Renaming Finistère in Brittany

[Chap]

The current name refers to the post-revolution department of Finistère, which spans the last 50 years of the game. Before that, it was divided into the regions (Pays) of Léon and Cornouaille.

Spoiler: Brittany in 1.30

Spoiler: Map of the traditional Pays de la Bretagne

So, my suggestion is the following. In the first map, we can see that the city in Finistère province is Quimpier, which was the capital of Cornouaille region.

Brest, which was the main city in the region as France’s main naval base in the Atlantic Ocean, was the capital of Léon region.

Now, the issue is that there can be no provinces in the game with the same base name and there’s a León in Spain and a Brest in Belarus so I would go with Cornouaille and Quimpier as the capital.

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

And maybe adding Breton to the Celtic Culture Group, possibly? As controversial as it may be.

 

[Chap]

And maybe adding Breton to the Celtic Culture Group, possibly? As controversial as it may be.

Although I kinda understand your point, I have to disagree. First of all, the people in Brittany weren’t all Breton-speakers, as Gallo (a Romance language) was mainly spoken in the eastern parts of Brittany.

Secondly, the devs have stated that culture ties does not mean linguistic ties, but historical and geographical ties. Although Breton is related to Welsh and Cornish, they were more tied to France

And, finally, it would affect how the AI works, as it usually favours expansion into same culture group provinces. Taking Breton out of the French culture group would mean that France would have less reasons to expand into strategic breton provinces.

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

(...) Taking Breton out of the French culture group would mean that France would have less reasons to expand into strategic breton provinces.

You speak as if that was a bad thing.

But to be fair, Highlander should not be Celtic either given that it is much more Pictish-Nordic than Celtic, yet it was tied to the Irish probably because the culture stood out from the lowland Scottish one, and definitely stood out from the English/British one. So, since Highlander was categorized as Celtic, there is a point for Breton being there too, even if Brittany was not in a mountainous remote freezing area of a island were it was less influenced by the cultures and languages around it.

And I just realised they placed Welsh in the British group. Oy vey.

 

[Chap]

You speak as if that was a bad thing.

But to be fair, Highlander should not be Celtic either given that it is much more Pictish-Nordic than Celtic, yet it was tied to the Irish probably because the culture stood out from the lowland Scottish one, and definitely stood out from the English/British one. So, since Highlander was categorized as Celtic, there is a point for Breton being there too, even if Brittany was not in a mountainous remote freezing area of a island were it was less influenced by the cultures and languages around it.

And I just realised they placed Welsh in the British group. Oy vey.

Well it is not a good or bad thing, just it’s what was historically more accurate (although anything can be seen in EUIV)

Culture groups in the game are not perfect and issues may appear everywhere. Anyway, if we put some attention to culture groups in Europe we can see that they tend to be geographically united.

Besides, I understand that linguistic ties mean a common ancestry (originally, the Bretons came from south western England, and that’s how Breton is related to Welsh and Cornish) but in the modern era and EUIV timeline were culturally more tied to France (as the Eastern parts of Brittany were conquered and assimilated into the Carolingian empire).

I suppose that the customs and traditions in Brittany had more in common with those of Normandy or France than with those of Wales, Scotland or Ireland, even though the languages were related.

I hope I explained my opinion well as I understand that the issue with cultures happens quite a lot.

Any opinion about Finistere’s name btw?

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

Well it is not a good or bad thing, just it’s what was historically more accurate (although anything can be seen in EUIV)
(...)
Any opinion about Finistere’s name btw?

Well, thinking in game mechanics, they were enough concerned about being assimilated into France to justify it being represented in both political and cultural ways there, even if Breton only started playing bagpipes in the XX century and what not. Or at least I feel the distinction, for instance, between them and the likes of Provence and Burgundy is not represented at all. They are just another thing in France, and that is a tad reductionist is it not?

And I do not have much knowledge of Breton historical geography to have a informed opinion, aside it was home to a village of intrepid Gauls who resisted roman invasion in the first century before the birth of Our Lord. So, there is that.

 

[BalticM]

Brest, which was the main city in the region as France’s main naval base in the Atlantic Ocean, was the capital of Léon region.

Capital of Leon region was Saint-Pol-de-Leon.
Brest was very small town till 18th century.
I don't think that Brest is viable name of any province (or province capital) in Brittany in these times.

So Cornouaille with Quimpier as capital is obvious choice.