Bro Gwened

Gwened, Bro Gwened (Standard Breton: Bro-Wened), or Vannetais (French: Pays Vannetais) is a historic realm and county of Brittany in France. It is considered part of Lower Brittany.

Bro Gwened was an early medieval principality or kingdom around Vannes in Armorica (Brittany), lasting from around AD 490 to around 635. It was peopled by Christianized Britons fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britain, who displaced or assimilated the remaining pagan Veneti Gauls. Its bishop and (usually) court was at Gwened, the site of the former Roman settlement of Darioritum and the present French city of Vannes.

Today, its territories are included within the modern French department of Morbihan.

Name

The Breton placename plou (Latin: plebs) initially meant a tribe, but came to signify its territory as well. The standard Breton form of the name mutates Gwened, the Breton name for Vannes, while the local dialect leaves it unchanged as "Bro-Gwened". The modern French name derives from adjectival form of Vannes. Both Gwened and Vannes reflect separate developments of the Latin Veneti, the Romans' name for the Gaulish tribe in the area. (It is unrelated to the Welsh realm and county of Gwynedd, which developed from Latin Venedotia.)