Armorica (Brittany/Bretagne)

Armorica - Cornouaille is at the upper left

Native British troops were hired to support the ailing Western Empire during the fifth century. When returning through Gaul, they passed through Armorica, the nearest sea port of continental Europe to Cornwall and Wales. When passing through they found it to be a rich land led by two Welsh generals or tribal leaders. On returning to Wales, they gathered other family members and friends and returned to Armorica to settle. One of the generals is recorded as "Geraint" or "Gerontius" in the Latin texts of the time. Though commonly discredited as "historical evidence" due to later Medieval fabrications, most of the authentic Arthurian legends make frequent reference to the maritime connections between the peoples of Wales, southern Ireland, southwest Britain and Armorica (Brittany), i.e. the tale of Tristram and Yseult.

Tristan and Iseult, by Herbert Draper

~ The Legend of Ys ~
Ys (also spelled Is or Ker-Ys in Breton) is a mythical city built in the Douarnenez bay in Brittany by Gradlon (Gralon in Breton), King of Cornouaille, for his daughter Dahut. According to the legend, Ys was built below sea level, protected from inundation by a dike. The only keys of the gate in the dam were held by Gradlon, but Satan made Dahut steal them and give them to him. He then opened the gate and Ys was flooded. In some versions of the story, Satan was sent by God to punish the city, whose inhabitants were becoming decadent. Other versions of the story tell that Dahut stole the keys either at her lover's request or in order to open the gates of the city to let her lover in. The only survivor was the King Gradlon, who was advised to abandon his daughter and Saint Winwaloe by Saint Winwaloe himself. Everyone who lived in the city died, while the souls of the dead children were then swallowed by the ocean as a punishment. According to the legend, one can still hear the bells of Ys, warning of a storm. Gradlon then founded Quimper and on his death, a statue representing him on horseback looking in the direction of Ys was erected on the Saint Corentin Cathedral and still stands there. Bretons said that Ys was the most wonderful city in the world, and that Lutèce was renamed Paris after Ys was destroyed, because "Par-Is" in Breton means "Similar to Ys".

Flight of King Gradlon, by E. V. Luminais

This history is also sometimes viewed as the victory of Christianity (Gradlon was converted by Saint Winwaloe) over druidism (Dahut and most inhabitants of Ys were worshippers of Celtic gods). However, a Breton folktale asserts that Gradlon met, spoke with and consoled the last Druid in Brittany, and oversaw his pagan burial, before building a chapel in his sacred grove.

This region was first mentioned as Cornouaille between 852 and 857 AD when the Bishop of Saint-Corentin, Anaweten, took over the Cornouaille diocese. The existence of a district of ancient Anjou called "Cornuaille" has led to the hypothesis that it was a geographical or military label for all of southern Brittany as far as the northern shore of la Domnonée in the 6th or 7th century.

At the origin of this feudal county, the reigning dynasty acceded to a dukedom of the region, which then passed to the Bishop of Quimper. The name Cornouaille signifies the diocese of Quimper which persisted until the French Revolution. The diocese covered more than half of the south of Finistère, and extended over part of Morbihan and the Côtes-d'Armor. There were two arch-deacons, 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.