General Notes

Brittany was originally called Armorica after the Celtic tribe
who livedthere during the Pre-Roman & Gallo-Roman periods. The
British firstsettled the area in the late 380s when the
Roman-British general, MagnusMaximus, invaded Gaul in order to
press his claims to the Imperialthrone. As a reward for his
help in this matter, Maximus gave Armorica tohis wife's cousin,
Conan Meriadoc. Conan supposedly populated his new kingdom with
his armed followers but,of course, they were woefully short of
female companions. Conan sent backto Britain for wives, not
only for his men, but for himself also. A stormprevented the
ladies from reaching Brittany, so Conan's men were forcedto
undertake mixed marriages with the local inhabitants. However,
toensure that their children only spoke the British language,
the soldier'scut out their wives' tongues! Later waves of
newcomers from Britain bolstered the population, and
theimmigrant leaders often set up their own petty kingdoms
orprincipalities, such as Poher: a minor principaility that
appears to havechanged hands rather a lot, particularly between
the Franks and BritishKings still ruling on the mainland. Conan
ruled across Brittany, but thecentre of his power appears to
have been in the Vannetais. In latergenerations, the Kingdom
was divided amongst his descendants: the elderbranch became
Princes of Cornouaille, while a younger dynasty ruled
inDomnonée. The origins of Broñrec (Vannetais) are unclear,
though it wasnamed after a 5th century prince called Waroc.
Later times brought several periods of civil war, as the
successionbecame unclear and different lords vied for the upper
hand. This wasparticularly true after the death of Alain II Hir
(the Tall) in 690.Short-lived stability returned with the House
of Dremrud, but soonevaporated again before being finally
restored with Frankish help at thebeginning of the 9th century.
Around a hundred years later, the Kingdomwas reduced to a
Duchy, though it didn't finally lose its independenceuntil
after Anne, the last Duchess of Brittany, married King Charles
VIIIof France and the Union Treaty of Vannes was signed in
1532. [David NashFord, Kings of Brittany: The Breton
Descendants of Conan Meriadog] ---------- Conan Meriadoc,
'King' of Dumnonia & Brittany (born c.305)
(Welsh-Cynan,Latin-Conanus, English-Conan). Conan was the son
of Octavius the Old'sbrother, Gerontius, (or Octavius himself
according to the Dream of MacsenWledig). He had expected to
inherit his uncle's position of influence inwhat is now Wales,
until his cousin, Helena, married the Roman citizen,Magnus
Maximus. Originally, Conan was considerably put out by this
man'srise to power and he organised a rebellion against him,
aided by Pictsand Scots. However, being defeated, Conan became
great friends with hisrival and travelled with Maximus to the
continent to help him becomeEmperor of the West. He was given
control over Armorica (modern Brittany)as a reward for killing
the previous holder of the title. His newprovince was well
settled by his men-at-arms, however they lacked
wives.Therefore, in order to populate the area, he sent to his
uncle's oldally, Donaut of Dumnonia for numerous Cornish
ladies. Conan proposed tocement the alliance of their two
peoples by marrying Donaut's daughter,Ursula. Though Donaut was
delighted at the match, Ursula had her heartset on a life
devoted only to God. She agreed to the marriage on thecondition
that she first be allowed to go on a pilgrimage
throughoutEurope. Conan appears to have joined her in Rome,
where the two must havebeen married, probably by Pope Cyriacus
himself. He apparently did nottravel to Cologne where Ursula
died. In later years, he inheritedDumnonia from his
father-in-law. The Governorships of Armorica andDumnonia were
united for only a short time, for, as his second wife,Conan
married St. Patrick's sister, Dareca of Ireland, and left one
eachof his Kingdoms to the sons of his two marriages, Gadeon
and Gradlon. Heprobably died about 395. [David Nash Ford,
Early British Kingdoms:Biography of Conan Meriadoc]