Breizh / Bretagne / Brittany / Bretanha
website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany_(administrative_region)
english
is one of the 27 regions of France. It occupies a large peninsula in the northwest of the country, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its capital is Rennes.
Territory
The region of Brittany is made up of 80% of the former Duchy and Province of Brittany. The remaining 20% of the province is the Loire-Atlantique department which now lies inside the Pays de la Loire region. Its capital, Nantes, was the historical capital of the Duchy of Brittany.
Part of the reason why Brittany was split between two present-day regions was to avoid the rivalry between Rennes and Nantes. Although Nantes was the principal capital of the Duchy of Brittany until the sixteenth century, Rennes had been the seat of the Duchy's supreme court of justice between 1560 and 1789. Rennes had also been the administrative capital of the Intendant of Brittany between 1689 and 1789, and Intendances were the most important administrative units of the kingdom of France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As for the provincial States of Brittany, a legislative body which had originally met every two years in a different city of Brittany, that had met in Rennes only between 1728 and 1789, although not in the years 1730, 1758, and 1760. Despite that, the Chambre des comptes had remained in Nantes until 1789. However, from 1381 until the end of the fifteenth century Vannes (Gwened in Breton) had served as the first administrative capital of the Duchy, remaining the seat of the Chambre des comptes until the 1490s, and also the seat of the "Parlement" until 1553 and then again between 1675 and 1689.
Although there were previous plans to create Régions out of Départements, like the plan Clémentel (1919) or the Vichy regionalisation program (1941), these plans had no effect or were abolished in 1945. The current French Regions date from 1956, they were created by gathering Departements together. In Brittany, this will lead to the creation of the Région Bretagne which gathered only 4 out of the 5 historical Breton départements.
Some people in Brittany and Nantes continue to protest against the current division of Brittany and would like to see Loire-Atlantique combined with the region of Brittany in order to reunify the historic area of Brittany. However, reunification raises other questions: first, what to do with the rump Pays de la Loire region, and second, which city should be chosen as the capital of such a reunified Brittany.
Language and culture
The name of Brittany derives from settlers from Great Britain, who fled that island in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England between the fifth and seventh centuries. Unlike the rest of France and Brittany, Lower Brittany (roughly, west of a boundary from Saint Brieuc to Vannes) has maintained a distinctly Celtic language, Breton, which is related to Cornish and Welsh. It was the dominant language in Lower, or western, Brittany until the mid-20th century. It has been granted regional language status and revival efforts are underway. In Upper, or eastern, Brittany, the traditional language is Gallo, an Oïl language, which has also received regional recognition and is in the process of being revived.
The French administration now allows for some Breton or Gallo to be used by the region and its communes, in road signs and names of towns and cities, alongside the official French version. The two regional languages are also taught in some schools, and many folklore associations and clubs are trying to revive them.
Brittany has historically been a stronghold of the Roman Catholic Church, and its rates of church attendance have tended to be considerably higher than the national average. However, in recent years the influence of the church has declined.
French
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9gion_Bretagne
La Bretagne est l'une des 22 régions françaises de la France métropolitaine. Composée des départements des Côtes-d'Armor, du Finistère, de l'Ille-et-Vilaine et du Morbihan, sa préfecture et sa plus grande ville est Rennes.
Baignée par la Manche au nord et par le golfe de Gascogne au sud, elle est limitrophe des régions Basse-Normandie et Pays de la Loire.
Son nom vient de l'ancien royaume et ancien duché, dont elle reprend une partie du territoire.
Brezhoneg
Breizh a zo anezhi ur vroad europat. Ur vro geltiek eo. Dizalc'h eo bet Stad Breizh betek ar XVIvet kantved a-raok bezañ enframmet e rouantelezh Gall da-heul koll arme Breizh a-enep da arme Rouantelezh Bro-C'hall war dachenn emgann Sant Albin-an-Hiliber e 1488. Chomet eo Breizh emren betek dibenn an XVIIIvet kantved a-raok bezañ dispennet ha divodet gant an Dispac'h gall a grouas an departamantoù. Abaoe krouidigezh ar rannvroioù e Frañs en eil hanterenn an XXvet kantved ez eus bet savet en-dro ur gwirvoud melestradurel da Vreizh, evit un darn anezhi.
Div rannvro
Evit ar poent eo rannet Breizh etre div rannvro velestradurel.
en eil anezho, a zo anvet rannvro Breizh, e kaver peder femvedenn eus ar vro (kêr-benn Roazhon),
en eben (Broioù-al-Liger) eo bodet departamant breizhek Liger-Atlantel ha departamantoù gall (Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, Vañde, Mayenne). E Breizh (Naoned) emañ kêr-benn Broioù-al-Liger ivez.
Daoust d'ar frankiz kollet ha d'ar frammoù melestradurel a zisrann ar Vretoned e kendalc'h Breizh da vevañ evel unanenn vroadel. Ar merkoù anatañ eus se eo he sevenadur dibar (sonerezh, kan, lennegezh, keginerezh, dañsoù, c'hoariva, gizioù emwiskañ hag all...), he yezh (ar brezhoneg), hec'h armerzh (gant luskadoù evel Produet e Breizh), labour an emsav (politikel, sevenadurel, yezhel, armerzhel) abaoe daou gantved, al liammoù etrebroadel niverus a vez maget gant pobloù all, ha youl ar Vretoned da vevañ en ur vro unanet en-dro.
Ul ledenez vras eo Breizh, lec'hiet e penn kornôkañ Europa war un tiriad strategel-kenañ, etre ar Mor Breizh hag ar Meurvor Atlantel, adal da gevandir Amerika.
THE FLAG / A Bandeira
The flag of Brittany is called the Gwenn-ha-du, pronounced [ɡwɛnaˈdyː], which means white and black in Breton. It is also unofficially used in the département of Loire-Atlantique, although this now belongs to the Pays de la Loire and not to the région of Brittany, as the territory of Loire-Atlantique is historically part of the province of Brittany. Nantes (Naoned), its préfecture, was once one of the two capital cities of Brittany.
The flag's dimensions are not fixed, and may vary from 9:14 cm to 8:12 m. The flag is not only used by cultural associations or autonomists but by everyone in general. For years, the authorities considered the flag as a separatist symbol, but the attitude has now changed and the flag, no longer having any political connotations, can appear everywhere, even on public buildings along with the other official flags. It is widely used throughout Brittany and can even be seen on town halls in the region. Because of the absence of legislation concerning regional flags in France the flag is also flown on sail- and fishing boats. The design of the ermine spots can vary but the version most frequently seen is shown above.
The Breton flag is unusual in that it does not have any colors, properties which it shares with the flags of Cornwall, Corsica and the Swiss Canton of Fribourg, among others.
The flag was created in 1923 by Morvan Marchal. He used as his inspiration the flags of the United States and Greece as these two countries were seen at that time as the respective symbols of liberty and democracy.
The nine horizontal stripes represent the traditional dioceses of Brittany into which the duchy was divided historically. The five black stripes represent the French or Gallo speaking dioceses of Dol, Nantes, Rennes, Saint-Malo and Saint-Brieuc—while the four white stripes represent the Breton speaking dioceses of Trégor, Léon, Cornouaille and Vannes. The ermine canton recalls the ducal arms of Brittany.
The flag first came to notice by a wider public at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925. It was adopted by various cultural and nationalist groups through the 1920s and 1930s. However, its association with nationalist and separatist groups during the Second World War brought suspicions of collaboration on the flag. A revival of interest in the flag took place in the 1960s, since when it has lost an association with separatism in the mind of the public and become a widely accepted symbol for all Brittany and Bretons. The older ermine field flag and black cross continue to be rarely used, though, by some individuals and groups.
In blazons, the flag is Sable, four bars Argent; the canton ermine. Traditionally, coats of arms could be displayed as a rectangular banner, as well as on a shield.
Breizh / Bretagne / Brittany / Bretanha
website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany_(administrative_region)
english
is one of the 27 regions of France. It occupies a large peninsula in the northwest of the country, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its capital is Rennes.
Territory
The region of Brittany is made up of 80% of the former Duchy and Province of Brittany. The remaining 20% of the province is the Loire-Atlantique department which now lies inside the Pays de la Loire region. Its capital, Nantes, was the historical capital of the Duchy of Brittany.
Part of the reason why Brittany was split between two present-day regions was to avoid the rivalry between Rennes and Nantes. Although Nantes was the principal capital of the Duchy of Brittany until the sixteenth century, Rennes had been the seat of the Duchy's supreme court of justice between 1560 and 1789. Rennes had also been the administrative capital of the Intendant of Brittany between 1689 and 1789, and Intendances were the most important administrative units of the kingdom of France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As for the provincial States of Brittany, a legislative body which had originally met every two years in a different city of Brittany, that had met in Rennes only between 1728 and 1789, although not in the years 1730, 1758, and 1760. Despite that, the Chambre des comptes had remained in Nantes until 1789. However, from 1381 until the end of the fifteenth century Vannes (Gwened in Breton) had served as the first administrative capital of the Duchy, remaining the seat of the Chambre des comptes until the 1490s, and also the seat of the "Parlement" until 1553 and then again between 1675 and 1689.
Although there were previous plans to create Régions out of Départements, like the plan Clémentel (1919) or the Vichy regionalisation program (1941), these plans had no effect or were abolished in 1945. The current French Regions date from 1956, they were created by gathering Departements together. In Brittany, this will lead to the creation of the Région Bretagne which gathered only 4 out of the 5 historical Breton départements.
Some people in Brittany and Nantes continue to protest against the current division of Brittany and would like to see Loire-Atlantique combined with the region of Brittany in order to reunify the historic area of Brittany. However, reunification raises other questions: first, what to do with the rump Pays de la Loire region, and second, which city should be chosen as the capital of such a reunified Brittany.
Language and culture
The name of Brittany derives from settlers from Great Britain, who fled that island in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England between the fifth and seventh centuries. Unlike the rest of France and Brittany, Lower Brittany (roughly, west of a boundary from Saint Brieuc to Vannes) has maintained a distinctly Celtic language, Breton, which is related to Cornish and Welsh. It was the dominant language in Lower, or western, Brittany until the mid-20th century. It has been granted regional language status and revival efforts are underway. In Upper, or eastern, Brittany, the traditional language is Gallo, an Oïl language, which has also received regional recognition and is in the process of being revived.
The French administration now allows for some Breton or Gallo to be used by the region and its communes, in road signs and names of towns and cities, alongside the official French version. The two regional languages are also taught in some schools, and many folklore associations and clubs are trying to revive them.
Brittany has historically been a stronghold of the Roman Catholic Church, and its rates of church attendance have tended to be considerably higher than the national average. However, in recent years the influence of the church has declined.
French
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9gion_Bretagne
La Bretagne est l'une des 22 régions françaises de la France métropolitaine. Composée des départements des Côtes-d'Armor, du Finistère, de l'Ille-et-Vilaine et du Morbihan, sa préfecture et sa plus grande ville est Rennes.
Baignée par la Manche au nord et par le golfe de Gascogne au sud, elle est limitrophe des régions Basse-Normandie et Pays de la Loire.
Son nom vient de l'ancien royaume et ancien duché, dont elle reprend une partie du territoire.
Brezhoneg
Breizh a zo anezhi ur vroad europat. Ur vro geltiek eo. Dizalc'h eo bet Stad Breizh betek ar XVIvet kantved a-raok bezañ enframmet e rouantelezh Gall da-heul koll arme Breizh a-enep da arme Rouantelezh Bro-C'hall war dachenn emgann Sant Albin-an-Hiliber e 1488. Chomet eo Breizh emren betek dibenn an XVIIIvet kantved a-raok bezañ dispennet ha divodet gant an Dispac'h gall a grouas an departamantoù. Abaoe krouidigezh ar rannvroioù e Frañs en eil hanterenn an XXvet kantved ez eus bet savet en-dro ur gwirvoud melestradurel da Vreizh, evit un darn anezhi.
Div rannvro
Evit ar poent eo rannet Breizh etre div rannvro velestradurel.
en eil anezho, a zo anvet rannvro Breizh, e kaver peder femvedenn eus ar vro (kêr-benn Roazhon),
en eben (Broioù-al-Liger) eo bodet departamant breizhek Liger-Atlantel ha departamantoù gall (Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, Vañde, Mayenne). E Breizh (Naoned) emañ kêr-benn Broioù-al-Liger ivez.
Daoust d'ar frankiz kollet ha d'ar frammoù melestradurel a zisrann ar Vretoned e kendalc'h Breizh da vevañ evel unanenn vroadel. Ar merkoù anatañ eus se eo he sevenadur dibar (sonerezh, kan, lennegezh, keginerezh, dañsoù, c'hoariva, gizioù emwiskañ hag all...), he yezh (ar brezhoneg), hec'h armerzh (gant luskadoù evel Produet e Breizh), labour an emsav (politikel, sevenadurel, yezhel, armerzhel) abaoe daou gantved, al liammoù etrebroadel niverus a vez maget gant pobloù all, ha youl ar Vretoned da vevañ en ur vro unanet en-dro.
Ul ledenez vras eo Breizh, lec'hiet e penn kornôkañ Europa war un tiriad strategel-kenañ, etre ar Mor Breizh hag ar Meurvor Atlantel, adal da gevandir Amerika.
THE FLAG / A Bandeira
The flag of Brittany is called the Gwenn-ha-du, pronounced [ɡwɛnaˈdyː], which means white and black in Breton. It is also unofficially used in the département of Loire-Atlantique, although this now belongs to the Pays de la Loire and not to the région of Brittany, as the territory of Loire-Atlantique is historically part of the province of Brittany. Nantes (Naoned), its préfecture, was once one of the two capital cities of Brittany.
The flag's dimensions are not fixed, and may vary from 9:14 cm to 8:12 m. The flag is not only used by cultural associations or autonomists but by everyone in general. For years, the authorities considered the flag as a separatist symbol, but the attitude has now changed and the flag, no longer having any political connotations, can appear everywhere, even on public buildings along with the other official flags. It is widely used throughout Brittany and can even be seen on town halls in the region. Because of the absence of legislation concerning regional flags in France the flag is also flown on sail- and fishing boats. The design of the ermine spots can vary but the version most frequently seen is shown above.
The Breton flag is unusual in that it does not have any colors, properties which it shares with the flags of Cornwall, Corsica and the Swiss Canton of Fribourg, among others.
The flag was created in 1923 by Morvan Marchal. He used as his inspiration the flags of the United States and Greece as these two countries were seen at that time as the respective symbols of liberty and democracy.
The nine horizontal stripes represent the traditional dioceses of Brittany into which the duchy was divided historically. The five black stripes represent the French or Gallo speaking dioceses of Dol, Nantes, Rennes, Saint-Malo and Saint-Brieuc—while the four white stripes represent the Breton speaking dioceses of Trégor, Léon, Cornouaille and Vannes. The ermine canton recalls the ducal arms of Brittany.
The flag first came to notice by a wider public at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925. It was adopted by various cultural and nationalist groups through the 1920s and 1930s. However, its association with nationalist and separatist groups during the Second World War brought suspicions of collaboration on the flag. A revival of interest in the flag took place in the 1960s, since when it has lost an association with separatism in the mind of the public and become a widely accepted symbol for all Brittany and Bretons. The older ermine field flag and black cross continue to be rarely used, though, by some individuals and groups.
In blazons, the flag is Sable, four bars Argent; the canton ermine. Traditionally, coats of arms could be displayed as a rectangular banner, as well as on a shield.