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The Viscounty or County of Léon was a feudal state in extreme western Brittany in the High Middle Ages. Though nominally a vassal of the sovereign Duke of Brittany, Léon was functionally independent of any external controls until the viscounts came under attack by Henry II of England. It thus became the focus of revolts and wars when Brittany was drawn into the Angevin empire. The history of Léon's early counts is obscure. The original ''vicecomites'' (viscounts) of Léon were public officials appointed by the ''comites'' (counts) of Cornouaille, but by the mid-eleventh century they had usurped public authority in their province. Their ability to remain independent of both count and duke was likely due to their remoteness in the extremity of the Armorican peninsula. Unlike their Breton neighbours they did not participate in the Norman conquest of England in 1066.〔Everard, 16.〕 Count Harvey, however, did participate on the side of Stephen of Blois in the nineteen years of civil war in England called The Anarchy. The viscounts also fought with the Duke of Brittany in attempts to maintain their independence. Henry II had ordered Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, to march against Léon. Conan IV's eventual successor, Henry II's son, Geoffrey Plantagent, went to war against Guihomar of Léon. In the course of these wars most of the castles of the viscounts of Léon were razed and Guihomar's lands—his source of revenue—were significantly reduced. These conflict over authority in Léon continued down to the reign of John II. In 1235 the subvassals of Léon and Penthièvre brought a series of complaints, the ''Communes petitiones Britonum'', against the duke, Peter of Dreux, to Louis IX of France.〔Everard, 18.〕 They claimed that the viscounts of Léon had never theretofore been subject to the custody of or relief from the duke nor had they been required to seek permission for the construction of fortresses. They had always had the right of wreck, that is, a monopoly on shipwrecks and their cargoes on the coasts. They had the right to draw up testaments and to dispense with alms and make arrangements for debt-payment freely. The duke, they said, did not have a right to exact oaths of homage from the viscount's men and the viscount had the right of ''placitum spade'' ("pleas of the sword").〔 The right of wreck alone yielded 100,000 ''solidi'' per annum in revenues from a single rock on the treacherous coast, which an earlier viscount, Guihomar, had called his "most precious stone." The territory of Léon was preserved in the Bishopric of Léon. It is now part of the department of Finistère. One place within the former viscounty that continues to preserve many examples of medieval architecture, such as the church of Notre Dame du Kreisker, is the town of Saint-Pol-de-Léon. ==List of viscounts== * Guyomarch Ier de Léon - one of the earliest Viscounts of Leon - (1025 -1055) * Éhuarn - succeeded his father Guyomarch Ier * Guyomarch II de Léon ( - 1103) - succeeded his father Éhuarn, participated in First Crusade * Hervé Ier de Léon (vicomte de Léon) - (early 12th century) participated in First Crusade. * Guyomarch III de Léon (? - 1157) * Harvey of Léon (1103-1168) - Hervé II de Léon * Guihomar of Léon (1168-1179) - Guyomarch IV de Léon - Harvey's son; viscounty seized by Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany * Guyomarch V de Léon (? -1210) controlled only a small portion of Leon; fought on the side of Constance and Arthur I * Conan Ier de Léon - fought and was captured with Arthur I, Duke of Brittany; later attacked by Pierre Mauclerc as Duke of Brittany. Lost the Battle of Chateaubriant in 1222, a rebellion of Breton Nobles, which established the authority of Pierre Mauclerc and Alix. * Guyomarch VI de Léon (d1239) - rebelled against John I, Duke of Brittany in 1237 * Hervé III de Léon (c 1239 - c 1265) - ceded the town, port and chateau of Brest to the Duke of Brittany in 1240 * Hervé IV de Léon (c 1271 - C 1298) - sold much of the remaining riches of the Viscounty * Amé de Léon - daughter of Herve IV; sold all her rights and definitively renounced them in 1298; the line of the Viscomtes of Leon becomes extinct * ''Large portions of Viscounty held in the domain of the Duke of Brittany (1179 - 1269)'' * Pierre of Brittany (1269-1312) - son of John II, Duke of Brittany granted the viscountship by his father- to settle his debts, Pierre resold the viscountship to his brother, Arthur II, Duke of Brittany in 1293. The Lordship (or "Honour") of Leon passed to the House of Rohan in 1363. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Viscounty of Léon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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