WHEN HENRY II BECAME KING OF ENGLAND IT HAPPENED THAT ALAN'SSON...

1146. When Henry II became king of England it happened that Alan'sson Conan, the heir to the honour of Richmond, was also heir to theduchy of Brittany through his mother, Bertha. The union of tenure ofthe honour of Richmond and the duchy of Brittany in one individualfor the ®rst time gave the king of England an unprecedented opportu-nity to intervene in Breton affairs. This was especially the case sinceConan was a minor who was exiled in England while his stepfatherEudo de PorhoeÈt ruled Brittany, refusing to hand the duchy over tohim. The young Conan needed Henry II's support to pursue his claimto his maternal inheritance. At this stage, the king was satis®ed to seeConan installed as duke of Brittany, knowing that his loyalty would beassured by the king's power to dispossess him of the honour ofRichmond.In the summer of 1156, Conan crossed to northern Brittany, under-took a short but effective campaign against Eudo de PorhoeÈt, and wasrecognised as duke by most of the Bretons.

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Neither Eudo nor Conanever exercised direct authority over the county of Nantes, however. Asnoted in the previous chapter, since the death of Duke Conan III in