Duchy of Brittany: Ducal banners (part 2)

Last modified: 2024-01-28 by olivier touzeau
Keywords: ermine (black) | jean ii | arthur ii | jean iii | jean iv | pierre de leon | guy de penthievre | lion (white) | disc (white) | leopards: 8 (yellow) | jeanne la boiteuse |
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• The banner of Jean II
• The banner of Arthur II
• The banner of Jean III
  • The banner of Pierre de Léon
  • The banner of Guy de Penthièvre
• The banner of Jean IV (Jean de Montfort)
• The banner of Jeanne la Boiteuse

See also:

• Brittany (Traditional province, France)
• Duchy of Britanny (1188-1532)
• Duchy of Britanny: Ducal banners (part 1)

The banner of Jean II

Jean II, duke of Brittany, used the banner of his father Jean I. He had also used the crown prince banner before becoming duke.

Jean II may have used a plain ermine banner, according to certain sources.

The banner of Arthur II

Arthur II, duke of Brittany, used the banner of his father Jean II. He had also used the crown prince banner before becoming duke.

The banner of Jean III

by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

Jean III, duke of Brittany, first used the same banners as his father Arthur II.
Due to strong opposition with his mother-in-law Yolande de Dreux, he decided to remove the chequy arms of Dreux and used a plain ermine banner.

The banner of Pierre de Léon

by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

Pierre, viscount of Léon, was a son of the duke Arthur II. He first used a banner including the arms of Dreux.

by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

He followed later the Jean III's heraldic reform and removed the arms of Dreux from his banner.

The banner of Guy de Penthièvre

by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

Guy, count of Penthièvre, was son of Arthur II.

The banner of Jean IV (Jean de Montfort)

A war of succession started in 1340. Jean de Monfort, Arthur II's son and Jean III's brother-in-law succedeed him. He used three banners:

by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

• as count of Montfort, a lion representing Monfort

by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

• as pretender, a banner of ermines with a red border charged with eight leopards
• as (never crowned) duke, Jean III's ducal banner (banner of ermines).

The banner of Jeanne la Boiteuse

by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

Jeanne la Boiteuse, Guy de Penthièvre's daughter, contested Jean de Montfort's power. Married to Charles of Blois, who had been appointed duke of Brittany by the king of France, she used a banner which meant that she was not legitimately duchess. Blois lost war against Monfort and their son in the battle of Auray.

Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez, 14 June 2000
(Based on Généalogie et vexillologie des ducs de Bretagne by B. Le Brun, Ar Banniel [arb] #9, 1999)