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123-583: Vertou ( French pronunciation: [vɛʁtu] ; Breton : Gwerzhav ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France . It is located on the river Sèvre Nantaise , and was a historical town of Brittany . Today, Vertou is a component of the Nantes Métropole and is the fifth-largest suburb of the city of Nantes , lying just southeast of Nantes. Vertou station has rail connections to Clisson and Nantes. Vertou

246-615: A personal union on the death of their father. Following the French Revolution, and as a result of the various republican forms of French government since 1792, the duchy was replaced by the French system of départements (or departments ) which continues under the Fifth Republic of France . In modern times the departments have also joined into administrative regions although the administrative region of Brittany does not encompass

369-450: A critical step towards a parliamentary form of government. Arthur II's reign is also distinguished by his two marriages, the first to Mary of Limoges and the second to Yolande of Dreux, Queen of Scotland . Arthur II's son by Mary of Limoges, John III became Duke but failed to produce a living heir, despite three marriages. John III's succession efforts were focused on his attempts to deny his half brother, John of Montfort from inheriting

492-650: A direct vassal of France. However, in 1202, 15-year-old Arthur was captured by the English while besieging Mirebeau . By 1203, the imprisoned Arthur was transferred to Rouen , under the charge of William de Braose , the court favorite of King John. Arthur vanished mysteriously in April 1203. Arthur's legal successor was Eleanor of Brittany . However John of England had Eleanor captured and imprisoned at Corfe Castle in Dorset . Recognizing that John of England could have Eleanor married to

615-536: A fairly large body of literature for a minority language. In 1977, Diwan schools were founded to teach Breton by immersion . Since their establishment, Diwan schools have provided fully immersive primary school and partially immersive secondary school instruction in Breton for thousands of students across Brittany. This has directly contributed to the growing numbers of school-age speakers of Breton. The Asterix comic series has been translated into Breton. According to

738-494: A limited tradition of Breton literature . Some philosophical and scientific terms in Modern Breton come from Old Breton. The recognized stages of the Breton language are: Old Breton – c.  800 to c.  1100 , Middle Breton – c.  1100 to c.  1650 , Modern Breton – c.  1650 to present. The French monarchy was not concerned with the minority languages of France , spoken by

861-563: A pact with the disinherited Hoel, Count of Nantes, to divide Brittany between them. But at the same time, Hoel was under threat of rebellion in Nantes, sponsored by Geoffrey Fitzempress, and he could not send any aid to Eudas. Conan IV landed in Brittany and took Rennes, while his ally Raoul de Fougères captured and imprisoned Eudas. Conan IV was formally enthroned as Duke of Brittany in Rennes. While Conan IV

984-663: A regent for her son John V. The House of Montfort's difficulties in maintaining the Ducal crown continued when John V, Duke of Brittany succeeded his father. By 1417, the Duke of Brittany were styled "rulers by the Grace of God". The intrigues and contests between the House of Montfort and the House of Penthièvre continued well after the Breton War of Succession. John IV's successor, John V, Duke of Brittany,

1107-471: A schwa sound occurs as a result of vowel neutralization in post-tonic position, among different dialects. All vowels can also be nasalized , which is noted by appending an 'n' letter after the base vowel, or by adding a combining tilde above the vowel (most commonly and easily done for a and o due to the Portuguese letters ), or more commonly by non-ambiguously appending an ⟨ñ⟩ letter after

1230-571: A son, Geoffrey, who died young, Conan III , and a daughter Hawise. Hawise was married to count Baldwin VII of Flanders . In 1098, Alan IV joined the First Crusade , leaving Brittany under the regency of his wife Ermengarde of Anjou until his return early in the 12th century. Ermengarde ruled from Nantes rather than Rennes, as it was closer to her home county of Anjou. Alan IV returned from Crusade in 1101. In 1112, Alan IV's son Conan III inherited Brittany on

1353-452: A strong army including his English ally, and was able to re-establish his rule. The deposed Joan of Penthièvre joined in the efforts to return John IV to Brittany to defend the Duchy against the advances of Charles V. John IV had three wives but only his third wife, Joan of Navarre, Queen of England , bore him children. John IV died on 1 November 1399. Joan remained a widow for four years acting as

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1476-403: A time for his son John I . When John I reached his majority, Peter I ceded him the Ducal crown and left Brittany on Crusade. John I married Blanche of Navarre . Upon the death of his sister Yolande of Brittany, John I seized the countship of Penthièvre for himself. John I in turn was succeeded by his son John II . John II married Beatrice of England and ruled until 1305. In the 14th century,

1599-555: A toehold in Galicia (in present-day Spain). Old Breton is attested from the 9th century. It was the language of the upper classes until the 12th century, after which it became the language of commoners in Lower Brittany. The nobility, followed by the bourgeoisie , adopted French . The written language of the Duchy of Brittany was Latin , switching to French in the 15th century. There exists

1722-432: A treaty with Duke Conan IV . Henry's son, Geoffrey , became Duke through his marriage to Constance , the hereditary Duchess. The Angevins remained in control until the collapse of their empire in northern France in 1204. The French Crown maintained its influence over the Duchy for the rest of the 13th century. Monastic orders supported by the Breton aristocracy spread across the Duchy in the 11th and 12th centuries, and in

1845-699: A unifying role . Their numbers included Herve of Leon, the viscount of Leon, who was briefly the Earl of Wiltshire. The third group were those nobles associated with the Richmond-Penthièvre family. Odo of Penthièvre was a principal antagonist of Conan II. Under William I, three of Odo of Penthièvre's sons ( Alan , Stephen and Brien ) were granted substantial lands in England, including the Honour of Richmond , lands in Suffolk, and

1968-690: A vassal loyal to England, who would rule Brittany through her, Philip II formally recognized Constance's infant daughter Alix as hereditary Duchess of Brittany. Initially Alix's father Guy of Thouars acted as regent. Philip II of France was maneuvering to keep Brittany within his sphere of influence. The marriage of the infant Alix to Capetian cadet Pierre Mauclerc in 1213, began the new House of Dreux . After Guy of Thouars' regency, Alix ruled as nominal duchess with her husband Pierre as Duke jure uxoris . In 1214, King John sent an expedition into France, in part to establish Eleanor as his puppet duchess, but after his defeat also recognized Alix and Peter as rulers of

2091-578: A version of the former Carolingian kingdom. The Duchy of Brittany emerged after Alan Barbetorte's return to the region from England in 936. Barbetorte claimed the titles of the Count of Cornouaille and Nantes and, as Alan II, reigned as the new Brittonum dux . Using a network of small, defended towns and monastic sites, Alan pushed back the Viking advances. On 1 August 939, with the aid of Judicael Berengar , Count of Rennes, and Hugh I, Count of Maine , he defeated

2214-412: Is -où , with its variant -ioù ; most nouns that use this marker are inanimates but collectives of both inanimate and animate nouns always use it as well. Most animate nouns, including trees, take a plural in -ed . However, in some dialects the use of this affix has become rare. Various masculine nouns including occupations as well as the word Saoz ("Englishman", plural Saozon ) take

2337-626: Is twinned with: This Loire-Atlantique geographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Breton language Breton ( / ˈ b r ɛ t ə n / , BRET -ən , French: [bʁətɔ̃] ; endonym : brezhoneg [bʁeˈzɔ̃ːnɛk] or [bɾəhɔ̃ˈnek] in Morbihan ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language group spoken in Brittany , part of modern-day France. It

2460-402: Is applied for animate referents. Metals, time divisions (except for eur "hour", noz "night" and sizhun "week") and mountains tend to be masculine, while rivers, cities and countries tend to be feminine. However, gender assignment to certain words often varies between dialects. Number in Breton is primarily based on an opposition between singular and plural. However, the system

2583-406: Is full of complexities in how this distinction is realized. Although modern Breton has lost its ancestral dual number marker, relics of its use are preserved in various nouns pertaining to body parts, including the words for eyes, ears, cheeks, legs, armpits, arms, hands, knees, thighs, and wings. This is seen in a prefix (formed in daou , di or div ) that is etymologically derived from

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2706-422: Is not used, while keleier has become the regular plural, 'different news items'. Meanwhile, certain nouns can form doubly marked plurals with lexicalized meanings – bugel "child" is pluralized once into bugale "children" and then pluralized a second time to make bugaleoù "groups of children". The diminutive suffix -ig also has the somewhat unusual property of triggering double marking of

2829-589: Is pluralized to pesked , singulativized to peskedenn , referring to a single fish out of a school of fish, and this singulative of the plural can then be pluralized again to make peskedennoù "fishes". On top of this, the formation of plurals is complicated by two different pluralizing functions. The "default" plural formation is contrasted with another formation which is said to "emphasize variety or diversity" – thus two semantically different plurals can be formed out of park : parkoù "parks" and parkeier "various different parks". Ball reports that

2952-595: Is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of the insular branch instead of the continental grouping. Breton was brought from Great Britain to Armorica (the ancient name for the coastal region that includes the Brittany peninsula) by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages , making it an Insular Celtic language . Breton is most closely related to Cornish , another Southwestern Brittonic language. Welsh and

3075-540: Is the only living Celtic language that is not recognized by a national government as an official or regional language. The first Breton dictionary, the Catholicon , was also the first French dictionary. Edited by Jehan Lagadec in 1464, it was a trilingual work containing Breton, French and Latin. Today bilingual dictionaries have been published for Breton and languages including English, Dutch, German, Spanish and Welsh. A monolingual dictionary, Geriadur Brezhoneg an Here

3198-405: Is used to form singulars out of collective nouns , for which the morphologically less complex form is the plural. Thus, the singulative of the collective logod "mice" is logod enn "mouse". However, Breton goes beyond Welsh in the complications of this system. Collectives can be pluralized to make forms which are different in meaning from the normal collective-- pesk "fish" (singular)

3321-442: The Ya d'ar brezhoneg campaign, to encourage enterprises, organisations and communes to promote the use of Breton, for example by installing bilingual signage or translating their websites into Breton. In the late 20th century, the French government considered incorporating the independent Breton-language immersion schools (called Diwan ) into the state education system. This action

3444-543: The patois " to the Committee of Public Safety in which he said that "federalism and superstition speak Breton". Since the 19th century, under the Third , Fourth and now Fifth Republics , the French government has attempted to stamp out minority languages—including Breton—in state schools, in an effort to build a national culture. Teachers humiliated students for using their regional languages, and such practices prevailed until

3567-862: The Armorici in Latin – had close relationships with the Britonnes tribes in Roman Britain. Between the late 4th and the early 7th centuries, many of these Britonnes migrated to the Armorican peninsula, blending with the local people to form the later Britons, who eventually became the Bretons . The reasons for these migrations remain uncertain. These migrations from Britain contributed to Brittany's name. Brittany fragmented into small, warring regna , kingdoms, each competing for resources. The Frankish Carolingian Empire conquered

3690-599: The Battle of Conquereuil on 27 June 992. He was succeeded by his oldest son Geoffrey I . Blois threatened Conan's succession. Duke Geoffrey I, a member of the House of Nantes, entered into a dynastic alliance with Richard II, Duke of Normandy in a diplomatic double marriage between the two houses. The church-sanctioned marriage ceremonies were held at Mont Saint-Michel . Geoffrey I married Hawise of Normandy , Richard II's sister; and Richard II married Judith of Brittany , Geoffrey I's sister and Conan I's daughter. The 11th century

3813-655: The Treaty of Wallingford , Stephen was forced to recognize Henry FitzEmpress as his heir, with Matilda abdicating her claim in her son's favour. The treaty exposed Brittany to retaliatory incursions from Henry FitzEmpress and his brother Geoffery FitzEmpress . On the death of Bertha in early 1156, her son, Conan IV , expected to inherit the ducal throne. However, he was denied his inheritance by his stepfather Odo, Viscount of Porhoët (also known as Odo II), Bertha's second husband; Odo II refused to relinquish his authority over Brittany. To consolidate his hold on power, Odo II entered into

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3936-431: The county of Léon ), tregerieg ( trégorrois , of Trégor ), kerneveg ( cornouaillais , of Cornouaille ), and gwenedeg ( vannetais , of Vannes ). Guérandais was spoken up to the beginning of the 20th century in the region of Guérande and Batz-sur-Mer . There are no clear boundaries between the dialects because they form a dialect continuum , varying only slightly from one village to

4059-452: The 13th, the first of the mendicant orders established themselves in Brittany's major towns. Civil war broke out in the 14th century, as rival claimants for the Duchy vied for power during the Breton War of Succession , with different factions supported by England and France. The independent sovereign nature of the Duchy began to come to an end upon the death of Francis II in 1488. The Duchy

4182-539: The 20th century, half of the population of Lower Brittany knew only Breton; the other half were bilingual. By 1950, there were only 100,000 monolingual Bretons, and this rapid decline has continued, with likely no monolingual speakers left today. A statistical survey in 1997 found around 300,000 speakers in Lower Brittany, of whom about 190,000 were aged 60 or older. Few 15- to 19-year-olds spoke Breton. In 1993, parents were finally legally allowed to give their children Breton names. In 1925, Professor Roparz Hemon founded

4305-463: The Breton War of Succession ensued; the title of Duke passed to the House of Montfort. John II died in 1305 and was succeeded by this son, Arthur II as Duke. Arthur II ruled independently of the French crown. His reign included several administrative innovations including the creation of several "battles" or districts meant to provide a stronger defense, and the creation of the Estates of Brittany , marking

4428-415: The Breton civil war, and was forced into exile in England for a second time in 1373 where he lived in the court of Edward III . The House of Montfort's victory strengthened the position of England in Brittany . One of the effects of the Breton War of Succession was to intensify the rivalries between England and France with Brittany as the contested prize. The Houses of Penthièvre and Montfort were united in

4551-644: The Breton region lost independence and became a province of France. During the Middle Ages, the Kings of France considered that the Duchy of Brittany was feudally a part of their Kingdom of France (i.e. it was within the traditional borders of the realm, and the King of France was deemed to be overlord of the Duchy). In practice, however, the Duchy of Brittany was a largely independent sovereign state. The independent sovereign nature of

4674-491: The Breton-language review Gwalarn . During its 19-year run, Gwalarn tried to raise the language to the level of a great international language. Its publication encouraged the creation of original literature in all genres, and proposed Breton translations of internationally recognized foreign works. In 1946, Al Liamm replaced Gwalarn . Other Breton-language periodicals have been published, which established

4797-513: The Broërec, and Nantes. Ducal power was non-existent in Panthièvre and Léon, and even in the rest of Brittany the duke's powers did not extend beyond his own personal lands. The barons in Brittany did not feel that they were in any way vassals of the duke, owing him service in exchange for their lands, and only attended the ducal courts when they felt it was in their own interests to do so. However,

4920-624: The Catholic Church began preferring legitimate heirs born in church-sanctioned marriage over out-of-wedlock issue. This rivalry led to war between Normandy and Brittany. The 1064–1065 war between Brittany and Normandy (the Breton-Norman War) was sparked after Duke William supported the rebellion against Conan II led by Rivallon I of Dol . In 1065, before his invasion of Anglo-Saxon England , William of Normandy warned his rivals in Brittany and Anjou to abstain from any attacks on his duchy, on

5043-529: The Ducal Crown in the 15th century, possibly as an alteration of the rules of inheritance by the then Duke of Brittany Francis II. The wars with France eventually cost Ducal Brittany its independence, while the Parlement ensured a degree of autonomy that would continue through the reign of Louis XIV of France . That Francis II's sole heir was his daughter Anne assured an inheritance contest on his death that would pit

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5166-429: The Ducal Crown. He attempted to name the King of France as heir in an act that defied all precedents to maintain Brittany as an independent sovereign state. The Breton nobles predictably rejected the attempt and Brittany's independence continued. John III died in 1341 without a succession plan. John III's half-brother, John of Montfort, claimed the title of Duke, but his claim was rejected by the King of France who favored

5289-559: The Duchess released in 1198. Once back in Brittany, Constance had her marriage to Ranulph annulled in 1199 (there was no issue from this marriage). Later that year, Constance took Guy of Thouars as her 'second' husband at Angers . Throughout these years, Constance advised her son Arthur towards a French alliance, pursuing the policy of her late husband Geoffrey II, despite his designation as Richard I's heir. In Constance bore Guy of Thouars two or three daughters. The first born, Alix of Thouars ,

5412-507: The Duchy began to come to an end upon the death of Francis II, Duke of Brittany. The Duchy was inherited by his daughter, Anne, but King Charles VIII of France, determined to bring the territory under royal control, had her marriage annulled and then forced her to marry him in a series of actions that were acknowledged by the Pope. As a result, the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Brittany were placed in

5535-509: The Duchy. Eleanor was kept captive in England until her death in 1241, ending the line of Geoffrey II. In 1235, the stage was set for the next century's Breton War of Succession when Peter I dispossessed the heir of the Penthièvre Dynasty in order to give the countship of Penthièvre to his second child, Yolande . Beginning in the 13th century, the Duchy of Brittany experienced nearly a century of peace. Peter I continued as Regent for

5658-427: The Duke of Brittany (later dukes would eventually reunite Nantes to Brittany). Henry II of England continued to stoke revolts and rebellions in Brittany against Conan IV. In response, Conan IV took the Breton counties of Tréguier and Guingamp from his uncle Count Henri, a supporter of Henry II of England. Richmond was returned to Conan IV later that year in an agreement reached with Henry II of England. By 1160 Conan

5781-468: The Earl of Suffolk. In 1075 he was among the leaders of a "Breton revolt". Ralph escaped returning to Brittany where he also revolted against the Breton Duke before eventually reconciling with the duchy. To the south and west of England, William granted lands to groups of Breton nobles who were more fractious than united, whether in Brittany or in England. This group had no one singular leader who could serve

5904-472: The Earldoms of Richmond and Cornwall. Also in 1066, Hawise succeeded her brother Conan II as hereditary Duchess of Brittany. She married Hoël of Cornouaille. Hoel ruled as Hoel II, Duke of Brittany and started the House of Kernev which continued to rule Brittany until 1156 (see below). Hoël inherited a divided Brittany which was split into six largely independent regions: Rennes, Panthièvre, Léon, Cornouaille,

6027-616: The Frankish model. The greatest influence on the later Duchy, however, was the formation of a unitary Brittany kingdom in the 9th century. In 831 Louis the Pious appointed Nominoe , the Count of Vannes, ruler of the Bretons, imperial missus , at Ingelheim in 831. After the death of Louis in 840, Nominoe rose to challenge the new emperor, Charles the Bald , emboldened in part by new Viking raids on

6150-412: The French law known as Toubon , it is illegal for commercial signage to be in Breton alone. Signs must be bilingual or French only. Since commercial signage usually has limited physical space, most businesses have signs only in French. Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg , the Breton language agency, was set up in 1999 by the Brittany region to promote and develop the daily use of Breton. It helped to create

6273-477: The King and Queen and, in 1498 when Charles VIII died childless, the title Duke of Brittany remained with Anne, rather than passing to the heir of France, Louis XII. Anne of Brittany returned to Brittany and began to re-establish an independent sovereign rule. However, the new French king, Louis XII married Anne himself, and so the King of France was once more Duke of Brittany jure uxoris . Legally, Brittany still remained distinct, and its future remained dependent on

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6396-564: The King of France. Francis II worked to seek a husband for Anne who would be strong enough to defend Brittany from further influence from the French Crown. Duchesse Anne of Brittany was initially betrothed to Edward, Prince of Wales , the son of Edward IV of England , but upon the king's death his son disappeared and the English throne passed to Richard III of England . Anne was then married to Maximillian I of Austria . However, relations between Brittany and France deteriorated and Francis II

6519-699: The UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . However, the number of children attending bilingual classes rose 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709. Breton is spoken in Lower Brittany ( Breton : Breizh-Izel ), roughly to the west of a line linking Plouha (west of Saint-Brieuc ) and La Roche-Bernard (east of Vannes ). It comes from a Brittonic language community that once extended from Great Britain to Armorica (present-day Brittany) and had even established

6642-504: The University of Rennes 2 has a Breton language department offering courses in the language along with a master's degree in Breton and Celtic Studies. Vowels in Breton may be short or long . All unstressed vowels are short; stressed vowels can be short or long (vowel lengths are not noted in usual orthographies as they are implicit in the phonology of particular dialects, and not all dialects pronounce stressed vowels as long). An emergence of

6765-781: The Viking Godfried left the Seine with his fleet, sailed around the Breton peninsula and sacked Nantes. Erispoe entered into an alliance with the leader of another Viking fleet, Sidroc, who betrayed him, resulting in Erispoe's defeat at the hands of the Vikings. A weakened Erispoe ruled until 857 when he was assassinated and then followed as Breton ruler by his cousin and rival, Salomon , the Count of Rennes and Nantes . Viking raids continued. Alan I successfully defeated one wave of Vikings around 900, expanding

6888-400: The Vikings in the Battle of Trans-la-Forêt , completing their expulsion from Brittany. Alan's duchy was smaller than the previous Kingdom of Brittany, as, despite gaining Magues and Tiffauges in the south, the dukes no longer ruled over the regions of Cotentin , Avranchin , and Mayenne . Alan paid homage to Louis IV of France for Brittany in 942. Despite some older Celtic influences,

7011-510: The abdication of his father, who retired to the monastery of Redon . By 1113, Conan III married Maude, an illegitimate daughter of King Henry I of England . With Maude he had three children, Hoel , Bertha , and Constance. During his reign he strengthened the rule of the duchy. During the dynastic struggle between Stephen of England (Stephen of Blois) and the dispossessed Empress Matilda , Conan III allied himself with King Stephen. Empress Matilda's unpopular marriage with Geoffrey V of Anjou

7134-479: The base vowel (this depends on the orthographic variant). Diphthongs are /ai, ei, ou/ . Breton nouns are marked for gender and number. While Breton gender is fairly typical of gender systems across western Europe (with the exception of Basque and modern English), Breton number markers demonstrate rarer behaviors. Breton has two genders: masculine ( gourel ) and feminine ( gwregel ), having largely lost its historic neuter ( nepreizh ) as has also occurred in

7257-478: The centuries. France, however operated under strict Salic law, requiring a male heir. The French requirement was solved upon Claude's marriage to Francis I of France . The birth of Claude's sons Francis (who became Francis III, Duke of Brittany , as well as the Dauphin of France) and Henry II of France represented a resolution to these contrasting succession issues but accelerated the loss of Brittany's independence and

7380-446: The changes associated with -er / -ier are less predictable. Various nouns instead form their plural merely with ablaut : a or o in the stem being changed to e : askell "wing" → eskell "wings"; dant "tooth" → dent "teeth"; kordenn "rope" → kerdenn "ropes". Duchy of Brittany Henry II of England invaded Brittany in the mid-12th century and became Count of Nantes in 1158 under

7503-1137: The comic, the Gaulish village where Asterix lives is in the Armorica peninsula , which is now Brittany. Some other popular comics have also been translated into Breton, including The Adventures of Tintin , Spirou , Titeuf , Hägar the Horrible , Peanuts and Yakari . Some original media are created in Breton. The sitcom, Ken Tuch , is in Breton. Radio Kerne , broadcasting from Finistère , has exclusively Breton programming. Some movies ( Lancelot du Lac , Shakespeare in Love , Marion du Faouet , Sezneg ) and TV series ( Columbo , Perry Mason ) have also been translated and broadcast in Breton. Poets, singers, linguists, and writers who have written in Breton, including Yann-Ber Kallocʼh , Roparz Hemon , Añjela Duval , Xavier de Langlais , Pêr-Jakez Helias , Youenn Gwernig , Glenmor , Vefa de Saint-Pierre and Alan Stivell are now known internationally. Today, Breton

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7626-476: The competing claims of Joan of Penthièvre and her husband Charles of Blois , who also claimed the Ducal title. The Breton War of Succession between the claimants ensued when John of Montfort refused to cede his rights in their favor. The Breton War of Succession was fought from 1341 to 1364 between these two Breton houses, the House of Blois Châtillon and the House of Montfort . Charles of Blois Châtillon claimed

7749-853: The consideration of the Breton language in Microsoft products. In October 2014, Facebook added Breton as one of its 121 languages after three years of talks between the Ofis and Facebook. France has twice chosen to enter the Eurovision Song Contest with songs in Breton; once in 1996 in Oslo with " Diwanit bugale " by Dan Ar Braz and the fifty piece band Héritage des Celtes , and most recently in 2022 in Turin with " Fulenn " by Alvan Morvan Rosius and vocal trio Ahez . These are two of five times France has chosen songs in one of its minority languages for

7872-561: The contest, the others being in 1992 (bilingual French and Antillean Creole ), 1993 (bilingual French and Corsican ), and 2011 (Corsican). Breton is spoken mainly in Lower Brittany, but also in a more dispersed way in Upper Brittany (where it is spoken alongside Gallo and French), and in areas around the world that have Breton emigrants. The four traditional dialects of Breton correspond to medieval bishoprics rather than to linguistic divisions. They are leoneg ( léonard , of

7995-547: The ducal regency entrusted to Alan's brother Odo, Count of Penthièvre . However, by the time Conan II reached his majority at age sixteen, around 1048, Odo refused to relinquish power. During the dynastic conflict between uncle and nephew, Hoel of Cornouaille supported Odo in suppressing Conan's inheritance. Odo was Hoèl's brother-in-law as he was married to Hoel's sister Agnes of Cornouaille. By 1057, Conan II captured and imprisoned Odo. He came to terms with Hoèl of Cornouaille later that year. Conan II faced numerous threats posed by

8118-507: The duchy continued to experience political instability and he was unable to sustain his line. Drogo died in 958. Two of Alan II's illegitimate sons, Hoël and Guerich, attempted to act as Counts of Nantes and preserve their claim to duchy but were eventually unsuccessful. In 990 Juhel Berengar's son Conan I , the grandson of Pascweten, became Duke and the title passed to the House of Rennes . Conan I ruled for only two years and died fighting against his brother-in-law Fulk III, Count of Anjou at

8241-586: The duchy. With this surprise move, Bertha became his heiress and successor as hereditary Duchess of Brittany. However, Hoel was to retain the county of Nantes. Duchess Bertha, as dowager countess of Richmond, continued Brittany's alliance with Stephen's England against the Angevins. However this strategy became untenable after 1153, when Stephen's son Eustace died suddenly. Eustace's death provided an opportunity for Matilda's son, Henry FitzEmpress , to land an invasion army in England and press for his mother's claims. In

8364-496: The empire. Charles the Bald created the Marches of Neustria to defend Western Francia from the Bretons and the Vikings. Erispoe fought Charles the Bald, who felt that a quick attack would successfully challenge the new Breton leader. Erispoe won a victory at the Battle of Jengland and, under their Treaty of Angers in 851, Brittany's independence was secured. The new kingdom proved fragile and collapsed under Viking attack. In 853

8487-591: The entirety of the medieval duchy. The Duchy of Brittany that emerged in the early 10th century was influenced by several earlier polities. Prior to the expansion of the Roman Empire into the region, Gallic tribes had occupied the Armorican peninsula, dividing it into five regions that then formed the basis for the Roman administration of the area, and which survived into the period of the Duchy. These Gallic tribes – termed

8610-414: The eventual disappearance of the Ducal title as an independent sovereign Ducal crown. Anne of Brittany's second marriage making her Queen Consort of France continued into the 16th century; and she died in 1514. Queen Claude of France, reigned as duchess of Brittany from 1514, but under her husband king Francis was not able to maintain an independent government in the Duchy of Brittany. Claude's son Francis I

8733-408: The extinct Cumbric , both Western Brittonic languages , are more distantly related, and the Goidelic languages ( Irish , Manx , Scottish Gaelic ) have a slight connection due to both of their origins being from Insular Celtic. Having declined from more than one million speakers around 1950 to about 200,000 in the first decade of the 21st century, Breton is classified as "severely endangered" by

8856-404: The grounds that his mission bore the papal banner. However, Conan II rebuffed the warning and declared that he would press any advantage against William. While William plotted to take the English crown, Conan consolidated his authority in Brittany and planned to take advantage of William's absence to invade Normandy. First, however, he needed to neutralize Anjou, another historic rival. Once Anjou

8979-566: The growing numbers of school-age speakers of Breton. The schools have also gained fame from their high level of results in school exams, including those on French language and literature. Breton-language schools do not receive funding from the national government, though the Brittany Region may fund them. Another teaching method is a bilingual approach by Div Yezh ("Two Languages") in the State schools, created in 1979. Dihun ("Awakening")

9102-681: The growth of the movement. In 2007, some 4,500 to 5,000 adults followed an evening or correspondence one Breton-language course. The transmission of Breton in 1999 was estimated to be 3 percent. In addition to bilingual education (including Breton-medium education) the region has introduced the Breton language in primary education, mainly in the department of Finistère. These "initiation" sessions are generally one to three hours per week, and consist of songs and games. Schools in secondary education ( collèges and lycées ) offer some courses in Breton. In 2010, nearly 5,000 students in Brittany were reported to be taking this option. Additionally,

9225-537: The heritage of France ). The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , which obliges signatory states to recognize minority and regional languages, was signed by France in 1999 but has not been ratified. On 27 October 2015, the Senate rejected a draft constitutional law ratifying the charter. Regional and departmental authorities use Breton to a very limited extent. Some bilingual signage has also been installed, such as street name signs in Breton towns. Under

9348-521: The historic rivalry between Brittany and Normandy resurfaced at the close of the 11th century. By 1075, Hoèl returned to the traditional Breton policy of opposing Norman expansion with an alliance with the young king Philip I of France . Ralph de Gael, in exile in Brittany after the unsuccessful 1075 rebellion in England, led incursions into Normandy from his base in Dol. In 1076, King William of England retaliated by leading an army into Brittany to eject Ralph, but

9471-518: The independence of Brittany. In 1499, the birth of Anne of Brittany's sole heir with Louis XII of France, her daughter Claude of France , introduced a new succession issue in Brittany and France. In Brittany, with the provisions of the Treaty of Guerande set aside by the Estates of Brittany, Claude could claim to be Duchess of Brittany in her own right, as several Duchesses by right of inheritance had done over

9594-751: The instability by reinforcing the power of the Norman ducal house providing Robert I's two youngest brothers with land and title. However, by October 1, 1040, Alan III was killed by poison while besieging a rebel castle in Vimoutiers . Tension increased in Normandy following his death, with Count Gilbert dying shortly thereafter. A rival faction in the guardianship of Normandy emerged, one that would intervene in Brittany, suppressing Alan III's heir, Conan II , from claiming his inheritance. At around eight years of age, Conan II succeeded his father Alan III as Duke of Brittany, with

9717-541: The kingdom to include not only the Breton territories of Léon , Domnonée , Cornouaille , and the Vannetais, but also the Frankish counties of Rennes, Nantes , Coutances , and Avranches , as well as the western parts of Poitou and Anjou . Alan I's military success resulted in a period of peace from Viking invasions and few raids from the Vikings were recorded from 900 through to 907. After Alan I's death in 907, Brittany

9840-411: The late 1960s. In the early 21st century, due to the political centralization of France, the influence of the media, and the increasing mobility of people, only about 200,000 people are active speakers of Breton, a dramatic decline from more than 1 million in 1950. The majority of today's speakers are more than 60 years old, and Breton is now classified as an endangered language . At the beginning of

9963-450: The latter pluralizer is used only for inanimate nouns. Certain formations have been lexicalized to have meanings other than that which might be predicted solely from the morphology: dour "water" pluralized forms dourioù which means not "waters" but instead "rivers", while doureier now has come to mean "running waters after a storm". Certain forms have lost the singular from their paradigm: keloù means "news" and * kel

10086-542: The lower classes, and required the use of French for government business as part of its policy of national unity. During the French Revolution , the government introduced policies favouring French over the regional languages, which it pejoratively referred to as patois . The revolutionaries assumed that reactionary and monarchist forces preferred regional languages to try to keep the peasant masses under-informed. In 1794, Bertrand Barère submitted his "report on

10209-461: The negotiations that followed Alan IV was forced into marriage with King William I's second daughter Constance of England . The marriage ceremonies may have taken place in Bayeux in Normandy. William of Malmesbury wrote that Constance was unpopular at the Breton court because of her 'severe and conservative' manner. William of Malmesbury also alleged that Alan IV had Constance poisoned to death, but this

10332-401: The new duchy was in many ways similar to the other, post-Carolingian states forming across the region. Over the coming decades, a network of powerful local lords emerged across Brittany, occupying motte and bailey castles and owing a loose feudal loyalty to the duke. The east of Brittany was the first to change, but the practices spread over the next fifty years to the more remote regions of

10455-580: The next. Gwenedeg , however, requires a little study to be intelligible with most of the other dialects. French is the sole official language of France . Supporters of Breton and other minority languages continue to argue for their recognition, and for their place in education, public schools, and public life. In July 2008, the legislature amended the French Constitution , adding article 75-1: les langues régionales appartiennent au patrimoine de la France (the regional languages belong to

10578-503: The north- and south-west. Alan II was also allied to Theobald I of Blois , the count of Chartres . Alan II had married Theobald's sister, Adelaide, giving Theobald influence all the way to Rennes. However Alan II's death left a void in Brittany leaving it vulnerable to encroachment by either the Normans or the Angevins. In turn the recently widowed Fulk II, Count of Anjou , Theobald's ally, married Alan II's widow. Upon his death, Alan II

10701-452: The other Celtic languages as well as across the Romance languages. Certain suffixes ( -ach/-aj, -(a)dur, -er, -lecʼh, -our, -ti, -va ) are masculine, while others ( -enti, -er, -ez, -ezh, -ezon, -i , -eg , -ell , and the singulative -enn ) are feminine. The suffix -eg can be masculine or feminine. There are certain non-determinant factors that influence gender assignment. Biological sex

10824-412: The personal union of their marriage, and the King of France also held the title of Duke of Brittany jure uxoris . During their marriage, Charles VIII prohibited Anne of Brittany from using the title Duchess of Brittany, and imposed a Royal Governor from the House of Penthièvre on the Duchy. Legally, however, the Duchy remained separate from France proper; the two titles were linked only by the marriage of

10947-478: The plural: bugelig means "little child", but the doubly pluralized bug ale ig où means "little children"; bag boat has a singular diminutive bagig and a simple plural bagoù , thus its diminutive plural is the doubly pluralized bag où ig où . As seen elsewhere in many Celtic languages, the formation of the plural can be hard to predict, being determined by a mix of semantic, morphological and lexical factors. The most common plural marker

11070-665: The policy of interweaving the Breton succession with the Plantagenet 's succession. Upon her father's abdication in 1166, Constance became duchess, although Henry II held the Duchy until Constance married Geoffrey. Geoffrey and Constance ruled jointly until 1186, when Geoffrey was stamped to death in a riding accident during a tournament in Paris. Constance thereafter ruled the Duchy on her own. Henry II of England next arranged for Constance to marry Ranulph de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester on 3 February 1188 or 1189. Henry II died in 1189 and

11193-531: The power of the House of Montfort against conflicting treaty obligations to the House of Penthièvre in Brittany, and the House of Valois in France, and would also be a test of the Breton tradition of semi-Salic law in which a daughter could be the principal inheritor. The position of the King of France dominated these events through two wars. After the first war, under the Treaty of Verger , the marriage of Francis II's sole surviving issue, Anne, would need to be approved by

11316-410: The prefixation of the number two. The dual is no longer productive, and has merely been lexicalized in these cases rather than remaining a part of Breton grammar. The (etymologically) already dual words for eyes ( daoulagad ) and ears ( divskouarn ) can be pluralized "again" to form daoulagad où and diskouarn où . Like other Brythonic languages, Breton has a singulative suffix that

11439-413: The pro-Norman faction in Brittany, including revolts sponsored by William, Duke of Normandy for whom Conan's father had served as Guardian. William supported challengers to Conan's authority, encouraging them to rebel against the Breton duke, his cousin. William continued courting the family of Odo, who was imprisoned. In response, Conan promoted his own legitimate claim as Duke of Normandy over William, as

11562-458: The refugees were Mathedoi, the Count of Poher , and his son Alan Barbetorte , the grandson of Alan I; they fled to England and lived in exile in the courts of Edward the Elder and Edward's son and successor Æthelstan . The Viking occupation of Brittany lasted until about 936. Little recorded history of this period is available until Alan Barbetorte returned in 937 to expel the Vikings and reestablish

11685-410: The region during the 8th century, starting around 748 taking the whole of Brittany by 799. The Carolingians tried to create a unitary administration around the centres of Rennes , Nantes , and Vannes using the local rulers, but the kings of Brittany's hold on the region remained tenuous. Carolingian technology and culture began to influence Brittany, and the church in Brittany also began to emulate

11808-454: The sense of their opposition to the attempted annexation of Brittany by Charles V of France as a consequence of this Breton civil war. The French king sent the Constable of France , Bertrand de Guesclin , into Brittany with the goal of uniting it to the French crown. When the Breton nobles rebelled against this proposed unification, John IV was able to return from England, assisted once again by

11931-512: The suffix -ien , with a range of variants including -on , -ion , -an and -ian . The rare pluralizing suffixes -er / -ier and -i are used for a few nouns. When they are appended, they also trigger a change in the vowel of the root: -i triggers a vowel harmony effect whereby some or all preceding vowels are changed to i ( kenderv "cousin" → kindirvi "cousins"; bran "crow" → brini "crows"; klujur "partridge" → klujiri "partridges");

12054-486: The terms of their surrender, Joan was allowed to keep Penthièvre and retained the title Duchess of Brittany for life. Under the Treaties of Guerande, semi-Salic succession was agreed under which, if the reigning member of the House of Montfort died without legitimate male issue, the eldest direct legitimate male descendant of Joan would inherit the Ducal crown of Brittany. John IV, Duke of Brittany ruled with difficulty after

12177-422: The title Duchess of Brittany. However, upon his death, Anne returned to Brittany and took steps to return the Duchy to independent rule under herself as Duchess. The children of Charles and Anne did not reach adulthood and this presented a new Breton succession problem as well as one for France. Both succession issues were solved upon Anne's marriage to Louis XII of France but at the cost of restoring and furthering

12300-550: The title Duke of Brittany from 1341 to his death. During the war, John of Montfort was imprisoned in Paris. Hostilities abated for a short time, and he was freed under the Treaty of Malestroit in 1341. He died in 1345, leaving his son John as the Montfort claimant to the ducal title. John's widowed Duchess Consort, Joanna of Flanders , acted as regent for her son John and continued the war in his name. The House of Montfort emerged victorious with substantial help from English allies Under

12423-577: The upcoming campaign to claim the English crown., perhaps in part because the Breton commanders in Duke William's army were the second-sons of Breton lords, such as Alain Le Roux (son of Eudas of Penthièvre). The Bretons within the Conquest army represented at least three major groupings, two of which would become relevant to the long-term future of the duchy. One group was represented by Ralph de Gael , briefly

12546-556: The use of the Spilhennig to let speakers identify each other. The office also started an Internationalization and localization policy asking Google , Firefox and SPIP to develop their interfaces in Breton. In 2004, the Breton Misplaced Pages started, which counts more than 85,000 articles as of August 2024. In March 2007, the Ofis ar Brezhoneg signed a tripartite agreement with Regional Council of Brittany and Microsoft for

12669-603: The west of the Angevin controlled territory exposed a wide frontier for Stephen to exploit against Matilda. In 1138, Conan III's daughter, Bertha, was married to Alan of Penthièvre , a supporter of King Stephen. For his support, Stephan created Conan's son-in-law Alan as 1st Earl of Richmond in the second creation, a title previously held by Alan's uncle Alain Le Roux. Later, when Alan died in 1146, Bertha returned home to Brittany from England. On his death-bed in 1148, Conan III disinherited his son Hoel, Count of Nantes from succession to

12792-786: Was blocked by the French Constitutional Council based on the 1994 amendment to the Constitution that establishes French as the language of the republic. Therefore, no other language may be used as a language of instruction in state schools. The Toubon Law implemented the amendment, asserting that French is the language of public education. The Diwan schools were founded in Brittany in 1977 to teach Breton by immersion . Since their establishment, Diwan schools have provided fully immersive primary school and partially immersive secondary school instruction in Breton for thousands of students across Brittany. This has directly contributed to

12915-477: Was consolidating his inheritance in 1156, Geoffrey FitzEmpress successfully took Nantes from Hoel. Upon Geoffrey's death in 1158, Conan IV seized Nantes, reuniting the Duchy once again. However, Henry II, now King of England, seized the Earldom of Richmond, Conan's paternal inheritance. Henry demanded the return of Nantes, and when he obtained control of it from Conan IV, became the Count of Nantes, without obligation to

13038-683: Was created in 1990 for bilingual education in the Catholic schools. In 2018, 18,337 pupils (about 2% of all students in Brittany) attended Diwan , Div Yezh and Dihun schools, and their number has increased yearly. This was short of the goal of Jean-Yves Le Drian (president of the Regional Council ), who aimed to have 20,000 students in bilingual schools by 2010, and of "their recognition" for "their place in education, public schools, and public life"; nevertheless he describes being encouraged by

13161-439: Was followed by Catherine of Thouars (1201-c. 1240) and maybe Margaret of Thouars (1201-c. 1216/1220). Constance died due to complications during the delivery. In the 13th century England's alliance with Brittany collapsed under King John of England . When Richard I died in 1199, Philip agreed to recognize Arthur of Brittany as count of Anjou, Maine, and Poitou, in exchange for Arthur swearing fealty to him, and thereby becoming

13284-537: Was forced into the last Franco-Breton war, which he lost. At the end of the second war between Francis II and Charles VIII of France, the so-called Mad War , Anne of Brittany's first marriage to Maximillian was declared illegal on the basis that the French King had not approved it under the terms of the Treaty of Verger. Anne was married to Charles VIII of France in a ceremony that was validated by Pope Innocent VIII . Once they were married, Charles did not allow Anne to use

13407-445: Was forced to yield to Henry. In the peace negotiations which followed, Conan was obliged to marry Henry's cousin, Margaret of Scotland , in 1160. Later, Conan IV was faced with additional revolts from barons, possibly sponsored by Henry II. Conan appealed to Henry II for aid to end the revolts. For his aid Henry II insisted on the betrothal of Conan's only daughter and heiress Constance to Henry's son Geoffrey Plantagenet , continuing

13530-423: Was forced upon her by her father Henry I. It reflected the historic rivalry between Brittany, Normandy, and Anjou. Conan III sought to counter Angevin influence and preserve Breton independence. In his alliance with Stephen, Conan III looked for greater influence with Stephen, who needed allies on the continent to out-flank Matilda. Matilda was able to consolidate power in Normandy and Anjou. Brittany's position to

13653-511: Was inherited by his daughter, Anne , but King Charles VIII of France had her existing marriage annulled and then married her himself. As a result, the King of France acquired the title of Duke of Brittany – jure uxoris . The Ducal crown became united with the French crown in 1532 through a vote of the Estates of Brittany , after the death of Queen Claude of France , the last sovereign duchess. Her sons Francis III, Duke of Brittany and then Henry II of France would in any case have created

13776-458: Was invested as duke of Brittany. But this act meant next to nothing to advance Breton independence. Some members of the House of Penthièvre were appointed as royal governors of Brittany by the French. Their failure to reassert their Ducal rights successfully hastened the merger of the Ducal crown into the Kingdom of France. At this time the title Duke of Brittany began to lose independent sovereign status and began to become only titular in character;

13899-567: Was kidnapped by the grandson of Joan of Penthièvre . He was freed through the efforts of his wife the Duchess of Brittany, Joan of France and the remaining wealth of the Penthièvre family was confiscated. John V was succeeded first by his son Francis I . Since Francis I had no male heir, he was followed by a younger son of John V, Peter II . When Peter II died without issue, the Ducal Crown passed to his uncle Arthur III . He was, in turn, succeeded by his nephew Francis II . The reign of Francis II

14022-476: Was marked by a failed alliance with Normandy. William the Conqueror challenged the Breton dukes, and they formed an alliance with the French king. The death of Geoffrey I, in 1008, allowed Richard II to intervene directly in Brittany during the minority of his nephew, Alan III , against rebellious counts who attempted to take advantage of the youthful duke. The guardianship would be reciprocated later when Alan III

14145-421: Was met with a rare defeat by an allied army of Bretons and French forces. In the peace negotiations which followed William offered his second daughter Constance in marriage to the Breton heir Alan IV , though nothing came of the betrothal at the time. By 1086, Alan IV was forced to abandon his duchy after an invasion launched by William I of England. However, a peace settlement was reached that same year and in

14268-421: Was named as one of the primary guardians of William of Normandy . By designating Alan III as a guardian of William, Robert I was "involving a close family member who would not compete with his heir". In his guardianship of Duke William, Alan III was allied with Count Gilbert and Robert II, Archbishop of Rouen , William's uncles. However, when Archbishop Robert died in 1037 instability surfaced. Alan III countered

14391-565: Was notable in many respects including two wars against Charles VIII of France , both of which were lost, the establishment of the Parlement of Rennes , and the death of all of his children save for his daughter Anne of Brittany . Francis II's rule as Duke was also marked by continued intrigues with the House of Penthièvre. Joan of Penthièvre's later descendants, the Brosse line of the House of Penthièvre through Jean de Brosse , were denied their claims to

14514-478: Was overrun once again by Vikings. Fulk the Red , Count of Anjou, is said to have occupied Nantes from 907 to 919 when he abandoned it to the invading Vikings. In 919, the great Viking fleet of Rognvaldr landed in Nantes, quickly coming to dominate the region. This invasion accelerated the exodus of Bretons, including that of the machtierns , "the local hereditary officers upon whom the civil administration depended". Among

14637-412: Was pacified he planned to advance into Maine and then into Normandy. However, during his 1066 siege of Angers, Conan was found dead after wearing poisoned riding gloves. Duke William was widely suspected of organizing the assassination. William the Conqueror successfully invaded England in 1066 with an army that included some Bretons. William was able to attract Bretons into his expeditionary army for

14760-483: Was published in 1995. The first edition contained about 10,000 words, and the second edition of 2001 contains 20,000 words. In the early 21st century, the Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg ("Public Office for the Breton language") began a campaign to encourage daily use of Breton in the region by both businesses and local communes. Efforts include installing bilingual signs and posters for regional events, as well as encouraging

14883-603: Was succeeded by Richard I as King of England. Lacking a male heir, King Richard I of England officially proclaimed his nephew, Constance's son, Arthur I of Brittany , as his heir presumptive in a treaty signed with Philip Augustus and Tancred of Sicily . To promote her son's position and inheritance, Constance, Duchess of Brittany included Arthur in the government of Brittany in 1196. The same year, Constance's marriage with Ranulph deteriorated, with Ranulph imprisoning Constance. Her imprisonment sparked rebellion across Brittany on her behalf. Ranulph bowed to growing pressure and had

15006-483: Was succeeded by his son Drogo . Drogo's rule set the precedent for the role of a regent during the minority of a ducal heir. Throughout his reign, Drogo was under the shared regency of his uncle the Count of Blois, Theobald I (who entrusted the administration of the duchy to Wicohen, Archbishop of Dol , and the Count of Rennes Juhel Berengar as administrators), and his stepfather, the Fulk II, Count of Anjou. Under Drogo,

15129-420: Was unverified However, Orderic Vitalis wrote that as duchess, Constance did all she could to further the welfare of the Bretons, who grieved deeply at her death in 1090. In 1092, Alan IV donated property to Redon Abbey by charter, and by 1093, married his second wife, Ermengarde of Anjou as part of a political alliance with Fulk IV, Count of Anjou to counter Anglo-Norman influence. With Ermengarde, he had

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