Editing Brittany (section)

===Middle Ages===
====The Kingdom of Brittany====
{{Main|Kingdom of Brittany}}
[[File:Nominoe triumphant.jpg|thumb|upright|A 1922 nationalist engraving of [[Nominoe]], first king of Brittany]]
[[File:Battle of La Roche-Derrien.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of La Roche-Derrien|Battle of Ar Roc'h-Derrien]] during the [[War of the Breton Succession]]]]
At the beginning of the medieval era, Brittany was divided among three kingdoms, [[Domnonée|Domnonea]], [[Cornouaille]] and [[Broërec]]. These realms eventually merged into a single state during the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Christian Y. M. Kerboul|title=Les Royaumes brittoniques au très haut Moyen Âge|year=1997|pages=80–143|publisher=Éditions du Pontig/Coop Breizh|isbn=2-9510310-3-3}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite book|author=Joël Cornette|title=Histoire de la Bretagne et des Bretons|publisher=Seuil|year=2005|isbn=2-02-054890-9}}</ref> The unification of Brittany was carried out by [[Nominoe]], king between 845 and 851 and considered as the Breton ''[[Pater Patriae]]''.<ref>Smith, Julia M. H. ''Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 80–83.</ref> Among the immigrant Britons, there were some clergymen who helped the [[evangelisation]] of the region, which was still pagan, particularly in rural areas.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

His son [[Erispoe]] secured the independence of the new kingdom of Brittany and won the [[Battle of Jengland]] against [[Charles the Bald]]. The Bretons won another war in 867, and the kingdom reached then its maximum extent: It received parts of [[Normandy]], [[Maine (province of France)|Maine]] and [[County of Anjou|Anjou]] and the [[Channel Islands]].

====Viking occupation====
Brittany was heavily attacked by the [[Vikings]] at the beginning of the 10th century. The kingdom lost its eastern territories, including [[Normandy]] and [[County of Anjou|Anjou]], and the county of [[Nantes]] was given to [[Fulk I of Anjou]] in 909. Nantes was seized by the Vikings in 914. At this time Brittany was also called Lydwiccum.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Stephen M. |date=January 2014 |title=Óttar's Story – A Dublin Viking in Brittany, England and Ireland, A.D. 902–918 |url=https://www.academia.edu/9155941 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=/www.academia.edu}}</ref>

====Duchy of Brittany====
{{Main|Duchy of Brittany}}
Nantes was eventually liberated by [[Alan II of Brittany]] in 937 with the support of his godbrother King [[Æthelstan]] of England.

Alan II totally expelled the Vikings from Brittany and recreated a strong Breton state. For aiding in removing the problem, Alan paid homage to [[Louis IV of France]] (who was Æthelstan's nephew and had returned from England in the same year as Alan II) and thus Brittany ceased to be a kingdom and became a duchy.

====Norman allies====
Several Breton lords helped [[William the Conqueror]] to invade England and the Bretons formed over a third of the landing force in 1066. They received large estates there (e.g. William's double-second cousin [[Alan Rufus]] and the latter's brother [[Brian of Brittany]]). The Bretons helped to liberate the Cornish, replacing Anglo-Saxon land owners. Some of these lords were powerful rivals.

====Internal disputes====
Medieval Brittany was far from being a united nation. The French king maintained envoys in Brittany, alliances contracted by local lords often overlapped and there was no specific Breton unity. For example, Brittany replaced [[Latin]] with French as its official language in the 13th century, 300 years before France did so, and the [[Breton language]] did not have formal status.

The [[foreign policy]] of the Duchy changed many times; the Dukes were usually independent, but they often contracted alliances with England or France depending on who was threatening them at that point. Their support for each nation became very important during the 14th century because the English kings had started to claim the French throne.

The [[Breton War of Succession]], a local episode of the [[Hundred Years' War]], saw the House of [[Blois]], backed by the French, fighting with the House of [[Montfort of Brittany|Montfort]], backed by the English. The Montforts won in 1364 and enjoyed a period of total independence until the end of the Hundred Years' War, because France was weakened and stopped sending royal envoys to the Court of Brittany.

English diplomatic failures led to the Breton cavalry commanders Arthur, Comte de Richemont (later to become [[Arthur III, Duke of Brittany]]) and his nephew [[Peter II, Duke of Brittany]] playing key roles on the French side during the deciding stages of the war (including the battles of [[Battle of Patay|Patay]], [[Battle of Formigny|Formigny]] and [[Battle of Castillon|Castillon]] and the [[Treaty of Arras (1435)|Treaty of Arras]]).

Brittany importantly lost the [[Mad War]] against France in 1488, mostly because of its internal divisions that were exacerbated by the corruption at the court of [[Francis II, Duke of Brittany]]. Indeed, some rebel Breton lords were fighting on the French side.