The New Murrey and Blue blog

I have learned from this site (as well as numerous other sites, all you have to do is search “castle remains under vannes hotel”) that the remarkably well preserved remains of a14^th-century castle and moat have been discovered only about 10 feet below the foundations of the Hotel Lagorce in Vannes. This lost castle was called the Château de l’Hermine and was built by John IV, Duke of Brittany in around 1380.

Who was John IV and why did he build a castle in Vannes at that particular time? Well, perhaps if I outline events during the Hundred Years War, it will become clear. Be aware that I’m merely outlining events for your information, not claiming to be accurate to the nth degree when it comes to the when and how of, for instance, marriages.

In 1354, during the English presence in Brittany (they were supporting John IV de Montfort, John IV, Duke of Brittany against a rival, Charles of Blois) their main centres of administration were in Vannes in the south and Brest on the northwest coast. In 1342 Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent had been assigned by Edward III to besiege Nantes and assist in the assault on Vannes. So Vannes was very well acquainted with him when he returned a few years later!

Thomas, who was one of Edward III’s trusted captains and scandalous husband of the equally scandalous Joan of Kent (who, when Thomas died, would become the wife of the Black Prince and mother of RII), was sent back to Brittany to support John IV and made Vannes his base. He would possibly have chosen Nantes, but at this point it was under the influence of the French king, then John II John II of France. Edward III would place John IV, then a minor, in Thomas Holand’s care, and John was to marry one of Thomas’s daughters by Joan of Kent, had first been married to Edward III’s daughter Mary, but she died young. His Holand marriage wasn’t a happy union and was childless., but his third marriage would eventually produce a number of children.

As I’ve said above, the forces of Edward III hadn’t invaded Brittany, they were there because they were backing John IV in the Breton War of Succession of 1343–64. The French supported Charles of Blois, who was killed in battle in 1364, and John IV, leading an English army was victorious. But France, under the rule of Charles V, did all it could to weaken his authority and not all the Breton nobility mistrusted the French. They wanted peace. John IV had to go into exile in England, but in 1379 he returned, this time supported by the Breton nobility who were at last wise to France’s intention to annex Brittany.

Then, on 16 September 1380 Charles V died. He’d been the prime obstacle to peace between France and Brittany, and John IV of Brittany, proving himself to be a fickle ally, came to terms with the French behind the back of his English allies. A year later, on 4 April 1381, he did homage for Brittany to Charles V’s successor, Charles VI.

That was the situation when John IV built the Château de l’Hermine, about which you can read here Château de l’Hermine (Vannes) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, ladies and gentlemen, there you have the reason why a castle and its moat have been hiding beneath a hotel in Vannes.