Son of Nominoë, he was the first to bear the title of King of Brittany. His decisive victory was won at the edge of present-day Loire-Atlantique.
If Nominoë founded Brittany, it was his son Erispoë who had it recognised as a kingdom — and he did so a stone's throw from the Loire-Atlantique.
The first King of Brittany
On Nominoë's death in 851, Erispoë took up the torch. Where his father had remained a "duke", he obtained the title of king: he was the first Breton sovereign officially recognised as such by the Frankish king.
Jengland-Beslé, at the gates of the Nantes country
His great victory, more decisive still than Ballon, was won in 851 at the battle of Jengland-Beslé, in the present-day commune of Grand-Fougeray, at the border of Ille-et-Vilaine and Loire-Atlantique. There Erispoë defeated Charles the Bald.
The Treaty of Angers
The conflict ended with the Treaty of Angers, in September 851: Brittany was recognised as an autonomous territory, and Erispoë as its king. The independence won by the father was now enshrined in law.
A figure of the West
Erispoë would still inflict bloody defeats on the Vikings before he perished. His name belongs to that handful of sovereigns who, at the margins of the Loire, gave Brittany — and thus the land of Briord — its own existence.