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onjour!
this month let’s revisit Brittany, a region with such diverse and magnificent landscapes.
A land of legends and tradition par excellence, we have however chosen to go off the beaten
track to first tell you about the turbulent history of this beautiful Armorica. This is a
necessary step in understanding the Brittany of today. Later, we’ll set out to discover its
charming cities, such as Landerneau or Quimper, and reach the tip of this wild land swept
by winds and tides, where one dreams of distant trips full of promise. We hope that you will
find this walk through the past as fascinating as we did.
But before continuing, please remember that you can access and read all the newsletters already
published at http://www.francemonthly.com/
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Little Brittany
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A small sound (about 65 miles long) separated the Celtic tribes of Armorica from
the ones on the Island of the Bretons (England, today) facing them. Relations
between the two people went way back and had always been fruitful.
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Pont Médard in Quimper
(Click photo to enlarge)
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So when at the end of the 4th century the Bretons were violently attacked by the
Irish on one side, and the barbarians who came from the northern seas on the other,
they naturally sought refuge with their Armorican neighbors (Brittany, today). The
Finistère region wasn’t very populated back then. Trade relations were excellent
because the two people spoke the same language and practiced the same religion,
and it was therefore easy for them to welcome these new migrants. The tribe that
chose to settle between Quimper and Brest along the river Odet was called “the Cornouis”,
which gave the region the name of “Cornouaille” (Cornwall). This migrant wave persisted
for almost three centuries, to the extent that Grégoire de Tours, bishop of one of the most
important Gaul cities, changed the name of the region to “Little Brittany” in the 6th century.
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The Breton Religion
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The Celts practiced their faith without a temple, and without any incarnate divine
representation. Forests were the places of worship, where druids stood as masters
of ceremony and supreme judges whose decisions were greatly feared. Natural forces
(springs, trees, stones, thunder, etc.) were their gods and goddesses. As early as
the 5th century, the Catholic Church was seeking to evangelize the region, but
encountered great difficulties. The Romans had succeeded in getting their gods
(Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Apollo) adopted over the previous four centuries, in
particular by the leading figures who understood all too well the benefit of getting
along with the victor. Nonetheless, the statues or temples always did bear the Celtic
mark. The Catholic Church then had to be crafty to establish itself, and accept
compromise. Today, you can read Celtic inscriptions carved on erected stones
scattered across the Breton landscape, and as unusual as it may seem, you can also
find menhirs topped with a cross.
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Recipe for Oct 2008
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Apple 'Croustade'
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Contentious Religious Rules
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The migrants who came from the Island of the Bretons had already been Christianized
by the Irish, but they respected the rule of St Colomban, whereas the other regions
of France followed the rule of St Benoit. The former practiced rituals that deeply
irritated a Frank clergy anxious to get control of this “treacherous and insolent
nation that has always been rebellious and devoid of good feelings”.
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Table des 'Marchand' in Carnac
(Click photo to enlarge)
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This is how a Benedictine monk described Little Brittany in a poem written in the year 820.
A cult that gave so much room to women, in particular that allowed them to take part in the
ceremony celebrations, and that also did not respect the religious festivals of the Roman
calendar could only be seen as scandalous. This was a religion that authorized hermits to
lead solitary and ascetic lives dedicated to prayer in forests, allowed priests to travel
the length and breadth of the country to preach the good word, and---what an act of infamy---
asked their monks to wear their tonsure shaped in a half-moon whereas everywhere else it was
circular. Such a cult could only be heretical! Although the Benedictine rule established
itself relatively easily in the eastern part of Brittany, the same could not be said for
the western part, as much for political reasons as for religious ones. Indeed, by supporting
the Breton Church, the local kinglets also wanted to assert their political independence from
the King of France whose authority they challenged.
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Breton Kingdoms
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Louis-the-Pious, King of the Franks, followed the policies of his famous father Charlemagne
to try to bring into line these little belligerent and undisciplined Breton kings.
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Castle of Fort-la-Latte, Brittany
(Click photo to enlarge)
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He sent his most faithful lords to these Breton lands with the mission to gain control
of the region and obtain obedience from the rebels. Nominoé was one of those envoys, and
all was well until the death of Louis-the-Pious, whose son Charles-the-Bald succeeded him
and inherited Brittany. Relations between the king and Nominoé were not cordial. From the
year 843 on, the vassal rebelled against his former Frank masters and sought his independence.
His sons did the same, going so far as to put king crowns on their heads, thereby defying the
king of the Franks. Brittany became a land of independent kingdoms that ranged from the Cotentin
coast all the way to the city of Angers in the south. It was this setting that the Vikings
invaded, spreading terror across the region and sending Breton kings and ecclesiastics fleeing.
Some chose Burgundy or Paris, while others went back to their roots and placed themselves under
the protection of the King of England.
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Dukes in Brittany
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Charles-the-Bald was not displeased with this barbarian invasion since he hoped that
the pervading chaos would allow him to tame the Bretons and bring them back under his
control. However, it didn’t occur to him that by following the river Seine, the
barbarians could also reach Paris,
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House of 'Duchess Anne de Bretagne'
(Click photo to enlarge)
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which is what they did in 845 and they sacked the capital city. The king was helpless in the
face of such violence, and there was no peace until a treaty was signed in 911, mainly giving
Normandy to the invaders. Little by little, the Bretons came back to their lands, the kingdom
of France started to take shape and the king was from then on quite determined to assert his
supreme power. He did not intend to deal any longer with these representatives who claimed to
be as powerful as he was. The Breton lords were welcome to come back but not to reclaim their
titles of kings. He considered these people to be no more than war leaders, and from that point
on, they would have to content themselves with the title of Duke. The Dukes of Brittany came
home feigning a newly developed obedience, but that was only for show as they weren’t about
to forget that they had once been kings themselves, and long before the monarch who dared to
impose these new rules. The kings of France succeeded one another but always had to deal with
these undisciplined and rebellious dukes.
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Beautiful Clothes for the Lords |
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It wasn’t until the 19th century that the traditional costume and lace headpiece
that we recognize today in Breton popular imagery appeared in the countryside. Indeed,
before then all the farmers wore more or less the same clothes made of rudimentary
cloths and devoid of any decorative elements. Only the noblemen and the middle class
people were authorized, by royal decree, to wear delicate cloths and to embellish their
clothes with precious stones, lace or embroidery. These sumptuary laws vanished after
the French Revolution, and despite the development of trade and a communications network
with new manufacturing methods such as weaving looms, the changes were not immediately
reflected everywhere, particularly not in Cornouaille. This part of Brittany beyond the
Montagnes Noires (Black Mountains) and the Monts d’Arrée had formed a natural barrier
against any form of modernization. The Breton peasants were not ready to change their
ways, including how they dressed, out of loyalty to their lords. They also showed a
certain natural resistance to change and a distrust of anything brought in from the
outside, mixed with a desire to retain a certain amount of independence.
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Do Trust Appearances
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In the 19th century, Cornouaille was divided into numerous cells partitioned by rivers,
streams, hills, woods and moors, all made more impassable by tradition-based choice than
by natural features.
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A 'Bigoudine' wearing Sunday clothes
(Click photo to enlarge)
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When the costumes evolved, they represented the specific characteristics of each one
of these cells. To own your costume was to assert both your originality and your
membership in a group. The feminine headpieces were quick to vary in design as the
young women from one area wanted to distinguish themselves from those in the neighboring
one. As the farmers’ living conditions improved, the traditional costume also became a
real calling card for the person wearing it. It expressed not only where the person came
from geographically, but also what social class he or she belonged to. At the fairs,
people would decide who could be trusted to buy from or who to sell to, and who to avoid,
just based on the individual costume. Today, it is an increasingly rare pleasure, that of
passing an old lady wearing one of those beautiful lace headpieces entirely embroidered
by hand. Luckily and thanks to an enduring tradition, the joyous folk shows today still
allow us to discover some of the 1,200 costumes created over the 33 land areas that once existed.
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An Invitation to Travel... |
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Brittany is probably one of the most picturesque regions of France, and remains a land of
traditions and customs. Bretons have made considerable efforts to open up to international
tourism and showcase the richness of their culture and heritage. We will revisit the western
part of Brittany (the Finistère region, among others) in upcoming 2009 FranceMonthly
newsletters. But be advised that if you want to get off the beaten track and discover deep
France, Brittany is really an essential part of it. So see you soon for more trips to the
country of druids and traditions.
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