Dear List
In Martyrologium Usuardi have I found a saint located "in Britannia minori":
*In Britannia minori, depositio sancti Wigualoci abbatis*,
[PL vol.123 col.813D]
which should be the saint called Guingaloe in a French calendar I have.
In a modern dictionary: Guénolé, abbé de Landévennec, Fête le 3 mars.).
Can it be translated to "Lower Brittany", or is it just Bretagne? It
implies that there also is a "Britannia major" (the British Isles?). Is it
that simple?
Unfortunately have I no access to the Orbis Latinus in this week. If
anybody has the new monstrous 3-volume edition, would it be great to hear
what it says.
The reason for asking this question is really that I would like to find a
medieval division of Bretagne in a northern and a southern part - but if
Britannia minor just is Bretagne (in general) have I no luck here.
Looking at a map shows a chain of mountains dividing Bretagne from West to
East. Is there any medieval denomination for the southern part seen as a
unity from Quimper over Vannes to Nantes, and a northern part Brest -
St.Pol de Léon - Tréguier- Dol - Mont St. Michel? Another angle on this
adds the question: Was there a significant difference between the languages
on the north- and the south-coast?
Thanks
Erik Drigsdahl
_____________________________________________________________________
Mag.art. Erik Drigsdahl CHD Center for Haandskriftstudier i Danmark
Kapelvej 25B 3.tv Phone: +45 +35 37 20 47
DK-2200 Copenhagen N Email: <[log in to unmask]>
DENMARK http://www.chd.dk
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