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 300 BRITTANY by the sea, it joined on the E. the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Poitou. Its coast line, indented by numerous bays and har- bors, was about 500 m. in length, extending from the bay of Cancale, on the confines of Normandy, to that of Bourgneuf, some 20 m. S. of the mouth of the Loire. Its greatest length from 8. E. to N. W. was 185 m. ; great- est breadth, 105 m. ; area, 13,085 sq. m. It is now divided into the departments of Loire- Inferienre, Ille-et-Vilaine, Morbihan, C6tes-du- Nord, and Finistre. The broken hills by which the interior of the country is intersect- ed, its narrow valleys, its partly unnavigable streams, its vast and thinly populated heaths, its old castles standing on solitary hillocks with their dismantled walls and dilapidated towers, its extensive forests so closely associated with the rites of the ancient druids, its sandy shores Breton Peasants. or rugged reefs, the strange garb of its herds- men and their harsh Celtic language, all com- bine to stamp the region with a strange and striking character. Originally independent and known as Armorica, Brittany was indebted for its new name to colonies from Great Britain, which settled at various periods on its territory. These emigrations can be traced as far back as the 3d century ; but it is probable that the definitive change of appellation took place only about the middle of the 5th century, when numbers of British families left the isl- and on account of the Anglo-Saxon invasion. Under Charlemagne the paramount power of the Prankish crown over Brittany increased ; but its princes, availing themselves of the weakness of his successors, regained their inde- pendence, and the principal of them was ac- knowledged as a king by Charles the Bald. There prevailed among them something of a feudal orgimixation, the counts of Rennes, Nantes, and Cornouailles being the most pow- erful, and one of them being generally accred- ited as the chief of the confederation. About the middle of the 12th century Conan IV. suc- ceeded in bringing all parts of the country under his own control, calling it the county of Brittany. His daughter and heiress Constance married Geoft'rey, third son of Henry II. of England, to whom she brought the title and power of count. His son and successor Arthur was assassinated by his uncle, King John of England, when Philip Augustus tried to seize upon Brittany, as he had done with Normandy ; but the Bretons resisted, and declared for Alix, a daughter of Constance by her third husband, Guy of Thouars. This Alix married Pierre de Dreux, called Mauclerc, who took the title of duke of Brittany and ruled until their eldest son became of age. This prince. John I., surnamcd Rufus, born in 1217, be- came the head of the ducal family, which reigned until the beginning of the 16th century. On the death of John III., in 1341, his brother John of Montfbrt and Charles of Blois, who had married the niece of John III., contended for the possession of the duchy. This civil war lasted 24 years. Charles having been killed at Auray in 1364, the ducal crown was secured to the son of John of Mont- fort, who reigned under the name of John V. Francis II., who reigned from 1458 to 1488, left his daughter Anne heiress of the duchy of Brittany. She was married by proxy to Maxi- milian of Austria, then king of the Romans ; but Anne of Beaujeu, who governed France under the name of her brother, Charles VIII., prevented the alliance from being consum- mated; she forced the duchess to marry the young king of France, so that Brittany was for the first time united to the kingdom (1491). On the death of Charles VIII., Louis XII. has- tened to divorce his first wife, and to marry his predecessor's widow, thus securing the union between France and Brittany. But it was not till 1532, during the reign of Francis I., that Brittany was declared to be an integral part of the French kingdom. Although losing its in- dependence, it persevered in maintaining the rights and privileges which had been secured to it by the treaty of union. The royal power was limited here by a representative govern- ment called the estates of Brittany. The as- sembly, the sessions of which were held every other year, consisted of the three orders, the clergy, the nobility, and the tiers etat. The- king was not allowed to lay any tax, this being regulated by the assembly, which voted for the support of the royal government what was called a gratuitous gift. The province had also its own courts of justice, the highest of which was known as the parliament of Rennes, with four seneschalic jurisdictions. More than once Brittany was compelled to stand in defence of its immunities; but its people, while vindi- cating what they thought their rights, showed