Stone Boats and Singular Saints

Bonjour From Brittany

Brittany has often been called the Land of Saints and with good reason; some 750 saints ranging from obscure personalities known in only one isolated location to renowned healers popularly invoked across the region were once venerated here. Many of the early evangelising saints were believed to have arrived from the British Isles in the 5^th and 6^th centuries in stone boats propelled by angels.

Several of Brittany’s Celtic saints were held to have had strong connections with the legendary King Arthur. Indeed, some scholars have argued that the character known as Saint Armel, reputedly a son of King Hoël the Great, a nephew of Arthur and the father of Sir Tristan’s wife, Iseult, was the historical basis for King Arthur himself.