Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a
historical region
Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing soc ...
on the west coast of
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
in
West France. The name is
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical ef ...
with
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...
in neighbouring
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princes from Cornwall who created an independent
principality
A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...
founded by Rivelen Mor Marthou, and the founding of the Bishopric of Cornouaille by ancient saints from Cornwall.
Celtic Britons
The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point t ...
and the settlers in Brittany spoke
a common language, which later evolved into
Breton,
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
and
Cornish.
Etymology
The toponym Cornouaille was established in the early Middle Ages in the southwest of the Breton peninsula. Prior to this, following the withdrawal of Rome from Britain, other British migrants from what is now modern
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
had established the region of ''Domnonea'' (in Breton) or ''
Domnonée
Domnonée is the modern French form of Domnonia or Dumnonia (Latin for "Devon"; br, Domnonea), a historic kingdom in northern Armorica (Brittany) founded by British immigrants from Dumnonia (Sub-Roman Devon) fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britai ...
'' (in French) in the north of the peninsula, taken from the Latin ''
Dumnonia''.
The region was first mentioned in surviving records by a ''Cornouaille''-related name between 852 and 857, when
Anaweten, bishop of
Saint-Corentin at
Quimper Cathedral, took over ''Cornugallensis'' under the order of
Nominoe,
Duke of Brittany and
Tad ar Vro. The names Cornwall and Cornouaille, like the surname Cornwallis, are from ''Corn-wealas''. The first element is from the name of a Brythonic tribe Latinized as ''Cornovii'', meaning 'peninsula people', from the Celtic ''kernou'', 'horn, headland'. It is a cognate of the English word ''horn'', both being from
PIE
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), sweete ...
''*ker-'' 'uppermost part of the body, head, horn, top, summit'. The second element is the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
suffix ''-wealas'', from ''walh'', a word used by the Germanic speakers for 'a non-Germanic foreigner', especially Celtic speakers but also sometimes used for
Romance-language speakers. ''Walh'' is an element found in the words and names
walnut,
Walloon,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
,
Wallasey,
Waleswood,
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
,
Wallace
Wallace may refer to:
People
* Clan Wallace in Scotland
* Wallace (given name)
* Wallace (surname)
* Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back
* Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...
,
Walcheren, and
Walsh.
A ''Corn-/Kern-'' name was used in reference to the resettling of the new wave Celts from Great Britain in formerly Dumnonian-seized lands. This is related to the difference between ''Grande-Bretagne'' (Great Britain) and ''Bretagne'' (Brittany) in French, with Brittany having originally been thought of a British colony (and the second such in the same area). In
Breton, Cornouaille is known as Kernev or ''Bro-Gernev'', and in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
as ''Cornugallia'' or ''Cornubia''. In Cornish, ''Kernev'' is written ''Kernow'', but the pronunciation is the same.
History
Strong contacts between
Armorica (a larger region than the
Duchy of Brittany
The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean ...
or modern
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
) and southern Britain had already been noted by
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
. Native British troops were hired to support the usurpation of
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I.
He was made emperor in B ...
, who is said to have settled them in
Armorica. Settlements expanded when invading
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened ...
expanded westward within Britain.
[Léon Fleuriot, Les origines de la Bretagne, Éd. Payot, 1980] Strong links existed in the 6th century between the British and Armorican territories. Legends about
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...
and the
Matter of Britain
The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Weste ...
make frequent reference to the maritime connections between the peoples of Wales, southern
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, Cornwall in southwestern Britain and the early kingdoms of Brittany, cf. the tale of
Tristan and Iseult.
The existence of an ancient district in
Anjou Anjou may refer to:
Geography and titles France
*County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou
**Count of Anjou, title of nobility
*Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France
**Duke ...
called "la Cornuaille" has led to the hypothesis that ''Cornouaille'' may have been a geographical or military label for all of southern
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
as far as the northern shore of
Domnonée
Domnonée is the modern French form of Domnonia or Dumnonia (Latin for "Devon"; br, Domnonea), a historic kingdom in northern Armorica (Brittany) founded by British immigrants from Dumnonia (Sub-Roman Devon) fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britai ...
in the 6th or 7th century.
At the origin of this
feudal county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
, the reigning dynasty acceded to a dukedom of the region, which then passed to the Ancient Lord-Bishop of Quimper.
Diocese
The name ''Cornouaille'' signifies the
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...
of
Quimper
Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Administration
Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department.
Geography
Th ...
which persisted until the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
. The diocese covered more than half of the south of
Finistère
Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090. , and extended over part of
Morbihan
Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastl ...
and the
Côtes-d'Armor. There were two
archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...
s, one for Cornouaille and one for
Poher. 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 (Cournouaille); most of the old diocese was absorbed into the new.
Traditional districts
List of rulers
*
Gradlon
Gradlon the Great (''Gradlon Meur'') was a semi-legendary 5th century "king" of Cornouaille who became the hero of many Breton folk stories. The most famous of these legends is the story of the sunken city of Ys. He is supposed to have been the s ...
(semi-legendary)
* Rivelen Mor Marthou (c. 430)
*
Congar (c. 450)
*Daniel Drem Rud (c. 500)
*Melar (c. 500s)
*
Budic II (c. 545)
*Macliau (544-577)
*
Judicael (circa 857-874) - the county of Cornouaille is not yet precisely defined. Its leaders represent the interests of "western Brittany" and join the King of Brittany in fights against the Vikings.
* Riwallon (circa 874)
*
Gourmaëlon (early 10th century)
*
Alan II (early to mid-10th century)
*
Alain Canhiart
*
Hoel of Cornouaille, who ruled Brittany as Duke ''
jure uxoris''.
*
Alan IV
Notes
{{Barbarian kingdoms
Medieval Brittany
Geography of Brittany
Geography of Finistère
Barbarian kingdoms
Geographical, historical and cultural regions of France
Former principalities