Brix () is a commune in the Manche

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in northwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

History

The origin of the name Brix derives from the

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...

suffix brut-. Brix is known primarily as being the assumed origin of the

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

family, who emigrated to Britain in the Middle Ages, settling in northern England and then southern Scotland. The family became a

royal house A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in repu ...

with the accession of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

in 1306. The ruins of the castle of Brix are located near the village.

Population

Sights

A family known variously as Bruis, Brus,

Bruz Bruz ( or ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Geography Bruz is located near the center of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, 14 km from Rennes. It is near the confluence of the rivers Vil ...

is said to be responsible for the Adam Castle, the oldest monument in Brix.There is no evidence, other than unreliable late medieval sources, like the

Battle Abbey Roll The Battle Abbey Roll is a commemorative list, lost since at least the 16th century, of the companions of William the Conqueror, which had been erected or affixed as a memorial within Battle Abbey, Hastings, founded ''ex-voto'' by Duke William o ...

, to support a claim that another member of the family,

Robert de Brix The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

or de Brus, served under

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

at the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...

in 1066. (See: Emma Cownie, 2004, "Brus , Robert de (supp. d. 1094)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford, Oxford University Press.) Very little remains of the castle. The main square of Brix is called Place Robert Bruce. Many prominent members of the family mentioned above were named "Robert", including: Robert de Brus (1078–1138), the first member of the family known to have resided in Britain, and his descendant

(1274–1329), also known as Robert I,

King of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...

Events

On the first weekend of October, the commune holds the St. Denis Fair, a tradition of the Cotentin.

References

External links