Margaret of Brittany

Margaret of Brittany (in Breton: Marc'harid Breizh, in French: Marguerite de Bretagne) (c. 1443 – 25 September 1469) was the elder of the two daughters of Francis I, Duke of Brittany and duchess consort of Brittany.

Margaret of Brittany
Isabella of Scotland with her daughter Margaret of Brittany behind.
Duchess consort of Brittany
Tenure	26 December 1458 – 25 September 1469
Born	c. 1443
Died	25 September 1469 (aged 25–26) Château de Nantes, Nantes.
Burial	Nantes Cathedral
Spouse	Francis II, Duke of Brittany
Issue	John, Count of Montfort
House	Dreux-Montfort
Father	Francis I, Duke of Brittany
Mother	Isabella of Scotland

Early life

Margaret was the elder of the two daughters of Francis I, Duke of Brittany (died 1450), by his second wife, Isabella of Scotland.

Since the Breton War of Succession, Brittany had been understood to operate according to the semi-Salic Law: women could only inherit if the male line had died out. As expected from the provision of the Treaty of Guérande, which ended the war, neither Margaret nor her younger sister Marie were recognized as heirs to the duchy. After her father's death, her uncle Peter II of Brittany succeeded as Duke of Brittany. He was also childless, and to avoid any subsequent dispute, he arranged the marriage of Margaret to his first cousin, Francis of Étampes, the second in the order of succession and the last male left of the Breton House of Montfort; also, he arranged the marriage of the younger sister Marie to John II, Viscount of Rohan, the most powerful noble in Brittany.

Marriage

On 13 or 16 November 1455, Margaret was married to Francis of Étampes, at the Château de l'Hermine in Vannes. She became Duchess of Brittany upon his accession in 1458. Their only child John, Count of Montfort (29 June – 25 August 1463) died in infancy.

Margaret inherited The Hours of Isabella Stuart from her mother, and a depiction of Margaret kneeling before the Virgin and Child at a prayer desk, draped in fabric embroidered with the arms of Brittany, was added to the manuscript around the time of her marriage. It is now held in the collection at the FitzWilliam Museum.

Death

Margaret died on 25 September 1469 at the Château de Nantes in Nantes. She was buried in the Nantes Cathedral, in the tomb constructed for her and her husband, and later his second wife, Margaret of Foix.

Sources

• Booton, Diane E. (2010). Manuscripts, Market and the Transition to Print in Late Medieval Brittany. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9780754666233.