Kingdom of Brittany

Kingdom of Brittany
851–939
The growth of the Kingdom of Brittany 845–67
Capital		Not specified
Languages		Breton, Gallo, Latin, French, Norman, Poitevin
Government		Not specified
History
•	Battle of Jengland	22 August 851
•	Battle of Trans-la-Forêt	1 August 939
Preceded by Succeeded by Cornouaille Domnonée Broërec Marches of Neustria Duchy of Brittany County of Rouen Neustria

The Kingdom of Brittany was a short-lived vassal-state of the Frankish Empire that emerged during the Norman invasions. Its history begins in 851 with Erispoe's claim to kingship. In 856, Erispoe was murdered and succeeded by his cousin Salomon. The kingdom fell into a period of turmoil caused by Norman invasions and a succession dispute between Solomon's murderers: Gurvand and Pascweten. Pascweten's brother, Alan, called the Great, was the third and last to be recognized as king of Brittany. After his death, Brittany fell under Norman occupation. When Alan Twistedbeard, Alan the Great's grandson, reconquered Brittany in 939, Brittany became a duchy until its union with France in 1532.

At the end of the Antiquity period, Celtic Britons, fleeing the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain (5th-7th centuries), settled the western part of Armorican peninsula and the region was renamed Brittany ("little Britain"). As a result, Celtic culture was revived in the Gallo-Roman Armorica and independent petty kingdoms arose in this region, namely Cornouaille, Domnonée and Broërec.

From 801 to 837, the adjacent Frankish Empire tried several times to subdue the Briton tribes without success. In order to bring Brittany into the Empire's sphere of influence, Louis the Pious appointed Nominoe, a noble Briton, head of the region. Titled missus imperatoris ("Imperial emissary") by the Emperor, he was in charge of the administration of the province on his behalf.