Bretons & Britons. The fight for identity by Barry Cunliffe

Abstract

Reviewed by: Bretons & Britons. The fight for identity by Barry Cunliffe Myrzinn Boucher-Durand (bio) Barry Cunliffe, Bretons & Britons. The fight for identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. ISBN 978-0-19-885162-2. ix + 472 pages. $38.95 (hardcover). Bretons and Britons is a well-made, visually rich book about Breton identity over the longue durée, as well as Brittany’s relationship with the British Isles. It is comprised [End Page 257] of 11 chapters, each focusing on a different time period. It also includes genealogical tables, a guide to further reading, and sources for the illustrations: the book includes a wide variety of diagrams and photos to support the reading. Although the focus is primarily on Brittany, the book regularly offers a wider context necessary to the understanding of Breton history at specific points in time, using a multidisciplinary approach. Cunliffe begins by describing the geography of Brittany and how its coastal nature created a dynamic of Armor/Argoat. He explains that the coastline communities (Armor) have generally been more populated and prosperous, being well-connected to the rest of the Atlantic seaboard throughout the ages, while the inland (Argoat) has been less populated, with poorer and more stationary populations. Then, the book explores the interconnectedness of Brittany with Europe in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, primarily to establish context for the wide variety of megaliths. This was a time when Brittany began to form trade routes with the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles which would remain in effect for much of prehistoric times. The third chapter focuses on the Beaker period, in which the Maritime Beaker complex spread from the Tagus region to Brittany and from Brittany to the British Isles, bringing with it copper metalworking and subsequently developing the technology of bronze. These archaeological findings show the extreme interconnectedness of Armorica with the rest of the Atlantic seaboard and river complexes. Then Cunliffe shifts his focus to the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, observing how works of art continued the Atlantic Bronze Age while slowly incorporating central European and, over time, Mediterranean traditions. Seafaring trade was much less intensive in this period, but still present. When the Romans invaded, trade routes with Britain were disrupted and reorganized, and this reorganization bypassed Armorica, which became more remote and less integrated. Chapter 5 deals with Roman rule in Armorica, which saw both peace and prosperity, as well as regular instability caused by rebellions against the Romans and destructive raids by the Germans. Many new towns and cities were created, but Armorica also remained a province that was often bypassed in trade, as Normandy was used as a pathway to Britain. The north and south of Brittany would be differentiated by the legacy of Roman influence: the south maintained Roman roads and their cities remained the centers, while the north was relatively inclined to abandon Roman cities and roads and replace them over time. The third century saw economic collapse, which, in turn, strengthened the divide between northwest and southeast. In the fourth century, after a time of relative peace, pirates in the Channel, primarily Saxons, began to pose a threat to the Armoricans and British and their trade. The fifth century saw the breakdown of the Roman Empire in the west, a decline in population, and increased Germanic settlements in Gaul. Peasants were revolting and the Romans struggled to maintain control with the help of British and Germanic troops. By the mid-fifth century, the southeast of Brittany became Christian, which reinforced the divide from the northwest. Migrations from Britain to Armorica likely started at the beginning of the fifth century and continued well into the sixth, though evidence [End Page 258] is scarce: we do not know numbers or the exact process, but it was enough for the Brythonic language to become firmly established. Cunliffe turns to toponymics studies to show how the distribution of placenames such as Lan-, Tre-, Plou-, etc., reflects the geographical extent of the Brythonic migration, and suggests which areas were relatively unaffected by it. Thus, Armorica was divided into two zones, late Brythonic in the west and Gallo-Roman in the east. The Breton language is derived from...