Skaven (Warhammer)

In the fictional Warhammer Fantasy setting by Games Workshop, there are a number of different races and nations. The most important of these feature are individual armies in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle table top game.

All of the featured human nations are based in the Old World.

Bretonnia is based on real-world medieval France; its name is clearly derived from the French province of Britanny and it draws heavily from Arthurian legends which are associated with Medieval Brittany; for instance with The Lady and The Green Knight who both have parallels in Arthurian lore. Though originally received by the Warhammer community as too idealistic for the Warhammer atmosphere, further source books have revealed the underlining arrogance of Bretonnian knights and their casually cruel treatment of their lowborn citizens.

Bretonnia was founded when the Knight Lord Giles drove the hordes of orcs and chaos out of Bretonnia in the name of the Lady, the goddess the Bretonnians place their faith in. Since then Bretonnia has been divided and collectively ruled by the King of Bretonnia and his twelve Dukes and their families. Each Duke, in turn, rules over several barons and earls, each having great swathes of land and are able to call upon dozens of knights from the lesser nobility they rule.

Bretonnia's official religion is the worship of The Lady. However, this religion is only exclusive to the aristocracy, as peasants are considered unworthy to worship Her and any caught doing so are brutally punished.

Bretonnian knights train extensively from boyhood in riding and heavy armor combat, specializing in two kinds of weapons, the longsword and the lance; completely abstaining from using ranged weapons, which they consider dishonorable. Their blacksmiths are the best human armorers in the world, second only to the elves and dwarfs in craftsmanship. Though indoctrinated in the art of knightly chivalry (similar to that which is practiced in Arthurian legend), Bretonnians generally believe that chivalrous acts and responsibilities only apply to their fellow aristocrats and do not extend the same courtesies and respect to their peasant citizens. Bretonnian knights are born exclusively from the nobility of Bretonnia as peasants cannot afford the cost of the armor and weapons required to be a knight, as well as the upkeep necessary to keep horses and maintain equipment.

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Wikipedia