Prehistoric origins Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the
Lower Palaeolithic. This population was scarce and very similar to the other
Neanderthals found in the whole of Western Europe. Their only original feature was a distinct culture, called the "Colombanian". One of the oldest
hearths in the world has been found in
Plouhinec, Finistère.
Homo sapiens settled in Brittany around 35,000 years ago. They replaced or absorbed the Neanderthals and developed local
industries, similar to the
Châtelperronian or to the
Magdalenian. After the
last glacial period, the warmer climate allowed the area to become heavily wooded. At that time, Brittany was populated by relatively large communities who started to change their lifestyles from a life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers. Agriculture was introduced during the
5th millennium BC by migrants from the south and east. However, the
Neolithic Revolution in Brittany did not happen due to a radical change of population, but by slow immigration and exchange of skills. Neolithic Brittany is characterised by important
megalithic production and sites such as
Quelfénnec, it is sometimes designated as the "core area" of megalithic culture. The oldest monuments,
cairns, were followed by princely tombs and
stone rows. The
Morbihan département, on the southern coast, comprises a large share of these structures, including the
Carnac stones and the Broken Menhir of Er Grah in the
Locmariaquer megaliths, the largest single stone erected by Neolithic people.
Gallic era During the
protohistorical period, Brittany was inhabited by five Celtic tribes: • The
Curiosolitae, who lived around the present town of
Corseul. Their territory encompassed parts of
Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine and
Morbihan départements. • The
Namnetes, who lived in the current
Loire-Atlantique département (in today's administrative
région of
Pays de la Loire), north of the
Loire. They gave their name to the city of
Nantes. The south bank of the river was occupied by an allied tribe, the Ambilatres, whose existence and territory remain unsure. Several tribes also belonged to an "Armorican
confederation" which, according to
Julius Caesar, gathered the
Curiosolitae, the
Redones, the
Osismii, the
Unelli, the
Caletes, the
Lemovices and the Ambibarii. The Unelli, Caletes, and Lemovices were respectively located in
Cotentin (Lower-Normandy),
pays de Caux (Upper-Normandy), and
Limousin (Aquitaine); the location of the Ambibarii is unknown. The Caletes are sometimes also considered Belgians, and
Lemovices is probably a mistake for
Lexovii (Lower-Normandy).
Gallo-Roman era During the
Gallic Wars, the
Veneti were defeated in the
Battle of Morbihan off the coast of Brittany. At the conclusion of the Gallic Wars, the region became part of the
Roman Republic in 51 BC. It was included in the province of
Gallia Lugdunensis in 13 BC. Gallic towns and villages were redeveloped according to Roman standards, and several cities were created. These cities are Condate (
Rennes), Vorgium (
Carhaix), Darioritum (
Vannes) and Condevincum or Condevicnum (
Nantes). Together with Fanum Martis (
Corseul), they were the capitals of the local
civitates. They all had a
grid plan and a
forum, and sometimes a temple, a
basilica,
thermae or an
aqueduct, like
Carhaix. The Romans also built three major roads through the region. However, most of the population remained rural. The free peasants lived in small huts, whereas the landowners and their employees lived in proper
villae rusticae. The Gallic deities continued to be worshiped, and were often assimilated to the Roman gods. Only a small number of statues depicting Roman gods were found in Brittany, and most of the time they combine Celtic elements. During the 3rd century AD, the region was attacked several times by
Franks,
Alamanni and pirates. At the same time, the local economy collapsed and many farming estates were abandoned. To face the invasions, many towns and cities were fortified, like
Nantes,
Rennes and
Vannes. which is why the Breton language is more closely related to recorded Cornish.
The Romano-Britons The history behind such an establishment is unclear, but medieval Breton, Angevin and Welsh sources connect it to a figure known as
Conan Meriadoc. Welsh literary sources assert that Conan came to Armorica on the orders of the Roman usurper
Magnus Maximus, who sent some of his British troops to Gaul to enforce his claims and settled them in Armorica. This account was supported by the Counts of Anjou, who claimed descent from a Roman soldier expelled from Lower Brittany by Conan on Magnus's orders.
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains The army recruited for
Flavius Aetius to combat
Attila the Hun at the
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains included Romans, Visigoths, Franks, Alans and Armoricans, amongst others. The Alans were placed front and centre, opposite the Huns. The Armoricans supplied archers who attacked the Huns' front lines during the main battle and thwarted Attila's night assault on the Roman camp with a hail of arrows "like rain". After the battle was won, Aetius sent the Alans to Armorica and Galicia.
Riothamus The late 5th century Brittonic leader
Riothamus received correspondence from the eminent Roman jurist
Sidonius Apollinaris and was called "King of the Britons" by
Jordanes. Some suggest that he was a Breton, though others believe that he was from Britain, pointing to the passage that he arrived in the land of the Biturges "by way of Ocean", which would hardly have been efficient or required for a Breton. Both historians describe Riothamus's losing battle against King
Euric of the Visigoths at
Déols around the year 470. In response to a plea from the Roman Emperor
Anthemius, Riothamus had led twelve thousand men to establish a military presence in
Bourges in central Gaul, but was betrayed by
Arvandus, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, and subsequently ambushed by Euric's army. After a long battle, the Armorican survivors escaped to
Avallon in
Burgundy, after which they are lost to history. According to Breton king-lists, Riotham survived and reigned as Prince of
Domnonia until his death sometime between 500 and 520, though this may have been a different person.
Additional waves of Britons Brythonic (British Celtic) settlement increased during the
Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries to seek refuge from the Anglo-Saxon invaders. It is from this event that Brittany derives its name. community around the 6th century. The sea was a communication medium rather than a barrier. Scholars such as
Léon Fleuriot have suggested a two-wave model of migration from Britain which saw the emergence of an independent Breton people and established the dominance of the
Brythonic Breton language in Armorica. The unification of Brittany was carried out by
Nominoe, king between 845 and 851 and considered as the Breton
Pater Patriae. Among the immigrant Britons, there were some clergymen who helped the
evangelisation of the region, which was still pagan, particularly in rural areas. His son
Erispoe secured the independence of the new kingdom of Brittany and won the
Battle of Jengland against
Charles the Bald. The Bretons won another war in 867, and the kingdom reached then its maximum extent: It received parts of
Normandy,
Maine and
Anjou and the
Channel Islands.
Viking occupation Brittany was heavily attacked by the
Vikings at the beginning of the 10th century. The kingdom lost its eastern territories, including
Normandy and
Anjou, and the county of
Nantes was given to
Fulk I of Anjou in 909. Nantes was seized by the Vikings in 914. At this time Brittany was also called Lydwiccum.
Duchy of Brittany Nantes was eventually liberated by
Alan II of Brittany in 937 with the support of his godbrother King
Æthelstan of England. Alan II totally expelled the Vikings from Brittany and recreated a strong Breton state. For aiding in removing the problem, Alan paid homage to
Louis IV of France (who was Æthelstan's nephew and had returned from England in the same year as Alan II) and thus Brittany ceased to be a kingdom and became a duchy.
Norman allies Several Breton lords helped
William the Conqueror to invade England and the Bretons formed over a third of the landing force in 1066. They received large estates there (e.g. William's double-second cousin
Alan Rufus and the latter's brother
Brian of Brittany). The Bretons helped to liberate the Cornish, replacing Anglo-Saxon land owners. Some of these lords were powerful rivals.
Internal disputes Medieval Brittany was far from being a united nation. The French king maintained envoys in Brittany, alliances contracted by local lords often overlapped and there was no specific Breton unity. For example, Brittany replaced
Latin with French as its official language in the 13th century, 300 years before France did so, and the
Breton language did not have formal status. The
foreign policy of the Duchy changed many times; the Dukes were usually independent, but they often contracted alliances with England or France depending on who was threatening them at that point. Their support for each nation became very important during the 14th century because the English kings had started to claim the French throne. The
Breton War of Succession, a local episode of the
Hundred Years' War, saw the House of
Blois, backed by the French, fighting with the House of
Montfort, backed by the English. The Montforts won in 1364 and enjoyed a period of total independence until the end of the Hundred Years' War, because France was weakened and stopped sending royal envoys to the Court of Brittany. English diplomatic failures led to the Breton cavalry commanders Arthur, Comte de Richemont (later to become
Arthur III, Duke of Brittany) and his nephew
Peter II, Duke of Brittany playing key roles on the French side during the deciding stages of the war (including the battles of
Patay,
Formigny and
Castillon and the
Treaty of Arras). Brittany importantly lost the
Mad War against France in 1488, mostly because of its internal divisions that were exacerbated by the corruption at the court of
Francis II, Duke of Brittany. Indeed, some rebel Breton lords were fighting on the French side.
Union with the French Crown and modern period is regarded in Brittany as a conscientious ruler who defended the duchy against France. As a result of the
Mad War, the Duke
Francis II could not have his daughter
Anne married without the king of France's consent. Nonetheless, she married the
Holy Roman Emperor in 1490, leading to a crisis with France.
Charles VIII of France besieged
Rennes and had the marriage cancelled. He eventually married
Anne. After he died childless, Anne had to marry his heir and cousin
Louis XII. Anne unsuccessfully tried to preserve Breton independence, but she died in 1514, and the union between the two crowns was formally carried out by
Francis I in 1532. He granted several privileges to Brittany, such as exemption from the
gabelle, a tax on salt that was very unpopular in France. Under the
Ancien Régime, Brittany and France were governed as separate countries but under the same crown, so Breton aristocrats in the French
royal court were classed as (foreign princes). From the 15th to the 18th century, Brittany reached an economic golden age. The region was located on the seaways near Spain, England and the
Dutch Republic and it greatly benefited from the creation of the
French colonial empire. Local seaports like
Brest and
Saint-Brieuc quickly expanded, and
Lorient, first spelt "L'Orient", was founded in the 17th century.
Saint-Malo was then known for its
corsairs, Brest was a major base for the French Navy and
Nantes flourished with the
Atlantic slave trade. On its side, the inland provided
hemp ropes and canvas and
linen sheets. However,
Colbertism, which encouraged the creation of many factories, did not favour the Breton industry because most of the royal factories were opened in other provinces. Moreover, several conflicts between France and Britain during the 18th century resulted in British blockades which weakened the Breton economy, leading it to go into recession.
The centralisation problem Two significant revolts occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries: the
Revolt of the papier timbré (1675) and the
Pontcallec conspiracy (1719). Both arose from attempts to resist centralisation and assert Breton constitutional exceptions to tax.
Breton exodus Many Bretons crossed the Atlantic to support the
American War of Independence. These included naval officers such as
Armand de Kersaint and soldiers such as
Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouërie.
The French Revolution of 1789 – Division of Brittany into five departments ),
Finistère,
Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Inférieure (now
Loire-Atlantique) and
Morbihan. The Duchy was legally abolished with the
French Revolution that began in 1789 – and in 1790 the province of Brittany was divided into five
departments: Côtes-du-Nord (later
Côtes-d'Armor),
Finistère,
Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Inférieure (later
Loire-Atlantique) and
Morbihan. Brittany essentially lost all its special privileges that existed under the Duchy. Three years later, the area became a centre of
royalist and Catholic resistance to the Revolution during the
Chouannerie. During the 19th century, Brittany remained in economic recession, and many Bretons emigrated to other French regions, particularly to Paris. This trend remained strong until the beginning of the 20th century. Nonetheless, the region was also modernising, with new roads and railways being built, and some places being industrialised.
Nantes specialised in
shipbuilding and food processing (sugar, exotic fruits and vegetables, fish, etc.),
Fougères in glass and shoe production, and
metallurgy was practised in small towns such as
Châteaubriant and
Lochrist, known for its
labour movements. arrested by the National Guard of
Quimper in 1792 The region remained deeply Catholic, and during the
Second Empire, the conservative values were strongly reasserted. When the Republic was re-established in 1871, there were rumours that Breton troops were mistrusted and mistreated at
Camp Conlie during the
Franco-Prussian War because of fears that they were a threat to the Republic. attack on
Saint-Malo in 1942 During the 19th century, the
Breton language started to decline precipitously, mainly because of the
Francization policy conducted under the
Third Republic. On one hand, children
were not allowed to speak Breton at school, and were punished by teachers if they did. Famously, signs in schools read: "It is forbidden to speak Breton and to spit on the floor" ("Il est interdit de parler Breton et de cracher par terre"). in 1978 significantly affected the Breton coast At the same time, the
Celtic Revival led to the foundation of the
Breton Regionalist Union (URB) and later to independence movements linked to Irish, Welsh, and Scottish and Cornish independence parties in the UK, and to
pan-Celticism. However, the audience of these movements remained very low and their ideas did not reach a large public until the 20th century. The
Seiz Breur movement, created in 1923, permitted a Breton artistic revival but its ties with
Nazism and the
collaborationism of the
Breton National Party during World War II weakened Breton nationalism in the post-war period. Brittany lost 240,000 men during the
First World War. The
Second World War was also catastrophic for the region. It was invaded by
Nazi Germany in 1940 and freed after
Operation Cobra in August 1944. However, the areas around
Saint-Nazaire and
Lorient only surrendered on 10 and 11 May 1945, several days after the German capitulation. The two port towns had been virtually destroyed by Allied air raids, like
Brest and
Saint-Malo, and other towns, such as
Nantes and
Rennes, had also suffered. In 1956, Brittany was legally reconstituted as the
Region of Brittany, although the region excluded the ducal capital of
Nantes and the
surrounding area. Nevertheless, Brittany retained its cultural distinctiveness, and a new cultural revival emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. Bilingual schools were opened, singers started to write songs in Breton, and ecological catastrophes such as the
Amoco Cadiz oil spill or the
Erika oil spill and water pollution from intensive pig farming favoured new movements to protect the natural heritage. ==Government and politics==