Earl of Richmond and away from any attempts of the French crown to acquire it and the related properties. From 1414 to 1435 the earldom of Richmond was held by John Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford. In 1453 it was conferred on Edmund Tudor, half-brother to King Henry VI. When Edmund's son Henry ascended the throne as Henry VII in 1485, the earldom of Richmond merged in the crown, and for the next forty years there was no further grant of the title. After Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became King Henry VII of England, the title Duke of Richmond was created by the
Francis II, Duke of Brittany (also known as Alan the Black) the 1st Earl of Richmond. After Alan, the title and its possessions (the Honour of Richmond) were typically bestowed upon the Dukes of Brittany, with a few interruptions, through the ducal reign of John IV, which ended in 1399. After John IV, the English kings would bestow the title Earl of Richmond on nobles other than the Dukes of Brittany, including Edmund Tudor, Henry Tudor's father. However the dukes of Brittany from John V through Francis II would continue to use the titulary Earl of Richmond. It is possible that Francis willed whatever remained