Died 1149 | Parents Alan IV, Duke of Brittany | |
Grandparents Hawise, Duchess of Brittany, Hoël II, Duke of Brittany Great-grandparents Alan III, Duke of Brittany, Alain Canhiart, Bertha of Blois, Judith de Nantes Similar Alan IV - Duke of Brittany, Constance of Normandy, Ermengarde of Anjou, Fulk IV - Count of Anjou, Matilda of Flanders | ||
Brian fitz Count (also Brian of Wallingford) was descended from the Breton ducal house, and became an Anglo-Norman noble, holding the lordships of Wallingford and Abergavenny. He was a loyal adherent of Henry I, King of England, and a staunch supporter of his daughter, the Empress Matilda, during the Anarchy (1135–1153).
Contents
Life
Brian fitz Count was an illegitimate son of Alan IV, Duke of Brittany and Lucie de Ballon (see also Hamelin de Ballon), and thus the half-brother of Conan III, Duke of Brittany. Brian's maternal uncles were Hamelin de Ballon and Wynebald de Ballon. He was sent to be raised at the court of King Henry I of England. He served Henry well at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106 and elsewhere, winning the king's favor. Brian became a close friend of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, Henry I's illegitimate son, and the two remained longstanding allies. In 1127 Brian and Robert were chosen by Henry to accompany his daughter, Empress Matilda, to Anjou during the negotiations for her marriage to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.
Brian married an English heiress, Matilda D'Oyly, widow of Miles Crispin, and through her obtained the Honour of Wallingford c. 1127. Brian also inherited the castle and Barony of Abergavenny in the Welsh Marches from his uncle, Hamelin de Balun. He held the honour of Grosmont Castle, but by what right is uncertain. He gave this to Walter de Hereford, the son of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford about 1141. Brian held the honour of Wallingford by marriage, and his extensive estates in the counties of Berkshire and Wiltshire ran from the Chilterns to the Thames.
He supported the Empress Matilda against King Stephen from 1139 on. Although Stephen's forces repeatedly besieged Wallingford Castle, they failed to take the fortification and had to retreat. His castle of Wallingford was the easternmost point of the Angevin defenses in the Thames valley and it held off King Stephen's forces for over thirteen years. The Empress Maud's nighttime escape from the siege of Oxford was to the safety of Wallingford Castle.
When Brian died is unknown. After his death Matilda became a nun at Bec and died in the 1150s. As they had no heirs their lands and castles in England and Wales reverted to the Crown early in the reign of Henry II of England.
Family
Brian and Matilda D'Oyly had two sons who were both stricken with leprosy, and died young.