AHC: United Kingdom of Great and Little Britain

With a PoD no earlier than 1066, have Brittany be part of the UK. Bonus points if no other parts of France are part of this UK.
 
With a PoD no earlier than 1066, have Brittany be part of the UK. Bonus points if no other parts of France are part of this UK.

In 1066, Conan II of Rennes, Duke of Brittany, was also asked to help William the Conqueror on his 1066 conquest of England, at first he thought about refusing , due to the rumour that the Normans poisoned his father in 1040, however thought better of it and decided to join them on the invasion.

William dies in the battle of Hastings by an arrow, some say by a Brenton archer. As the highest ranking officer, Conan II takes command of the invasion.

That year Conan is crowned King of England and Brittany, securing the throne's of both lands for his descendents.
 
In 1066, Conan II of Rennes, Duke of Brittany, was also asked to help William the Conqueror on his 1066 conquest of England, at first he thought about refusing , due to the rumour that the Normans poisoned his father in 1040, however thought better of it and decided to join them on the invasion.

William dies in the battle of Hastings by an arrow, some say by a Brenton archer. As the highest ranking officer, Conan II takes command of the invasion.

That year Conan is crowned King of England and Brittany, securing the throne's of both lands for his descendents.

What would Conan's claim to the English throne be?
 
Maybe something involving Arthur I of Brittany? John becomes King of England but Arthur survives. When John mucks things up and looses the continental possessions (Normandy and Anjou) Arthur invades and he is overthrown. If Louis VIII could come as close as he did to becoming King of England surely Arthur could pull it off as he is far more legitimate. Perhaps with French support if he recognizes the loss of Anjou and Normandy. Then one of his descendents succeeds where OTL Plantagenets failed and annexes Scotland while the French king runs into some trouble and looses his suzerainty over Brittany et voila the United King of Great and Little Britain.
 
I don't think you need a pre-1066 PoD; a Plantagenet-era PoD should do so fine. Get England to keep the inheritance of Brittany, but not Normandy (split between sons?), and have no Hundred Years' War to take away all England's possessions in France except Calais. Then at some point something happens (civil war, disputed inheritance, or perhaps, if this is late enough, revolution) to break Brittany's feudal position with the King of France and it is now held in its own right, and can be happily united with the Kingdom of England and then a united Great Britain (probably via conquest of Scotland—I maintain that the OTL outcome was distinctly less likely, though also distinctly more pleasant, than a successful English conquest of Scotland).

In that case, what would the new kingdom be called? Perhaps just the United Kingdom of Britain, or the United Kingdom of the Britains that would then later become known simply as 'Britain' as happened with Spain/'the Spains', or something of that sort?
 
Would it also help to expand the definition of Brittany and turn it into a Kingdom in its own right? A hundred years war that grinds down into a true stalemate with neither side able to accomplish much in each way. With no side able to make the victory decisive, and with land constantly changing hands, a treaty could, potentially, divide the lands of the two warring sides. The western half of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou could join the Duchy of Brittany in a new Kingdom of Brittany (or more likely continued to be held under the same crown) while the southern and eastern parts were integrated into France.

Perhaps, also, it would help if an independent power set up in (parts) of the Aquitaine and in Toulouse. It would act as a check on French expansion.

That way, you would have a large(r) presence on the continent, which is important enough to be held as an integral component to the nation, and perhaps a second crown. Expansion against Scotland would be even more inevitable, as France is an even greater threat against the union. With the Scots integrated either before or after independence, they would only have to worry about securing the isles and warding off the French. That might involve a more entangling alliance in Europe, and will cause a complete change in continental politics.

Might England even seek out the East Indies trade earlier in order to supplement their resources against the French? They could send an expedition to the west to try and find a shorter route. Could be interesting seeing this England becoming an alt-Spain (with Toulouse/Aquitaine/Navarra taking the place of Portugal?)

For it to be a United Kingdom of Great Britain, however, won't we need one side to inherit the crown of the other? Might it be more likely that England/Brittany inherits the other? Then you might have the United Kingdom of the Britains and Scotland instead. Be an interesting twist.
 
Edward IV of England lives for longer than IOTL, gets a marriage between his son Edward (V) and Anne of Brittany, and participates in an Anglo-Breton-Burgundian alliance which -- amongst other things -- forces the French crown to recognise [fully de facto, if not entirely de jure] Breton independence?
 
If Plantagenet then we need a surviving Arthur scenario to begin with. Perhaps a longer lived Henry or Richard would help
Aquitaine, Brittany, and Normandy (or Anjou-Maine-Torraine) are divided between sons with the Norman portion to the King of England and perhaps something to the French King.
An English succession war coincides with France trying to rein Brittany and Aquitaine under royal authority ending with Brittany separate from France and a crown under English protection.
 
Top