Why is the word ''Brittany'' so similar to ''Britain''?

Answer 1

The names are similar due to common origin: in ancient times, Britain (Britannia) was the land of the various Brythonic Celtic tribes known as the "Britons" who were closely related to their cousins over the Channel in Gaul - roughly modern France/ Belgium.

Under the Roman Empire, Gaul was much more "Romanized" than Brittania (only half of which was actually conquered/ occupied) where Celtic lifestyles, languages etc persisted throughout the Roman occupation. The Britons largely retained their Celtic identity, although many adopted Roman habits/ customs when it suited them. Cities like London & Bath (Aquae Sulis) were major centres of Roman culture, as were many garrison towns like Colchester, but away from these most Britons continued living pretty much as before the Claudian Conquest: they remained very much colonial subjects rather than becoming "New Romans". This contrasted with the pattern in Gaul where, some peripheral regions excepted, most of the population adapted fully to the "Roman Way", including everyday use of Latin. Largely this reflected Gaul's closer proximity to Italy, & also the fact that Caesar's plan was always fully to integrate a new province into the Empire. Britain, in contrast, was very much "on the edge" of the Roman World, & conquest was a more piecemeal, pragmatic process (mainly a result of the Emperor Claudius' desire to "prove himself" to the Senate & people of Rome), & never fully realised because by the end of the 1st Century AD Rome was already starting to decline.

During the "Dark Ages" (ie the Early Medieval period immediately after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West) much of Gaul was colonized by Germanic tribes (especially the Franks) who tended to adapt to the still prevalent Roman lifestyle, including use of Latin in everyday speech. Eventually, the Emperors of the Franks came to see themselves as inheritors of the Roman Empire, and created the so-called "Holy Roman Empire" which at one time covered much of Western & Central Europe.

The exception to this was the relatively peripheral area of NW Gaul/ Frankia called "Armorica": a poor, isolated zone that had never been fully Romanized, & whose rulers had retained considerable autonomy & Celtic identity.

Meanwhile, Dark Ages Britain remained politically & culturally fragmented: German incomers (Angles, Saxons, Jutes etc) fought perpetually for dominance against highly resistant Romano-Celtic Britons - eg one of their warband leaders was almost certainly "Artorius", folk memories of whom provided the raw material for the later Medieval legend of "King Arthur". These resisting Celts often allied with the Celts of Armorica; people moved freely & regularly between Britain & Armorica, the other "British" (ie Celtic dominated land), and it was common to refer to the smaller area as "Lesser Britain" (Brittany) to distinguish it from the larger "Greater Britain".

Eventually, the Germans achieved rough dominance over most of the Southern half of Britain (since known as "Angleland - England), but it would be centuries before this dominance was secure. Celtic culture persisted - not just in the Celtic enclaves of the West (eg Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria), but also throughout the island. In fact, most recent research indicates many Celtic Britons stayed in their home areas, under the rule of a new German elite; eventually the two groups integrated. The old theory that most Celts fled to the Western margins of Britain to avoid the Germans is now pretty well discredited: place name evidence, archaeological, & most telling, genetic evidence suggests otherwise.

In the Early Modern period (C15th onwards), English kings like Henry VIII had an "Imperial Vision" of a unitary state under their rule to include all the countries within the "British Isles", so the terms "Greater Britain" & "Britain" were consciously evoked in support of their ambitions. The vision caused untold wars, troubles & miseries for all the peoples of the British Isles, & was only really realised - in a rough way! - by the C18th. Herein, however, lie the origins of the modern title of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain". Meanwhile, over the Channel in the emerging modern state of France, the still broadly Celtic, rather than "French", people of Armorica were gradually assimilated into the French Kingdom/ state, but as a marker of their distinct "difference" continued to call themselves "Breton", & their region has ever since been known as Brittany. To this day, Brythonic Celtic languages are spoken by some in Brittany, Cornwall, & Wales; they can understand each other, & festivals celebrating their common Celtic identity/ heritage are held regularly.

So, both words are historical/ cultural reminders of times past when a "Brythonic" or British Celtic culture dominated not only the British Isles, but also a significant but isolated area of NW France.