BUT SOME UNDATED DOCUMENTS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE IN THISPERIOD, I...

1203, but some undated documents could have been made in thisperiod, including the act of Peter de Dinan mentioned above, andseveral charters of William, seneschal of Rennes.

³¹

The latter certainlyseems to have remained in of®ce throughout this period. Scarcethough the evidence is, it appears that ducal government did not breakdown in Arthur's absence, despite the uncertainties of the situation andthe potential for con¯ict between rival factions.the end of angevin brittanyIn view of Duke Geoffrey's alliance with Philip Augustus, at the time ofhis sudden death there was a real question as to whether Brittany wasstill held of Henry II as duke of Normandy or whether it now pertaineddirectly to the French crown. Gervase of Canterbury depicts Henry IIas struggling to recover `dominatum' of Brittany. Roger of Howdenimplicitly places Henry II in the stronger position, with Philip Augustusvociferously, but ineffectually, demanding wardship and custody ofGeoffrey's elder daughter and heiress, Eleanor, until she was of marriag-able age.

³²

According to Gervase of Canterbury, some of the Bretons preferredAngevin rule, some Capetian, and others didn't wish to be ruled byeither.

³³

Among the latter, no doubt, were Guihomar and Harvey deLeÂon, who took the opportunity presented by Geoffrey's death to rebelagainst ducal authority, seizing the castles of Morlaix and ChaÃteauneuf-du-Faou from their ducal castellans.

³⁴

Duchess Constance seems to havedecided that the best course was to submit to Henry II.

³⁵

PhilipAugustus's apparent policy of treating the duchy of Brittany as inwardship can hardly have appealed to Constance as the reigninghereditary duchess, who was still very much alive. Henry II, in contrast,

31

Preuves, col. 771, `Cart. St-Melaine', fols. 27, 52, 59±60; `Cart. St-Georges', Appendix, no.

ix.

32

GC,

i, p. 336;

Gesta,

i, p. 353.

³³

GC,

i, p. 336, 346.

34

Gesta,

i, p. 357; Guillotel, `Les vicomtes de LeÂon aux XIe et XIIe sieÁcles',

MSHAB

51 (1971),

20±51, p. 33.

35

Hillion, `La duchesse Constance', p. 114.

allowed Constance to continue to govern Brittany in person and tokeep the custody of her two young daughters. He did not even obligeher to remarry immediately, but merely placed a trusted Angevinservant in the of®ce of seneschal of Brittany to replace Ralph deFougeÁres. Henry II had secured Brittany's place within the Angevinempire, at least for the time being.The end of Angevin Brittany did not in fact occur until 1202 or