Breton saints refers to both the innumerable people who lived, died, worked in, or came to be particularly venerated in the nine traditional dioceses of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

( Cornouaille, Dol, Léon,

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton language, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo language, Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. History ...

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

, Tréguier,

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

) who were accepted as saintly before the establishment of the Congregation of Rites (now the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

), and those

saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

, blesseds, venerables, and Servants of God who have come to be recognized since that time.

Armorican saints

Before the

Bretons The Bretons (; or , ) are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. Originally, the demonym designated groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwal ...

came, the land now known as Brittany was known as

Armorica In ancient times, Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; ; ) was a region of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, and much of historical Normandy. Name The name ''Armorica'' is a Latinized form of the Gauli ...

within the Roman province of

Gallia Lugdunensis () was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's Lyon), possibly Roman Europe's major city west of ...

. The earliest saint associated with this region is

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, mother of

Mary (mother of Jesus) Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto ...

, who purportedly appeared to

Yves Nicolazic Yves Nicolazic (3 April 1591 – 13 May 1645) was a Breton peasant who claimed he saw Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, having unearthed a previously forgotten statue of Saint Anne in his field. This became the site of the great pilgrimage ...

and spoke to him in Breton. Saint Anne is the patroness of Brittany. After her, the earliest saints in what is now Brittany have dates which are sometimes unclear, but tradition holds they go back to the earliest days of the church. Maximinus, said to have been sent to preach among the Gauls, was made the first Bishop of

Pope Linus Pope Linus (; , ''Linos''; died AD 80) was the bishop of Rome from AD 68 to his death in AD 80. He is generally regarded as the second Bishop of Rome, after St. Peter. As with all the early popes, he was canonized. According to Irenaeus, Lin ...

, the second

Bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

, sent Clair and Adeodatus. Clair became the first Bishop of

around AD 280 and died early in the third century; Adeodatus preached primarily in the area of

. Other Armorican saints include Similien, the third Bishop of Nantes, who converted the brother-martyrs

Donatian and Rogatian Donatian and Rogatian were two brothers, martyred in Nantes during the reign of Roman Emperor Maximian, around 288–290, for refusing to deny their faith. They are also known as ''les enfants nantais''. Their feast day is 24 May. Life The st ...

. Palladius may also have had an Armorican connection.

The Seven Founders

The Bretons, coming from the British Isles, brought Christianity with them. With the coming of the Bretons, the seven ancient dioceses were established by the seven founding saints. *

Tudwal Saint Tudwal (died c. 564), also known as Tual, Tudgual, Tugdual, Tugual, Pabu, Papu, or Tugdualus (Latin), was a Breton monk, considered to be one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. Life Tudwal was said to be the son of Hoel Mawr (H ...

founded Tréguier * Pol Aurelian founded Saint-Pol-de-Leon * Brioc founded Saint-Brieuc * Malo founded Saint-Malo * Patern founded Vannes * Corentin founded Cornouailles *

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

founded Dol The other two dioceses of Brittany were founded by Clair de Nantes and Maxime de Rennes.

Medieval saints

Monarchs

* Darerca, Queen of Brittany * Judicael, Breton king * Salomon, King of Brittany

Bishops

Others

Modern saints

The "modern" in modern saints refers to the process, not the person, and groups those whose status has been recognized by Rome.

Saints

* Benedetto Menni, priest, canonized in 1999 * Gohard of Nantes, Bishop, canonized in 1096 * Louis de Montfort, priest, canonized in 1947 * Marie of the Cross ( Jeanne Jugan), religious, canonized in 2009 * Mother Theodore, religious, canonized in 2006 *

Vincent Ferrer Vincent Ferrer, Dominican Order, OP ( ; ; ; ; ; ; 23 January 1350 – 5 April 1419) was a Kingdom of Valencia, Valencian Dominican Order, Dominican friar who gained acclaim as a preacher, missionary and logician. After supporting Antipope Benedic ...

, Dominican priest, canonized in 1455 * William Pinchon, Bishop, canonized in 1247 * Yves Helory, priest, canonized in 1347 * Of the One Hundred Twenty Martyrs of China ** Marie of Saint Natalie (Jeanne-Marie Guerguin) **

Marie of Saint Just Marie of Saint Just, born Anne-Françoise Moreau (9 April 1866 – 9 July 1900) was a French nun in the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. She was one of the Martyr Saints of China, 120 Martyrs of China. During the Boxer Rebellion, she was killed ...

(Anne-Françoise Moreau)

Blesseds (by beatification)

* Cassien of Nantes, Capuchin, beatified in 1905 * Charles of Blois, duke, beatified in 1904 * Julian Maunoir, Jesuit priest, beatified in 1951 * Marcel Callo, layman, beatified in 1987 * Mary of the Passion, religious, beatified in 2002 * Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Lamoignon, religious, beatified in 2012 * Pierre-Rene Rouge, Vincentian priest, beatified in 1934 * Of the Twenty Martyrs of Capuchin Tertiary Fathers and Brothers of Our Lady of Sorrows in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, beatified in 2001 ** Carmen Marie Anne Garcia Moyon * Of the Fifteen Martyrs of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Ursulines of Valenciennes (of the Martyrs of the French Revolution, beatified in 1920 ** Therese-Madeleine Fantou * Of the One Hundred Ninety-One Martyrs of the

September Massacres The September Massacres were a series of killings and summary executions of prisoners in Paris that occurred in 1792 from 2 September to 6 September during the French Revolution. Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed by ''sans-culottes'' ...

, beatified in 1926 ** Charles-Francois le Gue ** Claude-Antoine-Raoul Laporte ** Francois-Hyacinth le Livec de Tresurin ** Henri-August Luzeau de la Mulonniere ** Jean-Charles-Marie Bernard du Cornillet ** Joseph Becavin ** Louis-Laurent Gaultier ** Mathurin-Nicolas de la Villecrohain le Bous de Villeneuve ** Nicolas-Marie Verron ** Rene-Joseph Urvoy ** Rene-Julien Massey ** Rene-Marie Andrieux ** Vincent-Joseph le Rousseau de Rosencoat ** Yves-Andre Guillon de Keranrun ** Yves-Jean-Pierre Rey de Kervisic * Of the Fifteen Martyrs of

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

** Jean-Baptiste Malo ** Joseph Boissel ** Vincent L'Henoret * Of the Nineteen Martyrs of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

** Alain Dieulangard ** Celestin Ringeard ** Michel Fleury

Blesseds (by confirmation of cult)

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, cult confirmed in 1120 *

Françoise d'Amboise Françoise d'Amboise, O.Carm (9 May 1427 – 4 November 1485) was a French Carmelite nun. Biography D'Amboise was born in the castle of Thouars. She was the daughter of the rich noble Louis d'Amboise, prince of Talmont and Viscount of Thou ...

, cult confirmed 1863 * John of the Grating, Cistercian Bishop, cult confirmed in 1517 * Yann Divotou, Franciscan priest, cult confirmed in 1989 * Ralph de la Futaye, unclear when cult confirmed

Venerables

* Alain-Marie Guynot de Boismenu, religious Bishop, proclaimed in 2014 * Jean-Marie Robert de la Mennais, religious priest, proclaimed in 1966 * Marie-Amelie Fristel, religious, proclaimed in 1976 *

Michel le Nobletz Dom Michel Le Nobletz (breton language, Breton: Mikel an Nobletz) (1577–1652) was a vigorous Counter-Reformation missionary active in the west of Brittany, who was responsible for a revival of popular Catholic Culture, Catholic culture. He d ...

, priest, proclaimed in 1915

Servants of God

* Louis-Marie Leveil * Louis de Goesbriand * Alano Maria du Noday * Catherine de Francheville * Claude-Francois Poullart des Places * Francois-Marie-Benjamin Richard de la Vergne *

Jacques Cathelineau Generalissimo Jacques Cathelineau (; 5 January 1759 – 14 July 1793) was a French Vendéan insurrectionist leader during the Revolution. He was known among his followers as the Saint of Anjou. He was a well known peddler in Anjou. When the ...

* Jean of Saint Samson * Marie-Yvonne-Aimee of Jesus * Pauline-Louise Pinczon du Sel * Pierre Quintin * Pierre-Joseph Picot de Cloriviere * Robert of Arbrissel * Simon Brute * Victor Lelievre *

(Ivon Nikolazig in Breton) * Of the Fifty Martyrs of France of the Apostolate Within the ''

Service du Travail Obligatoire The ' (STO; ) was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany to work as Forced labor in Germany during World War II, forced labour for the German war effort during World War II. The STO was ...

'' ** Eugene Lemoine ** Maurice-Philippe Bouchard ** Roger (Paul) le Ber * Of the Thirty-Eight Martyrs of the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...

of Paris ** Francois-Georges Cormaux ** Therese Guillaudeu du Plessis ** Victoire Conen de Saint-Luc * The Eighty-Five Martyrs of

of the French Revolution

Other saintly Bretons

* Corentin Cloarec, killed by the Nazis * Joachim Nio, killed by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

References

Sources

"Hagiography Circle"
* M. de Garaby, ''Vie des bienheureux et des saints de Bretagne'', éd. J.-M. Williamson, Nantes, 1839. Réédition 1991. * P.T. de S. Luc, C. ''L'Histoire de Conan Mériadec Qui Fait le Premier regne de l'histoire generale des souverains de la Bretagne Gauloise, dite Armorique.'' Paris, 1664. {{Saints by country Breton

Saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...