Cornouaille
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cornouaille is an historic region in Brittany, in northwest France. The name is etymologically identical to the French name for the Duchy of Cornwall, since the area was settled by migrants from Cornwall, who imported the Cornish language which evolved into the Breton language. However, the British Cornwall is referred to as "Les Cornouailles" in the plural to distinguish it from the Breton region.
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[edit] Origin of name
Cornouaille was established in the early Middle Ages in the south west of the Breton peninsula. At this same period other British migrants estblished the region of Dumnonia (in Latin) or la Domnonée in the north of the peninsular (derived from the British county of Devon), This could be the case as well for the region "Gwened", which is sometimes said to be descended from Welsh "Gwynedd", but another opinion is that this region is called after its iron-age inhabitants, the "Veneti" (in Breton "Weneted").
The region was first mentioned by this name between 852 and 857 when the Bishop of Saint-Corentin[1], Anaweten, took over "Cornugallensis". The Germanic name of Cornwall or (Corn-whealas) has been supposed to mean "the corner of foreigners" [lit. Horn - being a geographic description of the Armorican land mass - of Welsh] in reference to the resettling of the Celts from 'Great Britain' as opposed to 'Lesser Britain', the difference between 'La Grande Bretagne' - Great Britain - and 'La Bretagne', Brittany. However, the basic stem of the name, Cornwall, must come from the name of the Celtic British peoples who populated the area after migrating there from other Celtic British areas, the 'Kernow'.
[edit] History
The story that these people fled over the English Channel because of pressure from Anglo-Saxon invaders is probably exaggerated. The origins of the British settlement of modern-day Brittany, and hence the place-names being the same on both sides of the Channel, harks from the end of the Roman period. Strong contacts between Armorica (Brittany) and southern Britain had already been noted by Julius Caesar. 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 point of continental Europe to Cornwall and Wales. When passing through there, they found it a rich land, led by two Welsh generals or tribal leaders, returned to Wales, gathered others and then returned to Armorica to settle it. 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 fabrication, most of the authentic Arthurian legends make frequent reference to the maritime connections between the peoples of Wales, southern Ireland, southwest Britain and Brittany, cf. the tale of Tristram and Yseult.
The existence of a district of ancient Anjou called "La 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.
In Breton, the region is known as "Kernev" or "Bro-Gernev", and in Latin as "Cornugallia" or "Cornubia".
[edit] Diocese
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.
After the French Revolution, the new constitution created a diocese of Finistère, erasing that of the diocese of Kerne (diocese of Cournouaille); most of the old diocese was absorbed into the new.
