Poher is an ancient principality that emerged in the
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
in
Cornouaille
Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princ ...
in west-central
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
. Its capital was the Gallo-Roman city of Vorgium, capital of the
Osismii
The Osismii, Ossismii, or Ostimii (also Ossismi, Osismi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the western part of the Armorican Peninsula (modern Brittany) during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Etymology
They are mentioned as ''Osismos'' and ...
, which became
Carhaix
Carhaix-Plouguer (; br, Karaez-Plougêr ), commonly known as just Carhaix (), is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Finistère, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, France.
after the
fall of the Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
. Archaeological excavations scheduled since 1999 show that, even if the city lost its function as capital after the 4th century, it was nonetheless a stronghold and major strategic crossroads.
Origins
Poher's name derives from ''Pou Kaer'', ''Pou'' being a derivative of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''pagus'' ("region," as in a Gallo-Roman district) and ''kaer'' being
Old Breton
Breton (, ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of t ...
for "fortified city."
In the Middle Ages, Carhaix was only a subdivision of the parish of Plouguer (''Plou-Kaer'' = "parish of the city/castle"), having just one church dedicated to St. Trémeur. Plouguer, whose church is dedicated to St. Peter – circumstantial evidence of seniority – is the seat of the original parish which takes its name from the once-fortified site it encompasses. Having become communes after the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, Carhaix and Plouguer merged in 1956 under the name of
Carhaix-Plouguer
Carhaix-Plouguer (; br, Karaez-Plougêr ), commonly known as just Carhaix (), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, France.Bishopric of Cornouaille.André Chédeville and Hubert Guillotel, "La Bretagne des saints et des rois (Ve-Xe siècles)", Ouest-France Université, 1984 () André Chédeville goes even further, giving it a coastline on the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
: "It is likely that in the early centuries, this ''pagus'' was narrower in terms of longitude but extended further north, where, like other ''pagi'', it had its coastline. When the diocesan boundaries were set in the Carolingian period, the pagus Castelli was cut into two parts, as ecclesiastical districts, expanded, one in the diocese of Quimper as we just mentioned, the other in that of Treguier."
In a ''pouillé'' (ecclesiastical register) of the 14th century, Poher remains as one of the two archdeaconates in the Bishopric of Cornouaille, the other archdeaconate also being called Cornouaille. It only included the deaneries of
Cap Sizun
The Cap Sizun (; br, Ar C'hab) is a headland forming the western extremity of the Cornouaille, in the French département of Finistère in Brittany, corresponding to the former canton of Pont-Croix.
The best known sites in this region are th ...
, Cap-Caval (future
Bigouden
Bigouden ( Breton: ''Bro-Vigoudenn''; French: ''Pays Bigouden''), historically known as Cap Caval, is, along the Bay of Audierne, the most south-western area of ''Bro Kernev'' in Brittany, south-west of Quimper, defined since 1790 in the French de ...
) and
Fouesnant __NOTOC__
Fouesnant (; ''Fouenant'' or ''Fouen'' in Breton) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Fouesnant is bordered to the south by the Baie de La Forêt.
It lies on the south coast of Finistère and i ...
(from
Gourin
Gourin (; br, Gourin) is a commune in the Morbihan ''département'' of Brittany in north-western France.
Geography
Gourin is in the northwest of Morbihan, northeast of Quimper and northwest of Lorient. Historically, it belongs to Cornouaill ...
to
Clohars-Fouesnant
Clohars-Fouesnant (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
Population
Inhabitants of Clohars-Fouesnant are called in French
''Cloharsiens''.
See also
*Communes of the Finistère department
The fol ...
).
From then on, Poher is associated with the bulk of the bishopric, which leads Joëlle Quaghebeur to consider that the Carolingian name Poher succeeds the name of Cornouaille.
According to Viscount Frotier La Messelière, "occupying the high valleys of the Aulne and its tributaries, on the highest peaks of
Lower Brittany
Lower Brittany ( br, Breizh-Izel; french: Basse-Bretagne) denotes the parts of Brittany west of Ploërmel, where the Breton language has been traditionally spoken, and where the culture associated with this language is most prolific. The name is ...
, Poher extends, from east to west, about fifty kilometers, from the eastern borders of
Glomel
Glomel (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
Inhabitants of Glomel are called ''glomelois'' in French.
Geography
Glomel is located on the northern slope of the Montagnes Noires (fre ...
,
Rostrenen
Rostrenen (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department and Brittany region of northwestern France.
Geography
Neighbouring communes
Rostrenen is border by Mellionnec to the south, Plouguernevel to the east, Kergrist-Moëlou to the nor ...
,
Kergrist-Moëlou
Kergrist-Moëlou (; br, Kergrist-Moeloù) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
Inhabitants of Kergrist-Moëlou are called ''kergristois'' in French.
See also
*Communes of the Côtes-d ...
and
Maël-Pestivien
Maël-Pestivien (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Côtes-d'Armor Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department
...
Châteauneuf-du-Faou
Châteauneuf-du-Faou () is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
Geography
Châteauneuf-du-Faou is located in the middle of Brittany, between Monts d'Arrée and Montagne Noire. The town is built on a hill ...
Loqueffret
Loqueffret (; br, Lokeored) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
Located south of the monts d ' Arrée, in the eastern part of the Armorique regional natural park, it is a small rural village, former hom ...
Botmeur
Botmeur (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
Population
Inhabitants of Botmeur are called ''Botmeuriens'' in French.
See also
*Communes of the Finistère department
*Parc naturel régional d'Arm ...
, in
Finistère
Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.
, and about thirty kilometers north to south, from the
Monts d'Arrée
The Monts d'Arrée, or Menezioù Are in Breton, are an ancient mountain range in western Brittany which forms part of the Armorican massif. Historically it marked the border of the regions of Cornouaille and Léon
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Sp ...
to those of the Montagne Noir and the middle of the Aulne's course." This author excludes any commune of the
Morbihan
Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...
from Poher; however, the commune of Le Faouët is considered part of Poher.
More recently, Christiane Kerboul-Vilhon assigned fairly similar limits; for her, it corresponds to the Bassin de Châteaulin.Christiane Kerboul-Vilhon, ''Petite histoire du grand Poher'', Coop Breizh, 2004
History
Dark legend: Conomor, bloodthirsty prince of Poher?
Poher was the seat of a powerful dynasty of counts in the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
era, whose traces are scattered in very rare archives and in the ''
Lives
Lives may refer to:
* The plural form of a ''life''
* Lives, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* The number of lives in a video game
* '' Parallel Lives'', aka ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', a series of biographies of famous m ...
'' of the saints of Brittany.
Conomor
Conomor ( ), also known as Conomerus or Conomor the Cursed, was an early medieval ruler of Brittany. His name, which has the Welsh (language), Welsh cognate Cynfawr, means "Great Dog", but could also indicate "Sea Dog" in early Brythonic languages, ...
(''Kon Meur'' = "big dog"), denoted as Prince of Poher, is steeped in a legend which makes him the
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...
of sixth-century Brittany. He would have killed numerous women, one after another, not sparing the last, Saint Tryphine, and her young child, Saint Trémeur (''Trec'h Meur'' = "great winner"), whom he would have decapitated. Saint
Gildas
Gildas (Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recounts ...
having miraculously replaced the child's head, the child would come to taunt his father by throwing him a handful of dirt. Struck by divine vengeance, Conomor would have perished instantly.
Historical evidence
Conomor's name is mentioned many times by
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...
as a Breton count who saved ''Macliauus'' from the vengeance of his brother, ''Chanao''. He is also an enemy of the Franks who sided with
Chram
Chram (also spelled ''Chramn'', ''Chramm'', Old Frankish for " raven"; Latin: ''Chramnus'', modern French: ''Chramn(e)'') (died 561) was the son of Chlothar I, a Merovingian king of the Franks (r. 558-561), and his fifth wife, Chunsina.
Chram ros ...
in his struggle against his brother King
Chlothar II
Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French language, French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an in ...
.
His also appears at different times on the other side of the Channel. The discovery at
Castle Dore
Castle Dore is an Iron Age hill fort (ringfort) near Fowey in Cornwall, United Kingdom located at . It was probably occupied from the 5th or 4th centuries BC until the 1st century BC. It consists of two ditches surrounding a circular ar ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
of an inscription which reads "Marcus Quonomorus Drustanus" has led some historians, including Christian Kerboul, to identify the king
Mark of Cornwall
Mark of Cornwall ( la, Marcus, kw, Margh, cy, March, br, Marc'h) was a sixth-century King of Kernow (Cornwall), possibly identical with King Conomor. He is best known for his appearance in Arthurian legend as the uncle of Tristan and the husb ...
, whose nephew is the legendary
Tristan
Tristan (Latin/ Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to wed ...
(Drustanus?), with the Conomor of legend. This hypothesis of a principality established astride the channel in the 6th century remains unverified.
In 871, while Salomon is still king of Brittany, Judicael is indicated as ''princeps Poucher'' without anyone knowing that a brand of such dignity was uncommon at the time.
A viscount of Poher, named Bernard, appears in the 11th century, and his lineage appears to have particular significance to the Sainte-Croix abbey of Quimperié, appearing to supplant the dynasty of Cornouaille which had assumed the ducal dignity since Hoel II in 1066.
List of Viscounts and Counts of Poher
*Alain de Poher
*Mathuedoi I (907-930) married a daughter of
Alan I, Duke of Brittany
Alan I (french: Alain; died 907), called the Great,F. McNair (2015), "Vikings and Bretons? The Language of Factional Politics in Late Carolingian Brittany", ''Viking and Medieval Scandinavia'' 11: 183–202. was the Count of Vannes and Duke of Bri ...
, his son was
Alan II, Duke of Brittany
Alan may refer to:
People
*Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname
* Alan (given name), an English given name
**List of people with given name Alan
''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.''
*A ...