Before arriving in England just after the Norman Conquest, the Richmonds were originally from the Duchy of Brittany (present day France).  There is a direct line back to the Alan I, King of Brittany.  He is the 31x Great Grandfather of Kelly Dunn.

• Count Ridoredh of Vannes                       The 32x Great Grandfather of Kelly Dunn

• Alan I, King of Brittany( -907)                 His wife:  Oreguen   (31x GGF)

• Hawise of Vannes,                                        Her husband:  Mathuedoi I, Count of Poher (30 GGM)

• Alan II, Count of Vannes and Nantes     His wife:  Roscille of Anjou  (29xGGF)

  • Guerech, Count of Nantes, the 1st Son of Alan II and brother of Hoel I

• Hoel I, Count of Nantes    (920-981)        2nd Son of Alan II     (28th GGF)

• Judicael, Count of Nantes      (960-?)     His wife:  Melisende de Nantes (965-?)  (27th GGF)

• Raoul I le barbu de Mauvoisin, Count of Nantes (1005-?)   His wife:  Eva de Mauvoisin (1030 -?)  (26th GGF)

• Hasculfus VI de Musard, Count of Nantes  (1050-?)  (25th GGF)

  • Enisan de Musard, Lord of Cleasby

  • Roaldus (Le Ennase) de Musard

• Hasculph, son of Haculfus VI   (24th GGF)
  

  • Hacuil, or Hasculf, de St James, lord of Tansor in Northamptonshire and of estates in Oxfordshire

• Roald, son of Hasculph and second Constable of Richmond Castle   (The 23x GGF)
  

Leaders of Brittany and Ancestors of Richmonds

Alan the Great

Alan I (French: Alain; died 907), called the Great, was the Count of Vannes and Duke of Brittany (dux Brittonium) from 876 until his death. He was probably also the only King of Brittany (rex Brittaniæ) to hold that title by legitimate grant of the Emperor.

Alan was the second son of Count Ridoredh of Vannes. He succeeded his brother Pascweten in Vannes when the latter died, probably in the middle of 876, and contended for leadership of Brittany with Judicael of Poher. Alan represented the power bloc of southeastern Brittany while Judicael represented western Breton interests. Eventually he and Judicael made peace in order to fight the Vikings. Judicael died in the Battle of Questembert in 888 or 889, after which Alan gained sole leadership of Brittany. In 890, Alan defeated the Vikings at Saint-Lô, chasing them into a river where many drowned.

After the death of Judicael, Alan ruled all of Brittany as it had been during the time of Salomon. He ruled not only the Breton territories of Léon, Domnonée, Cornouaille, and the Vannetais, but also the Frankish counties of Rennes, Nantes, Coutances, and Avranches, as well as the western parts of Poitou (the so-called pays de Retz) and Anjou. In the east his rule extended as far as the river Vire. He was the first Breton ruler to rule this entire territory without great opposition within the west and the last to rule the whole bloc of Franco-Celtic countries. His strongest opponent was Fulk I of Anjou, who disputed control of the Nantais with him, though Alan seems to have had the upper hand in his lifetime. His power base remained in the southeast and he was powerful and wealthy in land in around Vannes and Nantes.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_I,_King_of_Brittany

Mathuedoï I, Count of Poher

Mathuedoï I, was a Count of Poher (circa 875- 930). He was the son-in-law of Alan I, King of Brittany, known as Alan the Great through his marriage to Hawise of Vannes. [a] He obtained his countship at Alan’s death circa 907. He is listed in several ecclesiastical records at Redon Abbey.  At Alan I’s death the rule of Brittany became fractured even as the region faced Viking invasions. Mathuedoï and his cousin Gourmaelon, the Count of Cornouailles, stood in line to succeed Alan I as ruler of Brittany. Mathuedoï renounced his claim as Viking invasions of Brittany increased. Subsequent to the invasion of the Loire Viking fleet led by Rognvaldr in 919, he exiled himself and his son Alan, to England. [2]

According to the Chronicle of Nantes:

“… Among the nobles who fled for fear for the Danes, Mathuedoi, the count of Poher, put to sea with a great multitude of Bretons, and went to Athelstan, king of the English, taking with him his son, called Alan, who was afterwards surnamed “Crooked Beard”. He had had this Alan by the daughter of Alan the Great, duke of the Bretons, and the same Athelstan, king of England, had lifted him from the holy font. This king had great trust in him because of this friendship and the alliance of this baptism.”

While Mathuedoï would remain in England, his son Alan returned to Brittany about 15 years later, and with Athelstan’s assistance would expel the Vikings.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathuedo%C3%AF_I,_Count_of_Poher

Alan II, Duke of Brittany

Alan II (died 952), nicknamed Wrybeard (French: Barbe-Torte) and also known as Le Renard “The Fox”, was Count of Vannes, Poher, and Nantes, and Duke of Brittany from 938 to his death. He was the grandson of King Alan the Great by Alan I’s daughter. He expelled the Vikings from Brittany after an occupation that lasted from 907 to about 939. During his rule, he defended Brittany from Viking invasions.  He had to take refuge, along with his father Mathuedoi I, Count of Poher, with the English king, Edward the Elder, because the Norsemen had invaded Armorica. The Chronicle of Nantes reports:

“… Among the nobles who fled for fear for the Danes, Mathuedoi, the count of Poher, put to sea with a great multitude of Bretons, and went to Athelstan, king of the English, taking with him his son, called Alan, who was afterwards surnamed “Crooked Beard”. He had had this Alan by the daughter of Alan the Great, duke of the Bretons, and the same Athelstan, king of England, had lifted him from the holy font. This king had great trust in him because of this friendship and the alliance of this baptism.”[1] (Chronicle of Nantes, chapter 27)

Alan became ruler of Brittany at the end of a 33-year interregnum after the death of his maternal grandfather, Duke Alan the Great. He landed at Dol in 936, at the invitation of the monk Jean de Landévennec and with the aid of Edward’s successor,Athelstan the Glorious. By 937 he was master of most of Brittany, having forced the Vikings back to the Loire.

“… The city of Nantes remained for many years deserted, devastated and overgrown with briars and thorns, until Alan Crooked Beard, grandson of Alan the Great, arose and cast out those Normans from the whole region of Brittany and from the river Loire, which was a great support for them. This Alan was brought up from infancy with Athelstan, king of the English, and was strong in body and very courageous, and did not care to kill wild boars and bears in the forest with an iron weapon, but with a wooden staff. He collected a few ships and came by the king’s permission with those Bretons who were still living there, to revisit Brittany.”[2] (Chronicle of Nantes, chapter 29)

In 938, he was elected Brittonum dux. On 1 August 939, with the aid of Judicael (Berengar), count of Rennes, and Hugh I, count of Maine, his victory was made complete by defeating the Norse at Trans. Alan declared that date a national holiday.  Alan was closely allied with King Louis IV of France, for both had been exiles in England at the same time at the court of Edward the Elder and Edward’s grandson and successor Æthelstan. Alan renounced the Cotentin, Avranchin, and Mayenneand paid homage to Louis IV in 942.[4] He was also allied to Theobald the Old, the count of Chartres.

Alan II was the grandson of Alan I, King of Brittany and the great-grandson of Ridoreth, Count of Vannes. He was the grand-nephew of of Pascweten. His wife was Adelaide of Blois, the sister of Theobald I, Count of Blois. Their son, and Alan’s immediate successor, was Drogo, Duke of Brittany.  He also had at least two illegitimate sons, Hoel and Guerech, who would each succeed Drogo during the fractured rule of Brittany after Drogo’s death.

He died and was buried in his capital, Nantes, in the church which he constructed to honor the Virgin Mary for his victory in liberating Nantes, initially known as la Chapelle de la Tres Sainte Mere de Dieu [a] now known as the Basilique Notre Dame in the parish of St Therese in Nantes. He was succeeded by his son Drogo.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_II,_Duke_of_Brittany

Hoël I of Brittany

Hoël I of Brittany was an illegitimate son of Alan II and Judith.  He was Count of Nantes and Duke of Brittany from 960 to 981.  Upon the death of Drogo, the government of Brittany splintered among the leading nobles. Evidence of a fractured leadership appeared in letters from Pope John XIII to Brittany who addressed “Juhel Béranger and his son Conan, as well as Hoël and his brother Guérech. “

In 975, Hoël I entered into a conflict with Conan I Le Tort, the Count of Rennes, son of Juhel Béranger and the eventual Duke of Brittany after the rule of Hoël and his brother Guérech. Conan I controlled the north of Brittany and considered himself the ruler of Brittany. Hoël’s army was supplemented by the troops of Geoffrey I of Anjou while Conan I’s army was supported by the forces of the House of Blois. A battle ensued at Conquereuil where Geoffrey defeated Conan I, although the military result of the battle was indecisive, as different results are recorded in the Chronicles of Nantes and Mont St Michel.  In 981, Hoël I worked to have his brother Guérech elected Bishop of Nantes to replace Gauthier I who had died.

The name of Hoël I’s spouse is unknown. He had at least two known children:      Judicaël (c 979 – 1004) – he became Count of Nantes and was the father of Budic and Judith of Nantes;  and Hoël.

Source:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho%C3%ABl_I,_Duke_of_Brittany

JUDICAËL ([978/80]-1005)

The Chronicle of Nantes names “Judicael et Hoel” as the sons of Hoël “d’une concubine” stating that they were brought up by their paternal grandmother.

Source:  http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BRITTANY.htm#_Toc359762262