Breton people

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Bretons


Total population
6 million - 7 million (approx.)
Regions with significant populations
France, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Languages
Breton, Gallo, French
Religions
Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
French, Cornish, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Manx, English

William-Adolphe Bouguereau Breton Brother and Sister

The Bretons are a distinct ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythons who settled the area from south western Britain in the 4th-6th centuries. The region of Brittany is named after them and many speak Brezhoneg, a Brythonic language closely related to Cornish and a bit more distantly to Welsh. The Breton language as such is part of the Insular Celtic language group. In eastern Brittany, a regional langue d'oïl named Gallo developed; it shares certain points of vocabulary, idiom, and pronunciation with Breton. Neither language has official status under French law; however, some still use Breton as an everyday language (particularly those of the older generation, around 5% of the current population of modern Bretagne) and bilingual road signs are common in the west of Brittany. During the first half of the 20th Century, Breton was strongly discouraged by the French state and it was often looked down upon in schools and churches. Today, the Breton ethnicity is not recognised by the French republic, nor by the European Union or any other official body, which is why there are no specific statistics on that population.

The Breton people are predominantly Roman Catholic, and Brittany is one of the most staunchly Catholic regions in all of France. The influence of the Catholic Church has decreased considerably during recent times however, and actual practice, e.g. attendance of Sunday Mass today has dropped significantly. There is a longstanding tradition of pilgrimage in Brittany, including, for example, the Tro Breizh which takes in the shrines of the 'seven founding saints' of Breton Christianity.

Brittany was a quasi-independent kingdom and Duchy during the Middle Ages, and an important object of contention between the kingdoms of England and France. The War of the Breton Succession was a central component of the Hundred Years' War.

Bretons are thought to have played a key, though nebulous, part in the transmission of Arthurian legend into wider European literature. Geoffrey of Monmouth was himself a Welshman of Breton descent.

Bretons have emigrated around the world, at various points in their history. One wing of William the Bastard's army in 1066 was Breton, as were many of the 'Normans' who took part in the conquest and colonization of England, Wales, Ireland, Sicily, and other lands. Breton ports became key points of departure during the French colonization of the Americas (particularly Nantes, Saint-Malo, and later Lorient and Brest). Bretons furnished a significant proportion of the French colonists in present-day Québec; on a less savoury note, they also played an important role in the French slave trade and buccaneering. For a long time, Catholic priests in Haiti were recruited primarily from Brittany (this was during a period when the church was reluctant to ordain black Haitians as priests). There is also a substantial Breton community in Paris.