Henry IV, Duke of Brittany

## Henry IV of Brittany

Duke of Brittany

Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany

**Henry IV of Brittany** (C. 1171 - December 3, 1237) was Duke of Brittany from 1206 following his father's death, until his death in December 3, 1237. He was the eldest son of John I of England and his second wife Isabella I, Countess of Auvergne, from birth his mother made him heir apparent to Auvergne and adored Henry, but despite being close to his mother, he had a terrible relationship with his father who constantly tried to poison him, when he was 11 in 1182, his father arrested him terrorized him with a trial, and imprisoned him declaring he should never be released. Henry was locked in Château du Taureau, his mother was devastated and she was not allowed to see him, Henry was also not allowed to see anyone, and a bucket was carried through a window to send him food, clothes, and books, he grew to hate his father, when he was 23, his mother was murdered and he became Count of Auvergne, but he had no idea, he was later alerted when he was 24 his mom had died a year ago, he demanded to be let free from the dark Castle to visit his mother's grave, but the door's were barred by 7,000 plank's of wood. When Henry attempted to escape, his sent him only bread and only a few clothes. When he was 26, he had not seen a human in 15 year's. So he often sketched in book's of his mother and imaginary men and woman. He suffered a mental break-down as he wrote down in his journel. On his 30th birthday, he had not seen a person in 19 year's. He suffered several mental break-down's and other mental illnesses, when his father died, he inherited his father's duchy of Brittany, his older-half brother decided not to let Henry out cause of what he had become, when Henry was 39, his older-half brother the King of England wrote to Henry saying he was going to marry Isabella of Scotland and he would see a human, which he had not seen in 28 year's. Henry was so happy about seeing a human, he dressed up in his finest gown, after 3 month's he met the Scottish Princess, they were married but he was still not allowed to leave the Château du Taureau. He met his wife 3 times a week, and they were very close, they had 3 children whom Henry raised and was a devoted father to all of his children. But he was never let out if the Château du Taureau, he died there in the company of his older-half brother and children.

## Early Life

### Early Childhood

Henry of England was born in Château de Vitré as the eldest child of John I of England by his second wife Isabella I, Countess of Auvergne, his mother adored him and made him heir to her county of Auvergne which annoyed John who wanted the county for himself, John was abusive and mean to his son and often scared him purposely to see him cry, but this did not mean Henry in his early year's had a bad child-hood, he was very close to his mother and younger brother William. He was a talented and gifted child with a love for poetry.

### Education

Henry mostly learned French and Latin by his mother in languages, he learned how to dance, sing, read, write, and war, he also learned math and history. He was thought by his mother and not Joan I of Navarre which was rare for a child of King John as most of them were sent to France to live with her, Henry was raised in England for most of his early life.

### Arrest

When Henry was 11, his father had grown so tired of his son after many fight's, he ordered his arrest outside of Windsor Castle, he was with his mother and brother when the knight's stormed there room and arrested him, he desprateley grabbed on to his mother and brother who tried to hold on tight to him, but the guards held on tighter and grabbed him from Windsor Castle, his mother and brother chased the knight's, but he was put in a carriage and sent to trial, Henry's mother and brother wen't in a different carriage and followed them to the trial.

### Trial

The 11 year old Prince was put on trial by his own father, his mother offered money to let Henry free, and tried to defend her son as she was given a position to defend Henry, Henry cried during the trial, and his father declared him guilty for crimes he did not commit, he grabbed on to his mother and brother as he was dragged out of the court, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Château du Taureau, which was all the way in France, his father declared he would inherit Brittany and Auvergne, though he will never be able to rule them as she shall never be released as he is a "Threat." His mother burst into tears seeing his son go, Henry would never see them again.

## Imprisonment

Knight's dragged the boy into the Château du Taureau, which was located on a rock in the middle of the Breton sea, he would not be able to see a human and food was brought to him by a pail pulled up by a knight through a window, no one was watching him and he was not allowed to write to anyone. The letter's his mom wrote were thrown in the fire, he suffered a mental break-down as he wrote in his journel, he learned art at a young age and decided to sketch portraits of imaginary people, but to him they still did not feel real. He relied on music and bird's to comfert him, and bird's usually did not come. He once wrote on how he saw a flock of bird's enter his window, he was so amazed he started feeding them his lunch, and he played music, he also painted the bird's with old paint that he was given. On his birthday, he was usually given 1 letter from his mother which he greatly looked forward to, though he was not allowed to respond.

### Art Work while Imprisoned

Henry made a lot of art-work during his imprisonment, these are the most famous.

*Portrait of a woman, possibly of his mother Queen Isabella.**Portrait of Marie de France, a woman he met when he was 5 or 6**Portrait of his grand-father Henry II of England on his coronation day**Portrait of his uncle Richard the Lionheart**Drawing of the Crusades**Sketch of the bird's, when bird's use to fly into his prison, he used to sketch them to see them when he was lonely**Louis VIII of France with his son Charles VII of France**The White Ship Crash**Self Portrait*

### Poetry

While imprisoned Henry wrote many poem's, the most famous being about his father, one of his most famous poem's was called "Oh King John" the Poem was:

> *Oh King John, Cruel and Cold hearted, evil and discarded, Oh King John, Cruel and Evil with a heart full of needles, Oh King John, The Cheater of duels, and a cruel Tryant. Oh King John, the Evil one, oh King John.*
>
>

He wrote at least 18 books on poetry by the time of his death.

### Madness and Insanity

Cause of the fact he was not allowed to make human contact, he wrote in his private journel's he suffered many mental breakdown's, he once attempted to throw himself out of a window, but he could not possibly find a way to break through the hard glass, he once attempted to poison himself, but he could not find any poison, he often attempted to throw himself down the stairs, when he was 20, he started to think he was his own brother before he released he wen't mad, when he was 21, he had not seen a human in 10 year's, he longed to see one and often sketched imaginary woman and bird's to feel like someone was with him, he wrote a song called "Bryd one breere" which he sung it in Irish, he often sung it when he was alone. But that did not help him, he suffered sign's of Melancholia and Depression. He then wrote of how he thought when he was 21 and 22 that his mother was with him, but those were halucinations. When Henry was 23, his mother was murdered by his father an he inherited the County of Auvergne.

### Count of Auvergne

Henry was still imprisoned when he was declared Count of Auvergne in England, but he did not know of his mother's death and his rich inheritance until he was 24 and he suffered 2 other mental break-down's. He begged his father through letters to be let free and visit his mother, but the letter's where thrown in the sea by the knight to used a bucket to give him food. He held a posthumous funeral at his prison where he sketched a portrait of his mother and grabbed a Rose he found outside his window on the portrait.

### Writings

Henry wrote many stories during his imprisonment, he wrote a famous story called "Little red riding hood" which is still famous to this day, he also wrote "Lady of Innocence" and "The Prison." The Prison was based on his own life. He wrote "John the Mad" which was a book based on the cruel reign of his father, he also wrote "My Downfall" which was another book based on his arrest, Trial, and Imprisonment, he also wrote book's on bird's, he dedicated 1 whole book about an owl that flew into his window when he was 12, he wrote on the features of the owl and there are many copies of it, he thaught himself math with book's his father sent him, and made a book called "The Book of hours." He also wrote "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty" which are 2 of his most famous work's. He also wrote "Princess Constance" which was a book based on the life of his aunt, Constance of England, the original is currently in the London meseum. He also wrote a lot of book's about religion and most of his early and late work's were about Jesus and his family.

### Duke of Brittany

When he was 35, his father was murdered and he was declared Duke of Brittany under the regency of his older-half brother Henry III of England, the now Duke Henry was informed of his father's death and he celebrated with music, but his older-half brother was not keen on letting him free and kept him imprisoned as he feared his brother would raid England, Henry though much to his amazment was betrothed to Isabella of Scotland and he would be able to finally see a human which he had been prevented from seeing for about 28 year's. On his 39th birth-day he dressed in his finest clothes and the door's to his prison finally opened, he smiled when he saw Isabella and they were wed down-stairs of the prison. Isabella was appointed regent of both Brittany and Auvergne, due to Henry's imprisonment, Isabella and Henry were very close and they had 3 children, Geoffrey, Constance and Eleanor. Henry raised his children and dedicated himself greatly to each of his children, while his wife took the buissness of ruling, he thaught his children about his passions to pass his love of art into the family.

## Death

Henry caught malaria from a bug that flew into his window, his older-half-brother who was also soon to die insisted on being with him, his older half brother appologized to him for not letting him out as soon as King John died, Henry smiled and said "We finish each other." He died a few minutes later, his older half brother died a year later, Henry's duchy passed on to his son, he was buried in a Breton Abbey.