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Britonia

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For the journal, seeBrittonia (journal).For the plant genus, seeBrittonia (genus).

Britonia(which becameBretoñainGalicianandSpanish) is the name of aRomano-Britishsettlement on the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula at the time of theAnglo-Saxon invasion of Britain.The area is roughly that of the northern parts of the modern provinces ofA CoruñaandLugoin the autonomous community ofGalicia,Spain.

Map of Briton settlements in the 6th-century.

History[edit]

Britonia was established in theGermanicKingdom of the Suebi,inGallaecia,northwesternHispania,in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD byRomano-Britons.Britonia is therefore similar toBrittany,inGaul(present-dayFrance), by being settled by expatriate Britons at roughly the same time. However, unlike in Brittany, the Celts settling in the Iberian Britonia were soon assimilated and completely lost their original language.

The Britons may have occupied a pre-existing hill fort orcastro.[1]Gallaecia had earlier been inhabited by theGallaecipeoples, before the arrival of the Germanic Suebi.[2]

Modern place-names that reflect this history include the villages of Bretoña in the province ofLugoand Bretonia in the province ofPontevedra.[3]

Ecclesiastical history[edit]

Part ofa serieson the
History of Galicia
Map of the kingdom of Galicia (16th century)

What little is known of Britonia is deduced from its religious history - which is a very uncertain guide as to how long it retained a Celtic linguistic and cultural character. The British settlements were recognised at theFirst Council of Lugoin 569 and a separate bishopric established, on territory split off from the then MetropolitanArchdiocese of Lugo.Mailocwas nominated Bishop of Britonia and signed theactaat theSecond Council of Bragain 572.

The establishment of the episcopal see of the Britons in Gallaecia was more probably not because of a migration, but only because a group of Christians, led by their bishop, must have taken refuge in a place near the coast of Lugo, where they would establish and organize a personal episcopal see, which later reached a territorial demarcation.[4]For this reason the diocese it was mentioned in the "Suevo Parish" asAd sedem Britonorum ecclesiae quae sunt intro Britones una cum Monasterio Maximi et quae sunt in Asturiis.Established in Britonia, the capital of the diocese, regardless of its origin and provenance, its bishops appear in conciliar documents from the 6th century on.[4]For example, Mailoc is among those who participated in the IIBracarenseCouncil held in the year 572, and as its headquarters "was erected shortly before... Mailoc signed last as least ancient".[4]His successors attended other councils inToledoandBraga:Errnerico participated in the III of Toledo signing, in 589, as bishopLaniobrense;Metopio attended the next one in 633; at VII,Sonna,who was already consecrated in 646 and who sent the priest Materico to the following council, in 653. In 675 BishopBelaparticipated in the IIIBracarenseCouncil and then the title of Britonian appears for the last time, since Brandila and Suniagisido, who attended the XIII and XVI Councils of Toledo in the years 683 and 693, sign asLaniobrensebishops.(...) "[4]

The British Celtic settlements[citation needed]were quickly integrated and their adherence toCeltic ritelasted only until theFourth Council of Toledoin 633 decreed the now so-called Visigothic orMozarabic riteas the standard liturgy ofHispania.

The diocese was suppressed in 716. The line of (errant?) bishops of Britonia nevertheless existed at least until 830, when the area was attacked by theVikings;it may have continued as late as theCouncil of Oviedoin 900.

It was finally restored as or merged into theDiocese of Mondoñedo-Ferrolin 866, being assigned territories split off from theDiocese of Oviedoand from the MetropolitanArchdiocese of Lugo(since 1071 a suffragan ofSantiago de Compostela).

Resident Bishops of Bretoña[edit]

Known bishops of theecclesia Brittaniensisinclude:

"Bishop Mailoc is the only Britonian prelate who has a Celtic name (=" great "). The other known bishops always bear Latin or Germanic names.(...)".[5]

Titular see[edit]

No longer a residential bishopric, Britonia is today listed by theCatholic Churchas atitular see.[6]

The diocese was nominally restored in 1969 as LatinTitular bishopricof Britonia (also Curiate Italian) / Britonien(sis) (Latin adjective).

It has had the following incumbents, so far secular priests of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:[7]

  • Eugene O’Callaghan (28 November 1969 – resigned 26 January 1971), on emeritate as former Bishop ofClogher(Ireland) (30 January 1943 – 28 November 1969), died 1973
  • John Brewer (31 May 1971 – 22 May 1985), first asAuxiliary BishopofDiocese of Shrewsbury(England,UK) (31 May 1971 – 17 November 1983), then asCoadjutor BishopofLancaster(England) (17 November 1983 – 22 May 1985); later succeeded as Bishop of Lancaster (22 May 1985 – death 10 June 2000)
  • Edward Joseph O’Donnell (6 December 1983 – 8 November 1994) as Auxiliary Bishop ofArchdiocese of Saint Louis(USA) (6 December 1983 – 8 November 1994); later Bishop ofLafayette in Louisiana(USA) (8 November 1994 – retired 8 November 2002); died 2009
  • Paweł Cieślik (3 December 1994 – now), as former Auxiliary Bishop ofDiocese of Koszalin–Kołobrzeg(Poland) (3 December 1994 – 19 September 2012) and as emeritate (3 December 1994 – now)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Snyder, Christopher A. (15 April 2008)."A people divided".The Britons.Wiley. pp. 142–5.ISBN9780470758212.
  2. ^Alberro, Manuel (2008)."Celtic Legacy in Galicia".E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies.6:20.
  3. ^Young, Simon (2001)."Note on Britones in Thirteenth-century Galicia".Studia Celtica.XXXV:361–2.
  4. ^abcdRamón Yzquierdo Perrín, Universidade da Coruña, I Congreso do Patrimonio da Diocesis de Mondoñedo, 2000
  5. ^José Miguel Novo Güisán,Los pueblos vasco-cantábricos y galaicos en la Antigüedad Tardía, siglos III-IX,Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Servicio de Publicaciones, 1992: "(...)el obispo Mailoc, único prelado de Britonia que tiene nombre céltico ( = "grande" ). Los demás obispos conocidos llevan siempre nombres latinos o germánicos.(...)
  6. ^Annuario Pontificio 2013(Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013ISBN978-88-209-9070-1), p. 853
  7. ^"Titular See of Bretoña, Spain".GCatholic.
  • Richards, Melville, "Mailoc",Habis,III, 1972, p. 159.
  • Tovar, António, "Un obispo con nombre británico y los orígenes de la diócesis de Mondoñedo",Habis,III, 1972, pp. 155–158.
  • Vives, J.,Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos,Madrid, 1963.
  • Young, Simon (Summer 2003). "The Bishops of the early medieval diocese of Britonia".Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies(45): 1–20.
  • Young, Simon, "The Forgotten Colony",History Today,L, Oct. 2000, pp. 5–6.
  • Young, Simon,Britonia: Camiños Novos,Noia, 2002.ISBN84-95622-58-0.(in Galician)

External links[edit]

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