Cornouaille (; , ) is a

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

on the west coast 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 ...

in West France. The name is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

with

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in neighbouring

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princes from Cornwall who created an independent

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

founded by Rivelen Mor Marthou, and the founding of the Bishopric of Cornouaille by ancient saints from Cornwall.

Celtic Britons The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', , ), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were the Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages, at which point they diverged into the Welsh, ...

and the settlers in Brittany spoke a common language, which later evolved into

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

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, British migrants from what is now

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

had established the region of ''Domnonea'' (in Breton) or ''

Domnonée Domnonée is the modern French form of Domnonia or Dumnonia (Latin for "Devon"; ), a historic kingdom in northern Armorica ( Brittany) founded by British immigrants from Dumnonia ( Sub-Roman Devon) fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britain in t ...

'' (in French) in the north of the peninsula, taken from the Latin ''

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

''. The first mention in surviving records of a ''Cornouaille''-related name was made between 852 and 857, when Anaweten, bishop of Saint-Corentin at

Quimper Cathedral Quimper Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of Saint Corentin (, ), is a Roman Catholic cathedral and national monument of Brittany in France. It is located in the town of Quimper, Finistère, Quimper and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese o ...

, took over the ''Cornugallensis'' under the order of

Nominoe Nominoe or Nomenoe (; ; 763, 7 March 851) was the first Duke of Brittany from 846 to his death. He is the Bretons, Breton ''pater patriae'' and to Breton nationalism, Breton nationalists he is known as ' ("father of the country"). Or ...

Duke of Brittany This is a list of rulers of Brittany. In different epochs the rulers of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary right. Hereditary ...

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', 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), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

''*ker-'' 'uppermost part of the body, head, horn, top, summit'. The second element is the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

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 A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

, Walloon,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

, Waleswood,

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

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 Wa ...

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

, and

Walsh Walsh may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mount Walsh, Mount Walsh National Park Canada * Fort Walsh, one of the first Royal Canadian Mounted ...

. A ''Corn-/Kern-'' name was used in reference to resettlement by a second wave of Celts from Great Britain in formerly Dumnonian-seized lands. This is related to the distinction made in French between ''Grande-Bretagne'' (Great Britain) and ''Bretagne'' (Brittany) – Brittany having originally been thought of as a British colony (and the second such in the same area). Cornouaille is known in

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 spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as ''Cornugallia'' or ''Cornubia''. In Cornish, ''Kernev'' is written ''Kernow'', but the name is pronounced the same in both languages.

History

Strong contacts between

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 ...

(a larger region than the

Duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany (, ; ) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of France, bordered by the Bay of Biscay to the west, and the English Channel to the north. ...

or modern

) and southern Britain had already been noted by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

. Native British troops were hired to support the usurpation of

Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; died 28 August 388) was Roman emperor in the West from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian. Born in Gallaecia, he served as an officer in Britain under Theodosius the Elder during the Great Conspiracy ...

, who is said to have settled them in

. Settlements expanded when invading

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

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 According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

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 list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Art ...

make frequent reference to the maritime connections between the peoples of Wales, southern

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Cornwall in southwestern Britain and the early kingdoms of Brittany, cf. the tale of

Tristan and Iseult Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Of disputed source, usually assumed to be primarily Celtic nations, Celtic, the tale is a ...

. 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 ** Du ...

called "la Cornuaille" has led to the hypothesis that ''Cornouaille'' may have been a geographical or military label for all of southern

as far as the northern shore of

in the 6th or 7th century. At the origin of this

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, 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 Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...

which persisted until the French Revolution. The diocese covered more than half of the south of

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

and the

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.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 Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

s, one for Cornouaille and one for

Poher Poher is an ancient principality that emerged in the Early Middle Ages in Cornouaille in west-central Brittany. Its capital was the Gallo-Roman city of Vorgium, capital of the Osismii, which became Carhaix after the fall of the Roman Empire. Archa ...

. 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 ...

(semi-legendary) *Rivelen Mor Marthou () * Congar () *Daniel Drem Rud () *Melar () *

Budic II Budic II (; or '; ), formerly known as Budick, was a king of Cornouaille in Brittany in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He was father of Hoel as well as several Celtic saints. Life Budic II was born in Cornouaille to a member of its royal ...

() *Macliau (544–577) * Judicael () – in this period the borders of Cornouaille were not precisely defined. Its leaders represented the interests of "western Brittany" and joined the King of Brittany in fights against the Vikings. * Riwallon () * Gourmaëlon (early 10th century) * Alan II (early to mid-10th century) *

Alain Canhiart Alain Canhiart (died 1058) was the count of Cornouaille from 1020 to 1058. He was the son of Benoît de Cornouaille and the father of Hoël II, Duke of Brittany. His family name, ''Canhiart'', is understood to be derived from the old Breton Kann Ya ...

* Hoel of Cornouaille, who ruled Brittany as Duke ''

jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title '' suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could beco ...

'' * Alan IV

Notes

{{coord, 47.9958, N, 4.0978, W, source:wikidata, display=title Medieval Brittany Geography of Brittany Geography of Finistère Barbarian kingdoms Geographical, historical and cultural regions of France Former principalities