P191 - France - Bretons people traditional costumes

Bretons Traditional costumes, France

Bretons Children dressed in Traditional Costumes.

The Bretons are a distinct Celtic 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 Great Britain in the 4th to 6th centuries. The region of Brittany is named after them, and some still speak the Celtic Breton language.

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. A majority of William the Conqueror'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; they 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 a substantial Breton community in Greater Paris.

The British House of Stuart is directly descended from the Breton nobles through Alan FitzFlaad, adjutant to the Bishop of Dol. He travelled to England after the acension of Henry I where he was awarded with large estates and rose through the ranks of English nobility. His son, William FitzAlan would ultimately become the High Steward of Scotland and the family would go on to form the Stuart dynasty, which was the first royal house to rule a united Great Britain.

Breton is 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) 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.

The Breton people are predominantly Roman Catholic, with Reformed and non-affiliated minorities. Brittany was one of the most staunchly Roman Catholic regions in all of France. Attendance of Sunday mass dropped during the 1970s and the 1980s but other religious practices such as pilgrimages have experienced a revival. This includes the Tro Breizh which takes in the shrines of the seven founding saints of Breton Christianity. The Christian Tradition is widely respected by both believers and nonbelievers, who see it as a symbol of Breton heritage and culture.

布列塔尼小孩穿着传统民族服裝。

布列塔尼是法国的个大区之一，位于法国西北部的布列塔尼半岛，英吉利海峡和比斯开湾之间。首府是雷恩。

布列塔尼人来源颇为复杂。有一部份人是原始高卢人的后裔，另一部分是大不列颠岛西南部的威尔士人和康沃尔人的后裔。由于英格兰人的入侵他们往南迁徙，越过英吉利海峡，到达布列塔尼定居。而由不列颠迁移至此的海岛凯尔特人的语言和当地民族的语言很相近，经过了漫长的岁月的融合，成为现代的布列塔尼人。在法语中，大不列颠（Grande Bretagne）就是大布列塔尼，而英语当中的“布列塔尼”（Brittany）一词的意思就是“小不列颠”，由此可见此地人民和不列颠岛之间的渊源关系。

直到15世纪，布列塔尼是完全独立的公国，处于法国和英国两个大国的影响下。

1499年，布列塔尼女公爵布列塔尼的安娜（布列塔尼語：Anna Vreizh）嫁给法国国王路易十二，此后布列塔尼失去了自治权。

1532年，布列塔尼公国正式成为法国的一部分。

布列塔尼的特产食品包括：

* 薄饼（法语：crêpe、布列塔尼语：krampouezhenn）
* 蜜糖酒（布列塔尼语：chouchen）
* 奶油烘饼（法語：galette、布列塔尼语：kouign amann）*
* 苹果酒（法语：cidre、布列塔尼语：sistr）。

References sources : wikipedia