Upper Brittany (French:Haute-Bretagne;Breton:Breizh-Uhel;Gallo:Haùtt-Bertaèyn) is the eastern part ofBrittany,France, which is historically associated with theromance languages (french, gallo, poitevin). The name is in counterpoint toLower Brittany, the western part of the ancientprovince and present-dayregion, where theBreton language has traditionally been spoken. However, there is no certainty as to exactly where the line between 'Upper' and 'Lower' Brittany falls.
In many regards, Upper Brittany is dominated by the industrial and cathedral city ofRennes, seat of theUniversity of Rennes 1 and theUniversity of Rennes 2.[1]
The principal distinction between the two parts of Brittany is that Lower Brittany is the historic realm of theBreton language, while Upper Brittany is that ofGallo, closely related toFrench. The isolation of Brittany from the mainstream of French society was always less acute in Upper than in Lower Brittany, largely thanks to the languages they spoke.[2]
Together with other factors, this has led to other differences throughout history. TheRevolt of thePapier Timbré of 1675 was more ferocious in Lower Brittany than in Upper, but theChouannerie, aroyalist uprising in the west of France against theFrench Revolution, theRepublic, and theFirst Empire, enjoyed more support in Upper Brittany than in Lower.[3][4][5] Upper Brittany accounted for some sixty per cent of the province's emigrants toFrench Canada, with especially high rates of emigration fromNantes andIlle-et-Vilaine,[2] despite having a smaller population than Lower Brittany until the middle of the 20th century.
In the realm ofcuisine, thepancakes known asgalettes, made withbuckwheat, originated in Upper Brittany,crêpes, made withwheatflour, in Lower Brittany.[6][7]
In the 20th and 21st centuries, the growth ofurbanization andindustry has been more pronounced in Upper Brittany than in Lower Brittany, the character of which has remained more rural.[8]
In much of Upper Brittany,Breton has been little spoken, and indeed in some parts it may never have been the principal means of communication. Instead, the population historically spokeGallo, and later a mixture of Gallo andFrench.[9] However, in both ancient and modern times the larger towns of Upper Brittany have drawn in large numbers of Breton speakers from Lower Brittany, and most of them have at some time contained various institutions supporting that language and its culture.[10] At the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that about one-tenth of Breton speakers lived in Upper Brittany.[8]
Gallo, like the Breton language, was until recently highlystigmatized, and its use declined steeply during the 20th century. Attempts are now made to revitalize it, with schools playing a role in this, but it is largely viewed as a rural language of older people.[11]
Place-names are one form of evidence for the linguistic boundary during theEarly Middle Ages, suggesting that it was much farther to the east than it is now, nearNantes andRennes. For example,Pleugueneuc, inIlle-et-Vilaine, combines the Breton elementplou (parish) with the name 'Guehenoc'.[12]
The distinction of two Brittanys was made at least as early as the 15th century, when the names used wereBritannia gallicana (Upper Brittany) andBritannia britonizans (Lower Brittany).[10] At that time, it appears that Lower Brittany had a separatefiscal status.[9] Since then, the boundary between them has changed slowly as a result of the long retreat of the Breton language.[13]
Under theancien régime, the boundary between the two was generally in line with the province's division into ninebishoprics, with those ofRennes,Dol,Nantes,St Malo andSt Brieuc considered to form Upper Brittany, whileTréguier,Vannes,Quimper andSaint-Pol-de-Léon formed Lower Brittany.[14]
In 1588, thehistorianBertrand d'Argentré defined the boundary as running from the outskirts ofBinic southwards toGuérande, leaving the towns ofLoudéac,Josselin, andMalestroit in Upper Brittany. In 1886,Paul Sébillot noted that the boundary was deeper into what had been Breton territory, the line then running fromPlouha on the north coast toBatz-sur-Mer in the south, on theBay of Biscay.
The boundary between 'Upper' and 'Lower' Brittany is now a purely imaginary line and has no administrative or other status.[9] However, having been based on linguistic areas, the boundary does correspond very roughly to administrative borders. The town ofPloërmel is one point where the two meet.
In area, Upper Brittany now takes in something over half of the 35,000 square kilometres of the whole of Brittany, but it has some 2.5 million people, compared with Lower Brittany's 1.6 million. In the early 20th century, about 60% of the population had lived in the Breton-speaking areas.[8]
