Brian of Brittany

Brian of Brittany ( 1042 – 14 February, perhaps bef. 1086) was a Breton nobleman who fought in the service of William I of England. A powerful magnate in south-western England, he was the first post-Conquest earl of Cornwall. Brian was born in about 1042, a son of Odo, Count of Penthièvre. Brian joined in the Norman Conquest of England, along with his brothers Alan the Black (Alain le Noir), and Alan the Red. Godwine and Edmund, sons of Harold Godwinson, escaped after the Battle of Hastings to Leinster, where they were guests of King Diarmait. In 1068 and 1069 Diarmait lent them the fleet of Dublin for attempted invasions of England. At midsummer (perhaps 26 June) in 1069 Brian led a force that defeated Harold's sons at the Battle of Northam in Devon. Later in the same year Brian and William fitzOsbern were sent to relieve sieges at Shrewsbury and Exeter by English forces rebelling against Norman lordship. They were too late to save the former but a sally by the defenders of Exeter drove the English into the path of Brian and William who "punished their audacity with great slaughter". After defeating Harold's sons, Brian's forces went north to counter the rebellion by Eadric the Wild, while William the Conqueror's army travelled west; the two armies joined and won the Battle of Stafford.