Cornouaille's location within Brittany.

Flag of Cornouaille.

Cornouaille is an historic region in Brittany, in northwest France. Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The name is etymologically identical to the French name for the Duchy of Cornwall, since the area was settled by migrants from Cornwall, who imported the Cornish language which evolved into the Breton language. Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany However, the British Cornwall is referred to as "Les Cornouailles" in the plural to distinguish it from the Breton region.

Origin of name

Cornouaille was established in the early Middle Ages in the south west of the Breton peninsula. At this same period other British migrants estblished the region of Dumnonia (in Latin) or la Domnonée in the north of the peninsular (derived from the British county of Devon), This could be the case as well for the region "Gwened", which is sometimes said to be descended from Welsh "Gwynedd", but another opinion is that this region is called after its iron-age inhabitants, the "Veneti" (in Breton "Weneted"). For the Brythonic colony of the same name in Brittany see Domnonée Dumnonia, sometimes referred to as Damnolia, was a Brythonic Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name

The region was first mentioned by this name between 852 and 857 when the Bishop of Saint-Corentin^[1], Anaweten, took over "Cornugallensis". Events By Place Europe Saint Swithun becomes Bishop of Winchester England Events By Place Europe The Vikings raid Dorestad. Byzantine Empire Michael III The Germanic name of Cornwall or (Corn-whealas) has been supposed to mean "the corner of foreigners" [lit. Horn - being a geographic description of the Armorican land mass - of Welsh] in reference to the resettling of the Celts from 'Great Britain' as opposed to 'Lesser Britain', the difference between 'La Grande Bretagne' - Great Britain - and 'La Bretagne', Brittany. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts However, the basic stem of the name, Cornwall, must come from the name of the Celtic British peoples who populated the area after migrating there from other Celtic British areas, the 'Kernow'.

History

The story that these people fled over the English Channel because of pressure from Anglo-Saxon invaders is probably exaggerated. The origins of the British settlement of modern-day Brittany, and hence the place-names being the same on both sides of the Channel, harks from the end of the Roman period. Strong contacts between Armorica (Brittany) and southern Britain had already been noted by Julius Caesar. Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany Peninsula and the territory between the Native British troops were hired to support the ailing Western Empire during the fifth century. When returning through Gaul, they passed through Armorica, the nearest point of continental Europe to Cornwall and Wales. When passing through there, they found it a rich land, led by two Welsh generals or tribal leaders, returned to Wales, gathered others and then returned to Armorica to settle it. One of the generals is recorded as 'Geraint' or 'Gerontius' in the Latin texts of the time. Though commonly discredited as 'historical evidence' due to later Medieval fabrication, most of the authentic Arthurian legends make frequent reference to the maritime connections between the peoples of Wales, southern Ireland, southwest Britain and Brittany, cf. The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the Legends that concern the Celtic and legendary History of Great Britain, especially those the tale of Tristram and Yseult.

The existence of a district of ancient Anjou called "La Cornuaille" has led to the hypothesis that it was a geographical or military label for all of southern Brittany as far as the northern shore of la Domnonée in the 6th or 7th century. Anjou is a former County (c 880) Duchy ( 1360) and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into Domnonée ( Breton: Domnonea) is the modern French version of the Latin name Dumnonia (or Domnonia which denoted a kingdom in northern Brittany founded

At the origin of this feudal county, the reigning dynasty acceded to a dukedom of the region, which then passed to the bishop of Quimper. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State.

In Breton, the region is known as "Kernev" or "Bro-Gernev", and in Latin as "Cornugallia" or "Cornubia". The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.

Diocese

The name Cornouaille signifies the diocese of Quimper which persisted until the French Revolution. In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The diocese covered more than half of the south of Finistère, and extended over part of Morbihan and the Côtes-d'Armor. Finistère (Penn-ar-Bed is a département of France, located in Brittany ( Breizh in Breton and Bretagne Morbihan (Mor-Bihan is a department in the northwest of France named after the Morbihan ( small sea in Breton) the enclosed sea that is the Côtes-d'Armor ( Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor) is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. There were two arch-deacons, one for Cornouaille and one for Poher. A position of archdeacon is a senior position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, and in some other Christian denominations above that of most There were also a cantor, a treasurer, a theologian and twelve canons. This episcopal division was the poorest in Brittany.

After the French Revolution, the new constitution created a diocese of Finistère, erasing that of the diocese of Kerne (diocese of Cournouaille); most of the old diocese was absorbed into the new.

Notes

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