General Notes

Stuart's "Royalty For Commoners" (334:35) calls him Count of Rennes andDuke of Brittany.Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (gen 21 of lines 39 & 214) acknowlwdgesConan and ERMENGARDE as the parents of Geoffrey. Weis carriesERMENGARDE's pedigree further back, but makes no attempt at guessingthe parentage of Conan. (121:21) identifies Conan and ERMENGARDE asthe parents of JUDITH. Also mentioned (121E:21).Extracted from the Book, "The Bretons", by Galliou and Jones:"From c.970 Conan I acted as Duke of Brittany. His family retained thetitle, though they also used that of Count until 1066. But they had a hardstruggle both internally and externally to maintain their authority. Inparticular, they were faced with the rise of powerful neighboringprincipalities, Anjou, Blois-Chartres, and Normandy, replacing thedistant Capetian influence. This led to frequent intervention byoutsiders into Breton affairs, though it also had the ultimatelybeneficial consequence of promoting - as Carolingian intervention haddone earlier - a sense of Breton identity.It was the COUNTS OF ANJOU whose ambitions first affected theprovince. Siezing their opportunity during the minority of Barbrtote'ssons and exploiting the weakness of the Counts of Nantes, FULK I (RIN1250) and his successors, especially FULK NERRA (987-1040) (RIN1258), acted as protectors or even exercised control directly at Nantes.It was in defence of these interests that THE ANGEVINS twice faughtwith Conan I at Conqueril not far from the Vilaine on the frontierbetween the counties of Rennes and Nantes. On the latter occasion in992, though his forces won the battle, Conan lost his life. [Note thatConan's wife was the sister of his nemesis FULK NERRA].At the start of this ANGEVIN ascendancy their immediate rival inBreton affairs was the HOUSE OF BLOIS. As the COUNTS of ANJOUsupported the Counts of Nantes, so the COUNTS OF BLOIS supported thoseof RENNES. Beginning in the 990s, the DUKES OF NORMANDY replaced theCOUNTS OF BLOIS as the primary influence on the COUNTS OF RENNES. TheNORMANS were able to exact a form of feudal recognition, laterinterpreted as constituting homage, from the COUNTS OF RENNES. Notethe double marriage alliance of the son and daughter of Conan to the
daughter and son of RICHARD I, DUKE OF NORMANDY.