Isabella of Brittany

Isabella of Brittany (in French Isabelle de Bretagne) (1411 – c. 1444) was a daughter of John VI, Duke of Brittany, and his wife, Joan of Valois. Isabella was a member of the House of Dreux.

Family

Isabella's maternal grandparents were Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. Her paternal grandparents were John V, Duke of Brittany and Joan of Navarre.

Isabella was related to three Queens of England. Two of her maternal aunts, Isabella of Valois and Catherine of Valois were queens of England and after the death of her paternal grandfather, John V, her grandmother, Joan, became queen of England by her marriage to Henry IV of England. Isabella of Valois was married to Henry's predecessor, Richard II of England. Catherine of Valois was married to Henry IV's son, Henry V of England.

Marriage

On 1 October 1430, at Redon, Isabella married Guy XIV de Laval. Guy fought in many different battles in the Hundred Years' War and fought alongside with Joan of Arc. Guy had been betrothed to Isabella's younger sister, Margaret but she died before the marriage could take place, so Guy married Isabella instead.^[1]

Isabella and Guy had three children:

• Guy XV de Laval, successor to Guy
• Pierre de Laval, he was archbishop of Rheims
• Jeanne de Laval, married René of Anjou, she was queen consort of Naples and was stepmother to Margaret of Anjou, queen consort to Henry VI of England.

Isabella died around 1444, and she is buried in Nantes. Her husband remarried after her death, to Françoise de Dinan. Her husband was buried at the collegial church of Saint-Thugal at Laval.

House of Brittany

This family tree shows Isabella's paternal side of her family, her mother and brothers. It shows that after the death of her brothers, her uncle, Arthur became Duke of Brittany.

Joanna of Navarre
x John V, Duke of Brittany
│
│
├──> Arthur III, Duke of Brittany 
│
├──> John VI, Duke of Brittany 
│    x Joan of France
│    │
│    └──> Isabelle de Bretagne
│    │     x Guy XIV de Laval
│    │
│    └──> Francis I, Duke of Brittany
│    │
│    └──> Peter II, Duke of Brittany
│    │
│    └──> Gilles of Brittany
│         x Françoise de Dinan
│ 
x Henry IV of England

Ancestry

References