Breton
Alain I of Avaugour (Alain de Goëlo)
b. c. 1153–54, Brittany — d. 29 December 1212
Alain I of Avaugour, also called Alain de Goëlo (c. 1153–1212), was a Breton lord who founded the religious house near Paimpol that became Beauport Abbey, made official by charter in 1202. He was a patron, not an architect.
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Works by Alain I of Avaugour (Alain de Goëlo)
Alain I of Avaugour, known in French as Alain de Goëlo and later Alain I of Penthièvre, was a Breton nobleman of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He appears in our catalogue as the founder of Beauport Abbey on the north coast of Brittany. He was the abbey's patron and founder; the names of its builders are not recorded.
Life
Alain was born around 1153–54, the son of Henri, lord of Trégor, Goëlo and Avaugour, and Mathilde of Vendôme. In 1185 he attended the assembly of Breton barons known as the Assize of Count Geoffrey, and after the death of Duke Geoffrey II he recovered his father's lands and did homage to King Philip II of France. In 1189 he was among the nobles who opposed Richard I of England's claim to the guardianship of the young Duke Arthur I of Brittany.
In 1206 he inherited the county of Penthièvre, with his family's claims to the duchy of Brittany, from his childless cousin Geoffrey III, a settlement confirmed by Philip II. To avoid conflict, Guy of Thouars, then ruling Brittany, took the southern dioceses while Alain received the revenues of the north: Saint-Malo, Dol, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Pol-de-Léon. He married twice and died on 29 December 1212; his son Henri was then only seven.
Founding Beauport Abbey
Between 1184 and 1189 Alain founded a religious community on the small island of Saint-Riom, off Paimpol, for canons from the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Paris, praying for himself, his parents and his first wife, Pétronille. The Victorine canons found the island too confining and withdrew. In 1200 Premonstratensian canons from La Lucerne Abbey in Normandy took over and moved to the mainland, to a site that Alain's family connected with an earlier monastery called Beau Port. A charter of 1202 made the new foundation official.
The abbey grew into a powerful maritime lordship, with rights over the coast from Saint-Riom to the Pointe de Guilben, salt works, and parishes as far as England. Its Gothic church, chapter house and refectory survive as evocative ruins above the sea, owned since 1993 by the Conservatoire du littoral.
Where to see his legacy
Beauport Abbey, near Paimpol in the Côtes-d'Armor, is open to visitors. For other medieval monastic buildings, see our guide to Gothic art and the Church of Saint-Étienne-le-Vieux.
Questions & answers
Who founded Beauport Abbey?
Beauport Abbey was founded by Alain I of Avaugour (Alain de Goëlo), a Breton lord. He first established canons on the island of Saint-Riom in 1184–89; Premonstratensian canons moved the community to the mainland in 1200, and a charter of 1202 made it official.
Did Alain I of Avaugour design Beauport Abbey?
No. Alain was the abbey's founder and patron, providing land and endowment. The master builders of its Gothic church and buildings are not recorded.
When did Alain I of Avaugour die?
He died on 29 December 1212, leaving his young son Henri as heir to the county of Penthièvre and the lordship of Avaugour.