As we all know, the Briton peoples of what is now England apparently fled in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon invasions and settled in the Armorican peninsula in northwestern France, forming the modern cultural region of Brittany.
But, less well-known is the Breton settlement of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. Modern Galicians are occasionally proud of their “Celtic heritage”, although Celto-Breton settlement in Galicia was, apparently, in smaller numbers than in Brittany. How can we create a scenario whereas the Bretons are much more attracted to settling in northwestern Spain (Galicia, Asturias, northern Portugal) than in France? Perhaps an early defeat of the Breton high kings (like Nominoe or Erispoe) against East Francia, followed by some sort of flight or deportation?
 
Last edited:
[Not sure how I missed this post in April!]
In my view to Celticise Galicia the main Brythonic migrations of the 5th and 6th centuries need to be to Galicia rather than Armorica. Perhaps the Armorican peninsular is never really settled but just becomes a sort of staging post. I doubt if Britain, particularly south west Britain, had enough people to settle both Brittany and Galicia in depth at this time, and I think that the era of Nominoe and Erispoe is a bit late in the day, though it could work if most of the population is expelled from Brittany to Galicia.

And see this post of mine from a thread in January.

Hm, very difficult to have them 'dominate' Europe, but much more than OTL is possible. Eg at the same time that Britons were migrating to Brittany - 5th and early 6th centuries, there was a parallel, but very much smaller migration to Galicia in the Iberian peninsula. We know very little about this; it appears to have had few longterm consequences. Now, supposing the main focus of Brythonic migration was Galicia and not Brittany. They are welcomed by the not very numerous local population, defeat the Suebi, and immigration is so overwhelming that by 600 CE Brythonic is the dominant speech throughout Galicia. The kingdom(s) they found there holds off the Visigoths. The Islamic invasion still happens much as in OTL, and as in OTL Galicia is mostly spared, and rapidly regains its independance. At this time the language is consolidated, and, because it's all one realm, even spreads into Asturias to some extent.

The Brytho-Galician kingdom takes part in the Reconquista, and the language naturally spreads south into the reclaimed lans of Lusitania, ie Portugal. Subsequent history runs parallel to ours; Lusitania remains independant of Spain, develops a maritime empire, and colonises half of South America. The language, though influenced by Iberian Romance, remains strongly Celtic. I envisage it as being a bit like the Vannes dialect of Breton. Even when the king is from a foreign dynasty, the aristocracy remains firmly Brythonic in speech and culture, and patronises poetry in the traditional Celtic manner.

Voila! Portugal, Galicia, Brazil, and Western Asturias all Celtic speaking!
 
Top