Penthievre, Counts Of
PENTHIEVRE, COUNTS OF. In the nth and 12th centuries the countship of Penthievre in Brittany (dep. of C6tes-du-Nord)
belonged to a branch of the sovereign house of Brittany. Henry d'Avaugour, heir of this dynasty, was dispossessed of the countship in 1235 by the duke of Brittany, Pierre Mauclerc, who gave it as dowry to his daughter, Yolande, on her marriage in 1238 to Hugh of Lusignan, count of La Marche. Duke John I. of Brittany, Yolande's brother, seized the countship on her death in 1272. In 1337 Joan of Brittany brought Penthievre to her husband, Charles de ChUtillon-Blois. In 1437 Nicole de Blois, a descendant of this family, married Jean de Brosse, and was deprived of Penthievre by the duke of Brittany, Francis II., in 1465. The countship, which was restored to Sebastian of Luxemburg, heir of the Brasses through his mother, was erected for him into a duchy in the peerage of France (duche-pairie) in 1569, and was afterwards held by the duchess of Mercosur, daughter of the first duke of Penthievre, and then by her daughter, the duchess of Vendome. The duchess of Vend6me's grandson, Louis Joseph, inherited Penthievre in 1669, but it was taken from him by decree in 1687 and adjudged to Anne Marie de Bourbon, princess of Conti. In 1696 it was sold to the count of Toulouse, whose son bore the title of duke of Penthievre. This title passed by inheritance to the house of Orleans.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
