Brittany after the
Settlement Period
8th century to 16th century.
The Bretons and the
Franks
The struggle for survival
Brittany: an Independent Celtic
Kingdom
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After the initial period of settlements from
Britain, and the merging of the two peoples
(the indigenous Armoricans), there is a
period of some obscurity.
The Bretons lived largely undisturbed on
the fringes of the Frankish world, until the
middle of the 8th century when the two
peoples came into conflit.
Early Medieval Brittany
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The Franks, a powerful warrior aristocracy,
led by amongst others Charlemagne were
ruled by a succession of predatory rulers.
Attacks on Brittany led to frequent counterattacks by the Bretons between 786-825.
We have the names of some of the Breton
chieftains of the time:Morvan, Guihomarc’h.
Early Medieval Brittany
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Political power among the Bretons as
amongst the Franks was fragmented in the
hands of several chieftains.
The Breton term Ri, usually translated at
the time as rex (king) gives a misleading
impression.
Early Medieval Brittany
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Brittany was not unified, and was ruled several
dominant kinglets, rather like Wales in the same
period.
In this sense, Brittany did not exist (as a political
entity) only Bretons as a people.
The Bretons were undoubtedly quite a warlike
people at this time, their leaders often having
warrior-type names : Glemarec, Guivarc’h,
Marrec.
Samson and the Franks
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St Samson the founder of Dol, controlled a
wide area from northern Brittany as far as
the river Seine.
He seems to have been on good terms with
the Franks (Childebert).
Samson of Dol
Early Breton chieftains
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The sixth century is obscure, but mention is
made of Bodic and his sons.
His most successful son was Waroc, who
advanced by force into the SE of Brittany
which was probably mainly inhabited by
Gallo-Romans (the Vannetais).
This area as far as Nantes appears to have
been wealthy, and produced wine.
language
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The language of the early Bretons, called
Old Breton now only exists in the form of
place- and proper-names, or the short
phrases (glosses) and individual words
found in the margins of manuscripts (some
6000 words).
Was Old Breton pure ‘Brittonic’ or a mixture
of ‘Brittonic’ and Gaulish?
Literature in early Brittany
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Although a native literature must have
existed, it is now lost.
In a more oral form, the Breton jongleurs
sang ballads and epics and were amongst
the first to spread the stories of Arthur and
Tristan in what was to become France, and
in England.
Nominoe
The beginnings of ‘Brittany’ as a
political unit.
Tad ar Vro= Nominoe
Nominoe
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By the ninth century, there were moves by
certain chieftains to think of themselves as
claiming regal authority.
Morvan, Guihovarc’h.
‘Brittany’ did not quite exist,
only ‘Bretons.’
Nominoe
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Breton aristocrats did tend to be warlike.
After all, the original Britons had been the
only Roman citizens to take up arms in
defence of the Empire.
Personal names in Breton are warriornames like:
Marrec, Glemarrec, Guivarc’h,
Guyonmarc’h.
Nominoe (d. 851)
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There is a strong historical tradition that sees Nominoe
as the creator of the Breton nation.
Earlier historians saw him as the defender of Brittany
against the Franks.
Today’s historians tend to see him as being integrated
into the Carolingian Empire, and as acting more as
‘governor’ of Brittany. ‘fidelis’.
Battle of Ballon 845. Charles the Bald defeated.
Through the Frankish emperor, Nominoe was able to
exert power over all other Breton claimants.
Nominoe
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His achievements –the establishment of
personal dominance in Breton secular and
religious affairs.
He was not king of Brittany, although
later legends have him crowned
in Dol.
Early Medieval Brittany
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Although he never called himself king, his son
Erispoe, called himself ‘prince of the province of
Brittany’ and sometimes, ‘Erispoe, king’.
Charles the Bald attacked Brittany and was
roundly defeated in 851 at Jengland, a battle that
lasted three days.
The results for Brittany were momentous. Peaceterms were agreed, a present of royal insignia,
and fealty to Charles.
Early Medieval Brittany
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For the first time, a non-Carolingian was
recognised as ruler of a regnum within the
empire.
This led to a period of expansion of Brittany
to include Rennes, Nantes and even
Lower-Normany (as it would become, after
the Vikings, the Cotentin), the so-called
Britannia nova.
Early Medieval Brittany
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The growing status and size of Brittany under
Nominie and Erispoe continued under Salomon
(857-74), the most successful and ambitious of all
Breton rulers.
In 867, Charles the Bald symbolically despatched
a crown to Salomon who shortly afterwards called
himself ‘king’.
Also during his reign, the bishops of Dol claimed
archiepiscopal status (on a par with Tours).
The Influence of
Carolingian France on Brittany
Early Medieval Brittany
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Despite the growing independence of
Brittany at this time as a political entity, the
following century was also one of increased
cultural influence from the Carolingians.
Carolingian learning can certainly be seen
in the illuminated Breton manuscripts of the
period 850-1050. These are saints’ lives,
gospels, service books.
Early Medieval Brittany
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Part of that influence can be seen in the writing
script used in the Breton manuscripts, although
some have ‘insular’ script (the presence of Irish
and Welsh monks).
These manuscripts also give us our first view of
the Breton language (Old Breton), in the form of
glosses (notes on the side of the page).
There were also some very specifically Breton
illuminations, sometimes ‘anthropo-zoomorphic’.
Carolingian influence in Brittany
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Despite the idea that Nominoe paved the
way towards a kind of Breton
independence, the reality was that the
political influence of the Carolingians was
increasing in Brittany, and needed the area
to be securely governed from within.
Carolingian influence in Brittany
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The same was paralleled in the church
affairs where the old ‘Celtic’ ways were
being edited out as assimilation increased.
It was noted at the time that the Bretons
still maintained Celtic liturgical traditions
long abandoned by the Frankish and AngloSaxon churches. (c814AD).
Redon Abbey
The Cartulary of the Saint-Sauveur de
Redon Abbey
The Cartulary of the Saint-Sauveur de
Redon Abbey
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The cartulary provides a source of unique
information for Brittany during the
Carolingian period (c850AD).
It contains copies of charters from that
period made in the 11-12th century.
The Cartulary of the Saint-Sauveur de
Redon Abbey
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It gives a view of Breton society for that
time.
Women, especially, aristocratic ones, could
hold property, exercise public office, ‘but
did not have full citizen rights’.
The post of the machtiern, who were a link
between the aristocratic world and the
serfs.
The Machtiern
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Their status was heriditary, they owned land, (it
could be a woman), they controlled the local
communites.
They had distinct legal powers. Their most
obvious function seems to have been present at
specific occasions (with the judge). They were in
fact garantors or justice, and correct decision
making.
They collected taxes for the local rulers.
The Machtiern
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After c875AD the machtiern seesm to
disappear.
Other representatives, secular and clerical
take their place.
Another disruptive element was the arrival
of the Viking attacks on Brittany.
The Cartulary of the Saint-Sauveur de
Redon Abbey
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The CARTULARY has been preserved at
the Archbishopric of RENNES since the
middle of the nineteenth century. It
comprises 391 charters, which cover the
history of the Abbey since its foundation in
832 until the beginning of the twelfth
century.
The Cartulary of the Saint-Sauveur de
Redon Abbey
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Its calligraphy in carefully drawn
Carolingian letters is remarkable. Each one
of the acts begins with a finely decorated
and coloured initial.
These texts concern primarily the vast
Region of Vilaine, where Celtic traditions,
Frankish customs and memories from the
Roman period mingled at the time.
Cartulary of Landevennec
St Mark
In Breton ‘marc’h’ means horse.
Early Medieval Brittany
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The latter half of the ninth century
witnessed in Brittany the flowering of a
varied learned culture.
It was stimulated by both Continental and
insular sources, and developed features
specific to the ‘regnum Britanniae’
(kingdom of Brittany).
End of the Breton
Kingdom
Vikings, and Renewal.
The End of the Breton Kingdom
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Already by the late 790s, Viking raids were
taking place on the Breton coast. These
increased over the following century.
The main targets were the coastal
monasteries and churches. In 843, bishop
Gunhard and his congregation in Nantes
were slaughtered by the Vikings.
The End of the Breton Kingdom
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The annals from Saint-Sauveur de Redon
gives a description of the period:
The Northmen devastated all of Brittany,
defeating, killing or exiling the Bretons.
Then the bodies of the saints who were
bured there were carried into diverse lands.
Not only the religious communities fled, but
also the elite secular leaders as well.
The End of the Breton Kingdom
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Certainly a vacuum was created by the flight of
the ‘counts’ of Brittany.
Perhaps ironically, many of these found refuge in
Anglo-Saxon England, especially amongst the
kings of Wessex.
Between 913-936 the kingdom of Brittany ceased
to exist.
By the early 1000s, the Vikings’ land-grab was
restricted to what would from then on be called
‘Normandy=Northman+dia)’.
Vikings in Brittany
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In the years following c888AD, several transitory
Viking ‘states’ were set up in Brittany.
Brittany was devastated at the hands of the
Vikings.
Between 913-936 the regnum Britanniae ceased
to exist. The aristoctats and clergy had left. The
restoration came with Alain Barbetorte in 936, but
it would herald a new Brittany, the Brittany of the
Dukes.
The Breton Duchy
Ducal Brittany
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The political structures of Brittany were
restored in 936 with the return of Alain
Barbetorte.
In the following years, Brittany as a
dukedom became even more part of the
larger world of France (Francia). The old
‘kingdom’ had gone, and the less
flamboyant ‘dukes of Brittany’ took over.
Ducal Brittany
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Brittany was by the middle of the 1000s (c
1050) a feudal society, whose political
inspiration came mainly from France.
Breton political society was dominated by a
conservative and tenacious landed
aristocracy, whose chivalric values had
developed first outside the province, above
all in France.
This brought about conflicting cultural and
social tensions.
Ducal Brittany
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The old aristocracy of Brittany had spend half a
generation or more in exile, had lost the use of
their language, had become in many ways more
French than Breton. (unlike the common people,
the majority).
This was the beginning a typical Breton dilemma:
the attractions of metropolitan France against the
continuing attachment of Bretons to their own
roots.
The renewed Breton
church
‘I dwell among scorpions,
surrounded by a double wall of
bestiality and perfidy’ (Archbishop of
Dol, c1110)
The renewed Breton church
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The damage inflicted by the Vikings on the
Breton church was as severe as in any
other region of Europe.
Few native practices from the early Middle
Ages survived this interruption.
The dispersion of monastic communities
and their treasures dealt a severe blow to
the cultural life of Brittany.
The renewed Breton church
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Between the sack of the abbey of
Landevennec was sacked in 913 and the
930s, many of the spiritual leaders of
Brittany were exiles.
This was true of all of the main centres of
Christianity in Brittany: Redon, Saint-Gildas
de Rhuys, Dol, Landevennec…
The renewed Breton church
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New and exciting forms of monasticism developed
in Brittany and elsewhere around 1100.
The Bretons made a special contribution.
There was revived enthusiasm for ascetic and
strenuous spiritual exercises, leading to
experiments in communal living.
The great forests of Brittany became home to
many who fled the ‘world’.
The renewed Breton church
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Many congregated around hermits and
teachers of exceptional charismatic power:
Robert of Arbrissel, Raoul de la Fustaye,
and Vital of Savigny.
They were held in the highest estime by all
ranks in society.
The renewed Breton church
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Shortly afterwards the enormous prestige and
energy of St Bernard of Clairvaux led to the
creation of the Cistercian order.
Ten major houses were created in Brittany
between 1130 and 1143.
On a more local level, although dynasties of
bishops seem to have disappeared by this time
(mainly because of the 10th century disruptions),
dynasties of canons and parish priests were not
uncommon-probably reflecting deep-rooted Celtic
tradition.
Breton identity
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In non-Breton contexts a person would frequently
use the epithet ‘brito’ or ‘britius’ to indicate his
(usually) ethnic origin.
The use of brito which in some cases becomes
the proper name le breton or le Brette may be
taken as evidence that the Bretons considered
themselves sufficiently different from surrounding
peoples to assert their ‘Breton-ness’.
Bretons overseas
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With the Norman invasion of England 1066,
many Bretons continued the tradition nof
crossing the Channel to the island.
After the Normans, the Bretons provided
the most numerous contingent to William’s
forces.
By 1086, up to 20% of England may have
been in Breton hands.
Bretons overseas
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Many Bretons of this period became later
aristocrats inn England:
Alan FitzFlaad, whose descendants
became the FitzAlans, earls of Arundel, and
the House of Stewart.
Brito, Le Breton, Le Brette, Brette, Birt.
Ducal Brittany
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The Breton dukes however did not always have
an easy ride: many of the smaller counts wielded
power in their own areas with impunity.
Outside commentators noted the distinct culture
of Brittany, so different to their own.
Guillaume de Poitiers: they were given to a life of
fighting and horsemanship, neglected agriculture
and good manners, lived on abundant
milk…pastured huge herds on wide open tracts of
land from which no other harvest was taken.
The End of
Independance
Brittany as part of France
The End of Independence
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By the latter part of the 15th century, the duchy of
Brittany faced a series of crises.
The major threat was Louis XI of France who from
the start seized every opportunity to interfere in
Breton affairs.
Brittany had been weakened by faction-fighting,
and royal blandishments which gave financial
advantages to Breton courtiers.
Those courtiers were increasingly culturally and
politically in the French sphere.
The End of Independence
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French troops invaded the duchy and Nantes was beseiged
in 1487.
In July of the following year the Breton army was defeated by
a French force.
The result was that all foreign mercenaries in Brittany were to
be dismissed.
The dukes daughters were only to be married with the King’s
consent.
The marriage of Anne, the eldest daughter in 1491 to the
Charles VIII became a symbol of the loss of Breton
independence.
The End of Independence
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The final act of union between Brittany and
France was not pronounced until 1532, and
measures were taken to preserve local
administrative autonomy, but with the
marriage Brittany ceased to exist as an
independent and essentially sovereign
state.