20ENQUEÃTE, P. 77. 21 CHARTERS, NO. GE4.20ENQUEÃTE, P. 77. 21 CHA...

1182.

20

EnqueÃte, p. 77.

²¹

Charters, no. Ge4.

III and Conan IV. Partly, this was an inevitable consequence of thereturn of a resident duke and ducal household. In other respects,though, it was a conscious and deliberate policy. Throughout his reign,Geoffrey strove to appease the Breton magnates, and restoring theinstitutions of the `good old days' of native rule was one aspect of this.The reason for this policy may be consciousness that he owed hisposition to his marriage to Duchess Constance. This is apparent fromGeoffrey's ®rst known charter, cited above. Several of Geoffrey'scharters disposing of property in Brittany record Constance's assent.

²²

Constance in fact exercised ducal authority in her own name and underher own seal during Geoffrey's lifetime.

²³

It is possible that manyBretons, laymen and clerics, owed their personal loyalty to Constance asheiress of the native ducal dynasty, and merely tolerated Duke Geoffrey.According to the `Chronicle of Saint-Brieuc', Geoffrey `ratione illiusmatrimonii, populum Britannicum, quamdiu vitam duxit, dulcitertractavit'.

²⁴

Without wishing to detract from the important role of Constance asduchess of Brittany, I do not think this consideration alone explainsDuke Geoffey's policy of imitating the native dukes. Rather, I wouldargue that Geoffrey deliberately adopted this policy to identify himselfwith the native dukes and with the Breton people, and to distinguish hisregime from that of Henry II. Geoffrey did not merely identify himselfwith the Bretons, he positively intended to placate them, in order towin their support for his personal lordship.This self-conscious imitation of the native dukes is manifested in theiconography and diplomatic of the new regime. In 1181, Duke Geoffreyadopted the designs of Conan IV's seal and his ducal coinage.

²⁵

He alsoadopted Conan IV's title, `dux Britannie et comes Richmundie'. The`comes Richmundie' was not a reality until 1183, but then neither hadConan been `dux Britannie' from 1166 to 1171.The principal seat of ducal government remained at Rennes. Like thenative dukes, Geoffrey was resident in the duchy, exercising ducalauthority personally and correspondingly relying less upon of®cials thanhad the absentee Henry II.There are many more records of ducal grants and con®rmations, and

22

Charters, nos. Ge 4, 19, 20, 21, 28.

23

Charters, nos. C3, and 4.

24

BN ms latin 6003 f. 92v;

RHF,

xii, p. 567. Since the `Chronicle of Saint-Brieuc' was composed

in the late fourteenth century (ibid., p. 565, note a), one cannot be certain that this judgment is

based on any contemporary source.

25

For the seal, see

Charters, p. 6. For the coins, see A. Bigot,

Essai sur les monnaies du royaume et

duche de Bretagne, Paris 1857, pp. 52±3, plate

vii; F. Poey d'Avant,

Monnaies feÂodales de France,

Paris 1858,

i, p. 54, plate

ix, nos. 19±21.

matters determined in the duke's presence under Geoffrey for the ®veyears from 1181 to 1186 than there were under Henry II for thetwenty-three years from 1158 to 1181.On the other hand, the rarity of recorded acts of Henry II concerningBrittany is compensated for by the extant records of acts of his ministers,as discussed in chapter three. The opposite applies to the reign of DukeGeoffrey. While there are many more ducal acts, there are no records ofacts of ducal of®cials. There are no acts of the seneschal of Renneswhich can be attributed with certainty to the period between 1181 and