Talk:Conan IV, Duke of Brittany

Edits
I've made a few changes. Nothing harmful. Maymichael2 (talk) 18:39, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Conan's son William
I wonder if it would be possible to mention William clericus, who seems to be Conan's son. He is mentioned by Judith Everard in her book Brittany and the Angevins. Here's an excerpt:

"Conan and Margaret had been married for nearly six years, yet apparently had produced only one child. The chronicles unanimously recite that Constance was Conan's only daughter (`unica filia'). But Constance was not the heiress in 1166; her father was still alive, and contemporaries could not have been certain that Conan and Margaret would not produce a son in the future, assuming they were permitted to continue to cohabit. Margaret, at least, was capable of childbearing after 1166, since she gave birth to a son in her second marriage. In fact, there may have been sons of her marriage to Conan. A charter of Margaret's includes a prayer for the souls of Conan and of `our boys', possibly `our children' (puerorum nostrorum). (...) One can only assume that these did not survive infancy and were not alive in 1166, but who was William clericus'', described in two charters of c. 1200 as the brother of Duchess Constance? (...) Although the obvious conclusion is that he was an illegitimate son of Duke Conan, William would have been an appropriate name for a son of Margaret, celebrating her royal kin. Whether or not any legitimate son was born or survived after 1166, the effect of the agreement of 1166 was to disinherit him, although possibly Conan retained the barony of Tréguier for this purpose. In short, it suited Henry II's purposes that Conan IV should be succeeded by a sole heiress, and this was arranged without waiting for Conan's actual death.''"

The charters Everard mentions are not very explicit: they only mention William clericus and state that he is the Countess' (Constance) brother. Maybe we might add him as one of Conan's descendants? Aziliz Breizh (talk) 17:43, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

William Clericus is listed as holding the office of Sheriff of Shropshire briefly between 1170 and 1171.Unless there were two of them? User: Storymonger 29 September 2020 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Storymonger (talk • contribs) 09:01, 29 September 2020 (UTC)