Britonia facts for kids

Britonia (which became Bretoña in Galician and Spanish) was a special place in ancient Spain. It was settled by people from Britain, called Romano-Britons. They came to the Iberian Peninsula (where Spain and Portugal are today) around the late 400s and early 500s AD. This happened after new groups like the Anglo-Saxons started settling in Britain.

Britonia was located in the northern parts of what are now the A Coruña and Lugo provinces in Galicia, Spain. It was a bit like Brittany in Gaul (present-day France), which was also settled by Britons around the same time. However, unlike in Brittany, the Britons in Spain eventually blended in with the local people. They slowly lost their original Celtic language and culture.

A New Home for Britons

Britonia was set up in a kingdom called the Kingdom of the Suebi. This kingdom was in Gallaecia, which is in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. The Britons who settled there might have come from areas like Cornwall.

These Britons might have moved into an old hill fort or a castro (an ancient fortified village). Before the Suebi people arrived, the area of Gallaecia was home to the Gallaeci peoples.

Even today, you can find places that remind us of this history. For example, there are villages named Bretoña in the Lugo province and Bretonia in the Pontevedra province.

Church History in Britonia

Most of what we know about Britonia comes from its church records. This can be tricky because it doesn't tell us exactly how long the Britons kept their own language and culture.

A New Bishopric

The British settlements were officially recognized at the First Council of Lugo in 569 AD. A special church area, called a bishopric, was created just for them. This new area was taken from the main Archdiocese of Lugo.

Mailoc was chosen as the first Bishop of Britonia. He signed important church documents at the Second Council of Braga in 572 AD.

It's thought that this bishopric was created not just because many Britons moved there. It might have been because a group of Christians, led by their bishop, found a safe place near the coast of Lugo. There, they set up their own church organization, which later became a recognized territory.

Bishops of Britonia

The bishops of Britonia are mentioned in church documents from the 500s onwards. For example, Bishop Mailoc was at the Second Council of Braga in 572. He signed last because his bishopric was the newest.

Later bishops from Britonia also attended important church meetings in Toledo and Braga:

• Errnerico attended the Third Council of Toledo in 589.
• Metopio attended a council in 633.
• Sonna was consecrated in 646 and sent a priest to a council in 653.
• Bela participated in the Third Council of Braga in 675. After this, the title "Britonian" for a bishop is seen for the last time.

Interestingly, Bishop Mailoc is the only one known to have a Celtic name. The other bishops usually had Latin or Germanic names.

Changes in Church Practices

The British Celtic communities in Britonia quickly became part of the larger society. Their special Celtic church practices only lasted until 633 AD. At the Fourth Council of Toledo, it was decided that the standard church service for all of Hispania would be the Visigothic or Mozarabic rite.

The Britonia bishopric was officially stopped in 716 AD. However, there might have been bishops of Britonia until at least 830 AD, when the area was attacked by the Vikings. It might have continued even until the Council of Oviedo in 900 AD.

Finally, the bishopric was either brought back or combined with the Diocese of Mondoñedo-Ferrol in 866 AD. It received land from the Diocese of Oviedo and the Archdiocese of Lugo.

See also

• Celtic nations

In Spanish: Bretones en Galicia y Asturias para niños

Images for kids

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  Map of Briton settlements in the 6th-century.