Tro Breiz – the tour of Brittany – the seven founding fathers
In 313 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian, and decreed that everyone in his dominions should follow suit. So Roman Brittany (which was then known as Armorica) officially became Christian. We don’t known exactly how the faith reached Armorica or how the early Armorican church was organised. There are no written records but there is one substantial piece of evidence – the ruined cathedral of the City of Alet, near present-day Saint-Malo. Archaeology has confirmed that an original builidng in the fourth century (a prompt reaction to Constantine’s decree) with a simple design resembled the usual religious building for worshipping any Roman gods. But fashions changed, and after two hundred years it had evolved into a recognisable "church" with a rounded apse behind the altar.
So the Seven Founding Fathers didn’t convert Brittany to Christianity. Where they made an impact was in organising the Christian church in the region, which they divided into seven areas, each controlled by one of the founding fathers. All seven had some connection with the great monastery on Caldey Island in south Wales, and all of them knew most of the others (possibly they all knew each other). They arrived in Brittany around 520 to 560 AD.
They were all well-educated, which meant they came from noble families who could afford to send their sons to school. The language of the Roman Empire had been Latin, and this was still spoken by the upper classes despite the Empire having collapsed; it was the only written language used. The local language in Brittany was near enough to that of South Wales for the churchmen to be understood by the working classes, but they probably thought and reasoned in Latin, and all the church services were held in Latin.
There may also have been a political slant to the take-over of Brittany by Welsh-trained bishops. They belonged to the Celtic church, one of the great divisions of early Christianity covering the western areas of France, Britain and Ireland; they did not acknowledge the supremacy of the church in Rome or the church in Byzantium. The core of the Christian faith remained the same in all three divisions, but rules and practices differed. The Celtic church may have decided to take over Brittany to prevent it paying allegiance to Rome. But this doesn’t detract from the achievements of the seven founding fathers who brought organisation and observance into the everyday lives of Bretons:
Saint Samson who founded the bishopric of Dol-de-Bretagne
Saint Malo who founded the city which bears his name
Saint Brieuc who founded a monastery in the town of his name
Saint Tugdual who founded a monastery at Tréguier
Saint Paul Aurélien who converted the people of the Léonaz
Saint Corentin the first bishop of Quimper
Saint Patern the first bishop of Vannes
But they lived so long ago that apart from their religion, their impact on the population and the sites of their churches, we have little reliable knowledge about them. Samson of Dol became involved in dealing with the king of France, so is recorded in court records of that time, and Malo famously moved the people of Alet to a new fortress site surrounded by sea, but for the rest we have only later hagiologies and unbelievable miracles.
All seven built as their bases monastic foundations near the coast, which was where most Bretons lived. Unfortunately from around 900 AD the coast was raided by Danish Vikings. All churches within reach of the coast were looted and destroyed. Nothing remains of them. But when peace finally prevailed, all were rebuilt. The faith and the memory was still there.
In the 13th century, the age of pilgrimages, the custom arose of visiting all seven churches of the founding fathers. This pilgrimage wasn’t officially controlled and organised like the pilgrimage to Compostella. Some pilgrims did the whole trip in one go, others accomplished parts of it at long intervals. Tro Breiz is the Breton for “tour of Brittany”, and there are Bretons who continue to follow it to this day, in many different ways and for many different reasons, including making it a simple celebration of the region’s long history.
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