Brittany: the turbulent history of a land that has never lost its identity

Brittany has a history far older than its current name suggests. During Antiquity, the peninsula belonged to Armorica, a vast territory inhabited by several Celtic peoples, including the Veneti, Osismii, Coriosolites, Riedones, and Namnetes. After Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the 1st century BC, the region was incorporated into the Roman Empire. Towns like Condate, present-day Rennes, and Vorgium, now Carhaix, became important administrative and commercial centers.

From the 5th century onwards, populations from the island of Britain, corresponding mainly to present-day Great Britain, crossed the English Channel to settle in Armorica. These migrations, facilitated by the collapse of the Roman Empire and the advance of Anglo-Saxon peoples, contributed to the spread of the Breton language and Celtic Christianity. The peninsula gradually became known as Brittany, while numerous saints, such as Pol Aurélien, Brieuc, Malo, and Samson, played a role in the religious organization of the territory.

From the Breton kingdom to the birth of the duchy

In the 9th century, Nominoë succeeded in strengthening Breton autonomy against the Frankish kingdom. His son, Erispoë, obtained recognition of a Kingdom of Brittany in 851 after his victory against Charles the Bald at the Battle of Jengland. This period of independence, however, remained fragile. Viking invasions profoundly destabilized the territory in the following century and led to the exile of some of its leaders.

Upon his return in 936, Alan Barbetorte gradually drove out the Vikings and re-established Breton power. Brittany then became a duchy, regularly divided between the influence of the kings of France and that of English sovereigns. Despite rivalries between powerful families, the duchy retained its own institutions, taxes, and political traditions. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it experienced a period of consolidation, particularly under the Montfort dynasty.

Anne of Brittany and the annexation to France

The end of Breton political independence is closely linked to Anne of Brittany. Becoming duchess in 1488, she attempted to preserve the autonomy of her territory in the face of French ambitions. She married two successive kings of France, Charles VIII in 1491 and then Louis XII in 1499. Her daughter Claude later married Francis I. In 1532, the Edict of Union officially annexed the duchy to the kingdom of France, while maintaining several privileges, including the Estates of Brittany and certain fiscal liberties.

The French Revolution abolished these special institutions and divided the former province into five departments: Finistère, Côtes-du-Nord (now Côtes-d'Armor), Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Loire-Inférieure (now Loire-Atlantique). When administrative regions were created in the 20th century, Loire-Atlantique was attached to the Pays de la Loire region, making Nantes a central focus of the debate on Breton reunification. Despite the historical decline of its language, Brittany retains a strong cultural identity, driven by its music, maritime traditions, festivals, and a lasting connection to its history.