Finistère may have disappeared from the Shipping Forecast, but Finistère, Department 29, France, is very much with us.  This most westerly region of Brittany in mainland France should be a ‘must’ on any visitor’s list of places to see.  Brittany (formerly Bretagne) is an ancient Celtic country that maintained its independence from France until the end of the fifteenth century.  Today the inhabitants of Brittany are fiercely proud of their Breton culture and nowhere is this more evident than in Finistère...

France and England have been inextricably linked almost from time immemorial and  most of us are aware of the main French personalities who have played a part in shaping their country’s fortunes.  Other leaders of France rate barely in line in our history books. There is one King, almost unknown outside of France, who was instrumental in shaping the futures of France and England for many centuries and by his action created the longest war in our histories...

Driving down to the south of France, across the wonderfully varied countryside, the sun’s warmth working its magic after the cold of winter, it is not easy to think of this region of France as being home to bloodthirsty deeds.

However, between the years 1012 and 1020 what appeared to be a new religion emerged in the Limousin region of France and, gaining strength, spread southwards to the Languedoc, a province famed for its tolerance and liberalism. This was the beginning of a sad period in French history...

Charlemagne

Charlemagne’s life is a jumble of fact and fiction. A great king, he was known throughout the western world from the epic poems recounting his noble deeds, some exaggerated or even invented. While legend tells of his heroic exploits bringing Christianity toall four corners of his empire, he was a ruler whose true story and legacy to Europe were probably even more impressive than the romantic myths surrounding him and his knights. Was he, in fact, a thoroughly modern European?

Nothing has been recorded about his birth and early boyhood, though it is generally thought he was born in 742AD, probably on the borders between Germany and France. When his father died, Charlemagne and his brother shared their inherited empire, but within 3 years his brother had died, and Charlemagne at the age of 29 became ruler of a vast realm. He was King of the Franks, and it was the Franks who gave their name to France, despite the Romans having previously conquered Gaul.

Charlemagne became the ruler of western Europe “by the sword and the cross.” During his lifetime of 71 years, he waged ferocious campaigns across Europe to subdue the infidels and enforce Christianity. At the height of his power,  his empire extended across Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and part of Italy as well as most of France. It was only the French, however, who took Charlemagne to their hearts and he has become inextricably linked with the French nationality. Today most other Europeans know little of him and the debt modern Europe owes him...

They came from out of the mists of ancient times, quietly and peacefully at first, integrating easily to the way of life of the existing population. But hard on their heels came their more aggressive brothers, who battled their way across Europe and finally, finding their place in the sun, settled in France.  These people, whose origins remain unclear, had come down from Bohemia and afterwards dominated Europe for over 1,000 years.

So who were they, this complex race who left no written record of their existence, no written record of their beliefs or their way of life?  So impressive  that even today over 2,000 years later we know of them and their existence.

The Celts, warrior tribes, owing allegiance only to their tribal King, revelled it seemed in fighting for the sake of it, but were known also for their chivalry, their courage, their love of music and poetry and tales of epic adventures.  They brought with them their Druidism and their Spirituality. It was from them we have heard tales of Merlin the Wizard and King Arthur and his chivalrous Knights.

They told of the mystical forest of Brocéliande – today believed to be the 7,000 hectares of the Forest of Paimpont in the heart of Brittany.  It was here that Merlin and the fairy Viviane fell in love. Merlin created for her a crystal palace at the bottom of a lake where she could live as a Princess.  Hidden deep in this forest, so the legend says, is buried the Holy Grail for which King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table searched.

All the Celtic tribes believed in being in harmony with the natural world and used swirling and spiralling patterns in their jewellery and other metalwork to demonstrate this continuity. They shunned the temples that others erected for worship.  Their holy places were natural sanctuaries such as forests and mountains.  One such place is Mont Ventoux, in the Vaucluse, a Celtic holy mountain and spring.  At 1,912 m high, it has one of the broadest panoramic views in Europe.  Its Celtic name was Ventop, meaning snow-capped summit, because in spring the top is covered in snow, whilst the cherry trees blossom on the lower slopes.

Most people will associate Brittany with the Celts and the largest site of standing stones can be found at Carnac.  These megaliths stretch 13 km from Carnac to the village of Locmariaquer. Over 5000 years passed between the first and last stones being erected.   Less well-known is the fact Brittany itself was occupied twice by the Celts, first when the tribes arrived in Europe and later when the Celts from Wales and Cornwall invaded.  Its name implies Little Britain to distinguish it from Great Britain.

In the 1950s, excavations near Châtillon-sur-Seine discovered the burial site of a Celtic Princess, The Lady of Vix, who died in her early 30s, around 500BC.  She was buried under stones, sitting in a four wheeled chariot surrounded by dazzling jewellery of bronze, gold, coral and amber. The Musée at Châtillon in Burgundy has on display many of the magnificent Celtic objects discovered there.

By 125 BC the Celtic tribes in France were warring between themselves and so were easily conquered by the Roman armies.  Although they remained in France, many becoming Romanised, and also later adopting Christianity, they disappeared as a definable ethnic group. However, their influence on our language, culture and much of our artistic development still remains with us.  

And consider this:  Scientists report, if your ancestors came from anywhere in Europe, you probably have just a spot of Celtic blood in you.