Galeran de Bretagne

Last updated

Galeran de Bretagne is a 13th century French (Breton) romance by Jean Renaut. The plot concerns a young woman who has lost her lover. She befriends a widow's daughter and is offered lodgings in the widow's household where her industry contributes to supporting the household. It has been compared to Escoufe , a poem of murky authorship that is often attributed to Renaut. [1]

In 1928 Maurice Wilmotte said Renaut had plagiarized the work from Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France. In Renaut's time it was a widespread custom for writers to use themes, words or concepts from other significant literary works, and it was regarded is a sign of respect. Wilmotte later withdrew the accusations. Roger Dragonetti considered Galeran "a form of homage" to Marie de France's Fresne and her other Breton lais. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breton language</span> Celtic language spoken in France

Breton is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of the insular branch instead of the continental grouping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brittany</span> Cultural area located in northwestern France

Brittany is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as a separate nation under the crown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brest, France</span> Subprefecture and commune in Brittany, France

Brest is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second largest French military port after Toulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental France. With 139,456 inhabitants (2020), Brest forms Western Brittany's largest metropolitan area, ranking third behind only Nantes and Rennes in the whole of historic Brittany, and the 25th most populous city in France (2019); moreover, Brest provides services to the one million inhabitants of Western Brittany. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture of the department is in the much smaller town of Quimper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brittany (administrative region)</span> Administrative region of France

Brittany is the westernmost region of Metropolitan France. It covers about four fifths of the territory of the historic province of Brittany. It is one of two regions in Metropolitan France that do not contain any landlocked departments, the other being Corsica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ys</span> Mythical city of Brittany in western France

Ys, also spelled Is or Kêr-Is in Breton, and Ville d'Ys in French, is a mythical city on the coast of Brittany that was swallowed up by the ocean. Most versions of the legend place the city in the Baie de Douarnenez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne of Brittany</span> Queen of France (1491–1498; 1499–1514) and Duchess of Brittany (1488–1514)

Anne of Brittany was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She was the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice. During the Italian Wars, Anne also became Queen of Naples, from 1501 to 1504, and Duchess of Milan, in 1499–1500 and from 1500 to 1512.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallo language</span> Regional language of France

Gallo is a regional language of eastern Brittany. It is one of the langues d'oïl, a Romance sub-family that includes French. Today it is spoken only by a minority of the population, as the standard form of French now predominates in this area.

Kornigou are cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his "cuckold" horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld. This tradition is typically upheld in Celtic households in Brittany and is enacted during Samhain (Halloween). It is a distinctly Pagan tradition which continues to this day.

Yann Fouéré, also known as Seàn Mauger was a Breton nationalist and a European federalist. His French birth certificate names him as Jean Adolphe Fouéré, a French name, as the French Third Republic did not allow Breton names.

Cath Palug was a monstrous cat in Welsh legend, given birth to in Gwynedd by the pig Henwen of Cornwall; the cat was later to haunt the Isle of Anglesey, and was said to have killed 180 warriors when Sir Kay went to the island to hunt it down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dol-de-Bretagne</span> Commune in Brittany, France

Dol-de-Bretagne, cited in most historical records under its Breton name of Dol, is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine département in Brittany in northwestern France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Belle-Etoile</span> French literary fairy tale written by Madame dAulnoy

Princess Belle-Etoile is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Her source for the tale was Ancilotto, King of Provino, by Giovanni Francesco Straparola.

"Le Fresne" is one of the Lais of Marie de France. It was likely written in the late 12th century. Marie claims it to be a Breton lai, an example of Anglo-Norman literature.

Françoise Morvan is a French writer who specialises in Breton history and culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Representations of Anne of Brittany</span>

Anne of Brittany was the object of representations very early on. The royal propaganda of Charles VIII and, later on, of Louis XII idealized her as a symbol of the perfect queen, on the union between the kingdom and the duchy, and of the return to peace. Maximilian's Austria having been evicted from the marriage, had a different perspective on the events. Throughout the centuries, historians and popular imagery forged a very different Anne of Brittany, attributing her physical or psychological characteristics or actions that are not necessarily verifiable through historical data.

René Abjean is a French composer associated with Breton revivalist choral music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanne de Clisson</span> 14th-century Breton noblewoman and privateer

Jeanne de Clisson (1300–1359), also known as Jeanne de Belleville and the Lioness of Brittany, was a French/Breton noblewoman who became a privateer to avenge her husband after he was executed for treason by King Philip VI of France. She crossed the English Channel targeting French ships and often slaughtering their crew. It was her practice to leave at least one sailor alive to carry her message of vengeance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne de Tourville</span> French writer

Anne Marie Nouel de Tourville de Buzonnière, who wrote as Anne de Tourville, was a 20th-century French woman of letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groac'h</span>

A groac'h is a kind of Breton water-fairy. Seen in various forms, often by night, many are old, similar to ogres and witches, sometimes with walrus teeth. Supposed to live in caverns, under the beach and under the sea, the groac'h has power over the forces of nature and can change its shape. It is mainly known as a malevolent figure, largely because of Émile Souvestre's story La Groac'h de l'île du Lok, in which the fairy seduces men, changes them into fish and serves them as meals to her guests, on one of the Glénan Islands. Other tales present them as old solitary fairies who can overwhelm with gifts the humans who visit them.

References

  1. Warren, F.M. (April 1908). "The Words of Jean Renart, Poet, and Their Relation to Galeran de Bretagne. II". Modern Language Notes. 23 (4): 97–100.
  2. Brumlik, Joan (1995). "Thoughts on Renaut's Use of Marie's Fresne in Galeran de Bretagne". Florilegium. 14: 87.