Morvan Lez-Breizh The first King of Brittany

  

Morvan Lez-Breizh

Morvan (Murman or Morman) Lez-Breizh (literally "the hip of Bretagne")750-818

Thought to be the first King of a unified Brittany in the Middle Ages, his rule last a short four years after the death of Charlemagne. The Bretons were always in Revolt against the Franks. The Breton lords particularly active along marcher borders raiding but were never really united. Morvan controlled an area in the north called Poher part of the Kingdom of Cornouaille close to the border of Domnonée, Bretagne. He had a fortified Castra/Palace it is thought at modern Carhaix-Plouguer, capital of old Poher.

In 753 Pepin the Short ordered Frankish troops into the Armorican peninsula to subdue the kingdoms and ask for tribute, the Breton kings would remain semi independent but still owe fealty to the Franks. In 776 and 777 Charlemagne ordered armies into the Armorican peninsula again to create the Breton Marches, marching from Le Mans, Roland (Hruotland) (song of Roland Fame) obtaining tribute and land from the three petty kingdoms and moved the border marcher between Neustria and Brittany to to a line from St Malo to Nantes and set up Carolingian Castra in Rennes, port city of Nantes and the port city of Saint Malo (when the border marcher moved from the Mayenne-Maine and Loire river to the west to the la Vilaine river, also the first wood and stone castra/palace was also built at this time in Ville Mayenne by the Bishop of Le Mans in the same location as the current chateau).

After a refusal to pay tributes by some of the great Breton nobles, in 786 the Frank General Audulf, departed Nantes and campaigned between March and August 786, laying waste to the Breton cities and destroying its defendable castras (leaving the coast vulnerable to saxon pirates). The chronicle of Sigebert de Gembloux noting that several castra were captured and nobles and hostages were bought before Charlemagne at Worms in 787. In 799 Guy de Widonides a Frankish noble was appointed as the marquis of the Breton Marchers and Comte de Nantes. Guy then also campaigned in 799 and had the Breton petty kings bend the knee in person at Tours in 800. Guy again campaigned in 811 breaking a alliance of the northern Domnonée nobles who had threatened Rennes.

When Charlemagne died in 814, Morvan lez-Breizh gathered together the nobles from the Kingdoms of Cornouaille, Domnonée and Bro-Gwened and rebelled successfully, while the Frank armies were busy in Spain and Italy.

In 818 Emperor Louis the Pious along with his marquis Lambert de Nantes (Widonides) lead a large army (10000) to clear the country of fortified castras, take hostages and fealty. They met the army of Morvan somewhere between Priziac and Carhaix, it is said the battle was on a fortified ford of the Ellé river near Langonnet. A ridge nearby is called Minez-Morvan and he is said to be buried nearby in the Tumulus de Kermain a bronze age tomb.

“He [Louis] marched in person in Brittany with a considerable army, and held the general assembly of the nation at Vannes. Then entering the province of which we have just spoken, he took all the strongholds of the rebels, and soon made himself master without much fatigue of the whole country. In fact, after Morman, who had arrogated to it the royal authority in defiance of the constant use of the Bretons, had been killed by the emperor's troops, there was no longer a single Breton who resisted, or who refused either. to obey the orders he received, or to provide the hostages that were required of him "

- Annales d ' Éginhard , (Year 818)

The king figure is Morvan lez Breizh from Footsore, unsure of the priest but I did add the cross from a plastic set. 

For those interested jaunty marching tunes, as I do a nice Breton pipes tune Lez Breizh was written some time after, as a Scottish bagpiper the higher pitch can be a little hard on the ears after a while but worth a listen all the same. I will use it to rouse the troops on the table to fight the perfidious foe the Franks! 

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™ 

From Caesar to World War Two

Cheers

Matt

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae Breton Army part V

Breton Liticani infantry

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae, the last unit completed for my dark age 5th -6th century Amorican Bretons. A mix of Gripping Beast and Footsore miniatures. Mentioned in a number ancient references with the field army of Aetius by Gregory of Tours. Mentioned by Jordannes at Challons with the Roman army of Gaul against the Huns and with Paulus and Riothamus defending Angers against the Saxon Pirates and Visigoths.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers

Matt

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae auxiliary skirmishers IV

Auxiliary Javelin 

 Second last unit of my Bretons completed, another simple skirmishers unit.

Figures are gripping beast hand painted shields.

Cheers

Matt

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae auxiliary spear IV

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae, Third last uni completed of Breton auxiliaries off the table, 2 more units and two command stands to go and the army will be complete for this year, I have enjoyed this build and would like to add some more pieces in the future.

A mix of Footsore and gripping beast with mixed shields, LBM studios

Cheers

Matt

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae auxiliary spear III

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae, Breton auxiliaries off the table, 3 more units and two command stands to go and the army will be complete for this year, I have enjoyed this build and would like to add some more pieces in the future.

A mix of Footsore and gripping beast with mixed shields predominantly LBM transfers.

Cheers

Matt

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae Breton skirmishers III

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae, skirmishers off the table, 4 more units and two command stands to go and the army will be complete for this year, I have enjoyed this build and would like to add some more pieces in the future.

Gripping beast miniatures hand painted shields

Cheers
Matt

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae Bretons II

Breton heavy infantry 

The Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae, much conjecture surrounds them as to where the kingdom was located during the dark ages. Mentioned in a number ancient references with the field army of Aetius by Gregory of Tours. Mentioned by Jordannes at Challons with the Roman army of Gaul against the Huns and with Paulus and Riothamus defending Angers against the Goths and Saxons.

A mix of Footsore miniatures and Gripping beast, LBM shield transfers and flag.

Cheers
Matt

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-letaniae or more Bretons!

Breton light infantry 

Liticiani-Letavi -Letavii-Letaniae, much conjecture surrounds them as to where they were located in Brittany during the dark ages. Mentioned in a number ancient references with the field army of Aetius by Gregory of Tours. Mentioned by Jordannes at Challons with the Roman army of Gaul against the Huns and with Paulus and Riothamus defending Angers against the Goths,   some suggest they were a Saxon German tribe or perhaps even a mainland Welsh tribe.

Personally I follow the thought train that a Celtic Godess is named Letavia and the mentions on name of a Latin region in the Armorican peninsular in a large number of documents refer to the southern region of modern Pays de Loire as Letavi and the recent archeological find at Clisson near Nantes pointed toward an inscription on a partial tile of a military unit building with “Leto”(waiting for the full report though, before fully drawing my bow).

Looking at all of this I have settled that were either Auxilla or old veterans in Armorican peninsular, around Nantes and Angers defending the Breton Marshe under command of Riothamus.

Figures are 28mm Footsore miniatures, I have elected to depict the unit of skirmishers in pure white bleached tunics and shields, and for the following heavy infantry I will do the same. The current pandemic has allowed me to complete another two units which I will roll out over the next few days.

Cheers
Matt

King Riothamus King of the Bretons

King Arthur....... perhaps!

Riothamus (also spelled Riutimus or Riotimus) was a Breton-Romano military leader, and King of Brittany and possibly lands in southern England. He was active circa AD 470 and lead a army against the Goths in alliance with the Romans. He is called “King of the Bretons” by the 6th-century historian Jordanes but the extent of his realm is unclear. Some Arthurian scholars identify Riothamus as one of the possible sources of the legendary King Arthur.

The miniature is from the Footsore Miniatures 28mm Dark Age range

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

cheers

Matt

Noble mounted Breton Kingdom of Domonée III

Breton Noble Cavalry III

Off the desk finally this week my noble Breton cavalry unit, lovely figures from Footsore 28mm Picts range. Quite happy with my plaid, possibly should of had the same coloured cloaks for each noble so I kept to the northern part of Domonée Amorican kingdom plaids. The final cavalry unit for my 5th to 7th century Bretons.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

cheers

matt

Breton Domnonée Dark Age cavalry II

Breton cavalry II

A unit of medium Breton cavalry for my Kingdom of Domnonée project, another project from the 2019 pile that was partially completed and required a few steps to complete them. I am almost at a end for this army one more cavalry unit, a command and thirty figures. This will give me quite a large army for the 5th through to the 8th century and by swapping out some infantry and cavalry will stretch until the 9th century.

The figures in this unit are footsore with one converted gripping beast celt to make up the unit. Quite happy with the plaid on these.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Salut
Matt

Plodding through Plaid.....painting miniatures thoughts

I posted the picture below tonight on a number of Facebook forums and had probably the best reaction to a photo for some time. Painting plaid is a daunting task and I have tried over the years to perfect it. The secret is paint flow, and shading highlights. I basically paint and wash like I do for all my models, then highlight, then add the lines, then highlight the squares inbetween. For the fine lines I have tried wet palettes, water, drying retarder and mediums etc, I finally settled on a idea I read on planet models forum using a single drop Vallejo varnish as the medium.  I find it works the best on a wet palette, dragging both together into a mix, too a milk consistency,  add a good brush, preferably sable, I used a 5/0 kolinsky on this piece, but a good 000 will give a satisfactory result as long as it has a good point. Brush washing also helps, as I paint almost every day I wear our brushes quite fast, so I like to wash them weekly so I can get a long service from a expensive sable? As for the lines I lay it down on my finger nail first to ensure it is correct, also I find a good magnifier is required, I use mine for all my painting now my eyes are failing me. I purchased it at a dress makers shop and have the brightest daylight globe I could find.

Hope that is helpful, not a expert at any means, but happy to pass on my tips.

Cheers
Matt

28mm Kingdom of Domnonée Breton light cavalry I

Breton Light Cavalry I

Completed more light cavalry for my Kingdom of Domnonée army which spans from the 4th to the 11th century. These are great sculpts from Footsore miniatures. I am very happy with the light plaid pattern on two of the figures, not convinced with my red though.

 The Bretons have a recorded history of light cavalry since the eastern invasion of Francia of the Goths/Alani in the early 5th century. The Romans settled the Alani and Goths along the border with the Armoricans, the Notitia Dignitatum places them in Orleans, Poiters, Rennes, Alençon, Mayenne, Le Mans and Chartres. These areas became predominant Frank horse breeding areas in the 10th century and remained so up until the 19th century, 6 of the 8 French military light and heavy horse breeds come from the area).
  John Wallace-Hadrill in his book Long Haired Kings, links the strength of the Breton feigned flight back to the Alani tactic in the 5th century, and the the overall use of heavy cavalry by the nobles. In several battles with the Franks, Vikings and Normans they used this tactic very successfully. By the 8th century the Breton border had moved to the west from the modern Mayenne river to the Vilane river, then back and forth for the next two centuries. Under Pepin the short, the Anjou-Maine Franks gained the territory, capturing the remaining Breton horse breeding areas almost entirely.  By the 11th century the Anjou-Maine cavalry were also using the tactic of feigned flight, most famously allied with William the Conqueror along with the Bretons knights using feigned flight tactic at the battle of Hastings to break the Saxon sheildwall.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers

Matt

28mm Breton Kingdom of Domnonée Coloni infantry IIII

Coloni Infantry IIII

More 28mm Armorican Kingdom of Domnonée Breton 4th to 11th century project. The Coloni were colonists from mainland Britain. The infantry are from the Gripping Beast Miniatures dark age Plastics. Ready to fight the Alani, Romans, Franks and Vikings. A few head swaps with Victrix miniatures and two metal shields. Based for Impetus rules. 

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers

Matt

28mm dark age Breton heavy infantry III

Breton heavy Infantry III

A hive of activity on the desk this weekend as my mojo returns for painting, another Breton unit but for my Kingdom of Domnonée army from the 4th to the 11th century. All metal from Footsore miniatures, with various shield makes, LBMS transfers and metal spears I made myself. Really easy to paint these and happy with the result. This base with it flag will designate an attached command on a stand for Impetus, although I prefer separate commanders normally as I tend to get them mostly killed when attached!

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers

Matt

28mm Dark Age skirmishers

Completed two units of archers, one for late Roman -Alan  archers and a generic Archer dark age base.
Figures are Footsore miniatures. They will fit into any of my late Roman and dark age armies nicely.

Cheers

Matt

28mm Alan warlord

This Footsore command miniature has been sitting around for some time awaiting completion as I wanted a hunting or war dog on the base, after a desk clean up today in preparation for clearing for the Autumn painting projects,  I headed up to the third floor and seeked out my 28mm spares box and found a suitable Warlord Miniatures war dog.  I then finished the dog off and added it to the completed the command base.

This commander will lead my Alan warband. The Alan's were based in Aurelianum (modern Orleans) capital from 406ad and controlled lands along the Loire, Sarthe and Mayenne rivers. The Romans and later the Franks used them to put down rebellions in the west including Armorican massif (Brittany) and famously defended their capital Aurelianum against Atilla the Hun. Later at the battle of Challons in 451 the Alan and Goth cavalry break the Hunnic centre.

Cheers
Matt

28mm Dark Age Breton Coloni Infantry II

Breton Coloni Infantry II

Finally back into a rhythm of painting after assembling 200 odd perry miniatures 100YW miniatures, it truly has been a slog. I also completed a number of Celts also, and finally had an opportunity to undercoat them. I also managed to get some time for some painting yesterday and today completing another two units with another three close behind.

The latest off the desk some more Breton Coloni infantry for my Kingdom of Domnonée dark age army 4th to 11th century, although this unit could double as Maine/Anjou or saxon pirate raiders also.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers

Matt

28mm Dark Age Breton Warlord Cavalry

Breton Warlord Cavalry I

Off the desk this week another unit of Breton warlord cavalry, again from the footsore miniatures range. Should be quite flexible to be Alans, Goths, Franks and late Romans. A real pleasure to paint with LBM transfers.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers
Matt

28mm Dark Age Breton Coloni I

Breton Coloni

Off the desk this week some Breton Coloni (colonizers from Britain) peons, adding to my Dark Age Domnonée army, this base could also be used as Carolingian Franks Anjou-Maine, saxon pirates or early Normans.

28mm Gripping beast plastics with some Victrix heads and hands, plus some metal shields, several more units not to far away from completion.

"walk the battlefield in the morning, wargame in the afternoon"™

Cheers
Matt