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List of Breton saints

Breton saints refers to both the innumerable people who lived, died, worked in, or came to be particularly venerated in the nine traditional dioceses of Brittany (Cornouaille, Dol, Léon, Nantes, Rennes, Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Malo, Tréguier, Vannes) who were accepted as saintly before the establishment of the Congregation of Rites (now the Congregation for the Causes of Saints), and those saints, blesseds, venerables, and Servants of God who have come to be recognized since that time.

Armorican saints

Before the Bretons came, the land now known as Brittany was known as Armorica within the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. The earliest saint associated with this region is Anne, mother of Mary (mother of Jesus), who purportedly appeared to Yves Nicolazic and spoke to him in Breton. Saint Anne is the patroness of Brittany.

After her, the earliest saints in what is now Brittany have dates which are sometimes unclear, but tradition holds they go back to the earliest days of the church. Maximinus, said to have been sent to preach among the Gauls, was made the first Bishop of Rennes. Pope Linus, the second Bishop of Rome, sent Clair and Adeodatus. Clair became the first Bishop of Nantes around AD 280 and died early in the third century; Adeodatus preached primarily in the area of Vannes. Other Armorican saints include Similien, the third Bishop of Nantes, who converted the brother-martyrs Donatian and Rogatian. Palladius may also have had an Armorican connection.

The Seven Founders

The Bretons, coming from the British Isles, brought Christianity with them. With the coming of the Bretons, the seven ancient dioceses were established by the seven founding saints.

The other two dioceses of Brittany were founded by Clair de Nantes and Maxime de Rennes.

Medieval saints

Monarchs

Bishops

Others

Modern saints

The "modern" in modern saints refers to the process, not the person, and groups those whose status has been recognized by Rome.

Saints

Blesseds (by beatification)

Blesseds (by confirmation of cult)

Venerables

Servants of God

Other saintly Bretons

See also

References

Sources

  • "Hagiography Circle"
  • M. de Garaby, Vie des bienheureux et des saints de Bretagne, éd. J.-M. Williamson, Nantes, 1839. Réédition 1991.
  • P.T. de S. Luc, C. L'Histoire de Conan Mériadec Qui Fait le Premier regne de l'histoire generale des souverains de la Bretagne Gauloise, dite Armorique. Paris, 1664.