in the 4th and 3rd degrees of kindred as shown below:

l. Stephen, Count of Brittany, died 1135.
2. Alan of Brittany, died 1146.
3. Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, died 1171.
4. Constance, Duchess of Brittany, died 1201, married Geoffrey, son of
King Henry II of England.
5. Arthur, Duke of Brittany, died 1203.

l. Stephen, Count of Brittany, died 1135.
2. [Agnorie?], married Alan de Dinan, died 1148.
3. Emma de Dinan, married Robert de Vitré.
4. Robert de Vitré, priest, died 1209.

Elsewhere, I find that Bibliographie Bretonne, 1 (1971): 539 (sub Dinan) gives the name of the wife of Alan de Dinan as Murielle, not Agnorie. If correct, and, if Moriarty has correctly placed Alan de Dinan's wife as the daughter of Count Stephen, then the name of Count Stephen's daughter would obviously be Muriel, not Agnorie. Another good Breton resource, Bio-Bibliographie Bretonne, by René Kerviler also discusses the life of Alan de Dinan. But this account doesn't mention the name of Alan de Dinan's wife.

Alan married Angoria de Bretagne, daughter of Èttiene I Comté de Bretagne and Havoise de Guincamp, in 1135 in Bretagne, France.¹⁹³