BRITTANY, Britanny, or Britany, in French, Bretagne, an ancient province and duchy of France, consisting of the great north-western peninsula of the country, and corresponding very nearly to the present departments of Finistère, Côtes-du-Nord, Morbihan, Ille et Vilaine, and Lower Loire. It is popularly divided into Upper or Western, and Lower or Eastern Brittany. While it is not a mountainous country, none of the elevations much exceeding 1200 feet, it is remarkable for the extreme ruggedness of its physical features, especially along the coast and towards its seaward extremity. There are vast tracts of desolate moorland broken only by the melancholy monuments of a forgotten time, and gloomy water-courses worn deep into the stony strata. Elsewhere, however, beautiful valleys and romantic glens are traversed by fullflowing rivers. Agriculture is in general in a rather backward condition, though here and there there are signs of enterprise. Flax and hemp are largely grown; and in the more fertile districts excellent crops of the cereals are obtained. Bees are almost universally kept, and are often objects of a kind of affection. Pasture is abundant throughout the country, and the dairy produce forms a very important item in the food of the people. Industrial pursuits, except in a few seaport towns, which are rather French than Breton, have hitherto received but little attention. The Bretons are by nature conservative. They cling with almost equal attachment to their local customs and their religious superstitions. It was not till the 17th century that paganism was even nominally abolished in some parts, and there is probably no district in Europe where the popular Christianity has assimilated more from earlier creeds. Witchcraft and the influence of fairies are ...generally believed in, and charms and antidotes are trustfully resorted to. Part of this superstitious tendency may, no doubt, be attributed to the influence exerted on the minds of the people, not only by the strangeness of their natural environment, but also by the frequency of megalithic monuments, whose origin they cannot explain, for nowhere are these monuments so numerous and varied. The costume of both sexes is very peculiar both in cut and colour, but varies considerably in different districts. Bright red, violet, and blue are much used, not only by the women, but in the coats and waistcoats of the men. The reader will find full illustrations of the different styles in Bcuet’s Βreiz-izel ou Vie des Bretons de l , Armorique, 3 vols., 1844. The Celtic language is still generally spoken, especially in lower Brittany, and a considerable body of traditional story and song is current among the people. Four dialects are pretty clearly marked. The whole duchy was formerly divided into nine bishoprics,—Rennes, Dol, Nantes, St Malo, and St Brieuc, in Upper Brittany; and Tréguier, Vannes, Quimper, and St Pol de Léon in Lower; and several of the larger towns were the seats of separate counts.
At the time of Caesar’s conquest of Gaul the north-western peninsula was inhabited by the Celtic tribes of the Veneti, the Curiosolitae, and the 0sismii; but our information in regard to them is of the scantiest description. On the condition of this distinct, indeed, history is almost silent till the 5th century, when the invasion of Britain by the Saxons was followed by the migration across the channel of large numbers of the defeated islanders. The Breton chronicles contain an account of about a score of dukes from that period to the end of the 8th century; but how far the names and the narrative are merely mythical it would be hard to determine. The one great fact that is clearly evident is, that a violent contest for independence was maintained against the Frankish inroads. Under the early Carlovingians the country was for a time in rather more than nominal subjection; but it soon reasserted its duchy on his brother Geoffrey. Geoffrey’s death two years after left the way open to the enterprise of Conan IV., grandson of Conan III., who had made his step-father prisoner, and was gradually obtaining possession of the whole duchy. The new duke, however, was forced not only to give his daughter Constance to Henry’s son Geoffrey, but also in tile long run to abdicate in his favour. On Geoffrey’s death in 1186 the duchy became an object of dispute between the English and French kings, the latter being supported by the native nobility. To this rivalry the young duke Arthur fell a victim, murdered, as is usually supposed, by his uncle John of England. His sister Alice succeeded, under the protection of France, and was married to Pierre de Dreux, who thus became the first of a new line of dukes which lasted till the death of Francis II. in 1488. In 1491 the heiress Anne was forced to marry Charles VIII., and thus the duchy was held by the French crown. In 1532 it was formally united to France, but it retained a separate parliament till the Revolution.
Among the historians of Brittany may be mentioned Dorn Lobineau, Dom Taillandier, Dom Morice, Dara, and De Courson. See also Trollope’s Summer in Brittany, 1840; Mrs Bury Palliser, Brittany and its Byeways, 1869; Du Chatellier, L'Agriculture et les classes agricoles de la Bretagne, 1862.
[887 words — estimated reading time: 6 minutes]