Hawise of Normandy (died 21 February 1034) was Countess of Rennes, Duchess of Brittany and Regent to her son Alan III, Duke of Brittany from 1008 until 1026.Her husband, Geoffrey, Count of Rennes, assumed the title Duke of Brittany in 992 but it was never recognized by the French king at the time and was not formerly legitimized until 1213. See: The New international Encyclopædia, Volume 3 (1918), p. 789.
Life Hawise was the daughter of Richard I of Normandy and Gunnor, and was sister of Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy as well as Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux.Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 79
Duchess of Brittany Hawise and her two sisters all formed important dynastic alliances.David Crouch, The Normans; The History of a Dynasty(London: Hambledon Continuum, 2007), p. 27 Emma of Normandy was twice Queen consort of England marrying firstly Æthelred the Unready and secondly Cnut the Great. Maud of Normandy married Odo II, Count of Blois. And Hawise was a part of an important dynastic double marriage for in 996, she married Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany, while her brother Richard II, Duke of Normandy shortly afterwards married Geoffrey's sister Judith of Brittany.David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror (Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1964), p. 29 This double alliance between Normandy and Brittany, probably designed to safeguard both families, certainly functioned as such regarding Brittany.
Regency In 1008 when Geoffrey died leaving two young sons, Alan III and Eudo, Richard stepped in to protect them and played a major role in governing Brittany during their minority.
Hawise acted as regent of Brittany during the minority of her son Alan III.Francis Palgrave, The History of Normandy and of England, Vol. III (London: Macmillan & Co., 1864), p.168 In 1010 her regency and the reign of her young son Alan III was seriously challenged by the peasant revolts that had spread from Normandy into Brittany. Alan, encouraged by his mother, led the nobles to quash the rebellion.Francis Palgrave, The History of Normandy and of England, Vol. III ( London: Macmillan & Co., 1864), pp.168-9
Hawise died on 21 February 1034.George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times, Vol. X, eds. H. A. Doubleday; Geoffrey H. White; Howard de Walden (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1945), p. 779
Issue She had four children:
Alan III of Brittany (997-1040).Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany, J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 75 Evenus (c. 998 - aft. 1037). Odo, Count of Penthièvre (d. 1079). Adela, Abbess of St. Georges.George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times, Vol. X, eds. H. A. Doubleday; Geoffrey H. White; Howard de Walden (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1945), p. 780
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