Breton saints refers to one of two groups, the innumerable people who lived, died, worked in, or came to be particularly venerated in the nine traditional dioceses of Brittany (Cornouailles, Dol, Leon, Nantes, Rennes, Saint-Brioc, Saint-Malo, Treguier, Vannes) who were accepted as saintly before the establishment of the Congregation of Rites (now the Congregation for the Causes of Saints), or those saints, blesseds, venerables, and Servants of God who have come to be recognized since that time.
Before the Bretons came, the land now known as Brittany was known as Armorica within the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. The earliest saint associated with this region is Saint Anne, mother of Mary (mother of Jesus), said by tradition to have been Armorican, and she is the patroness of Brittany. She also appeared to Yves Nicolazic, to whom she spoke in Breton.
After her, the earliest saints in what is now Brittany have dates which are sometimes unclear, but tradition holds they go back to the earliest days of the Church. One Saint Maxime, said to have been the disciple of Saint Philip the Apostle, was sent to preach among the Gauls and was made the first Bishop of Rennes. He may have been accompanied by saints by the names of Clarus and Justus. Pope Saint Linus, the second Bishop of Rome, sent Saints Clair and Adeodatus; this is said to be the Saint Clair who became the first Bishop of Nantes around AD 280 and died early in the third century, though the dates make this suspect, and Saint Adeodatus preached especially in the area of Vannes. Other Armorican saints include Saint Similien, the third Bishop of Nantes in the early fourth century, and the brother-martyrs saints Donatian and Rogatian. Saint Palladius may also have had an Armorican connection.
The Bretons, coming from the British Isles, brought Christianity with them. With the coming of the Bretons, the seven ancient dioceses were established by the seven founding saints.
Tudwal founded Tréguier
Pol Aurelian founded Saint-Pol-de-Leon
Brioc founded Saint-Brieuc
Malo founded Saint-Malo
Patern founded Vannes
Corentin founded Cornouailles
Samson founded Dol
The other two dioceses of Brittany were founded by Saint Clair de Nantes and Saint Maxime de Rennes.
Darerca, Queen of Brittany
Judicael, Breton king
Salomon, King of Brittany
AEmilien, Bishop of Nantes
Alain, fourth Bishop of Quimper
Alori, Bishop of Quimper
Amand, Bishop of Rennes
Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, born near Nantes
Armand, fifth Bishop of Vannes
Armel, sixth Bishop of Dol
Aubin (or Albinus), Bishop of Angers (529-550), born near Vannes
Bilius I, sixteenth Bishop of Vannes
Bilius II, thirty-third Bishop of Vannes (891-908)
Budoc, third Bishop of Dol
Budoc, twelfth Bishop of Vannes
Catuodus, fifteenth Bishop of Vannes
Clement, third Bishop of Vannes
Didier, Bishop of Rennes
Dominius, second Bishop of Vannes
Enogat, seventh Bishop of Saint-Malo
Felix, sixth century Bishop of Nantes
Gaud, Bishop of Évreux
Germanus of Man, first Bishop on the Isle of Man
Genevee, fourth Bishop of Dol
Gobrien, twenty-first Bishop of Vannes (720-725)
Goennoc, Bishop of Quimper
Gouesnon, Bishop of Leon
Goulven, Bishop of Leon
Guenin, tenth Bishop of Vannes
Hinguethen, thirteenth Bishop of Vannes
Ignoroc (or Vigorocus), eleventh Bishop of Vannes
Jumael, seventh Bishop of Dol
Justoc, twenty-second Bishop of Vannes
Magliore, second Bishop of Dol
Maelmon, Bishop of Aleth
Melaine, Bishop of Rennes
Meldroc, seventeenth Bishop of Vannes
Meriasek, fourteenth Bishop of Vannes (650-666)
Moran, Bishop of Rennes
Oudoceus, Bishop of Llandaff
Pasquier, twentieth Bishop of Nantes
Pergat, third Bishop of Treguier
Restoald, fifth Bishop of Dol
Ruelin, second Bishop of Treguier
Saturnin, sixth Bishop of Vannes
Tenenan, Bishop of Leon
Turian, eighth Bishop of Dol
Aaron of Aleth
Abran
Alanus de Rupe
Armel
Austol
Baglan
Benedict of Masserac
Branwalator
Cadfan
Cadoc
Cadou
Canna
Cenydd
Columba of Cornwall (not Bretish, but patroness of a Bretish village)
Conwoïon
Creirwy
Elwen
Felix of Rhuys
Friard d'Indret
Gildas the Wise
Gildas the Albanian
Gilduin, canon of Dol
Goeznovius
Goustan (or Sulstanus), lay brother, died c. 1009
Guénolé
Guirec
Gurthiern
Guyomard, martyr at Ploudery in 499
Gwen Teirbron
Gwenhael
Gwinear
Hermeland d'Indre
Herve
Illtud
Jacut
Judoc
Justinian of Ramsey Island
Kea
Lunaire
Magloire
Martin of Vertou
Maudez
Maurice, a Cistercian and first abbot of Carnoet (1117-1191)
Mawgan
Mechell
Méen
Melor
Miliau
Non
Osmanna, seventh century Irish princess
Ronan of Locronan
Sadwrn
Secondel, companion of Friard d'Indret
Senara
Sithney
Tanguy
Tremeur, sixth century martyr
Tysilio or Suliac
Tudy of Landevennec
Viaud
Victor of Cambon
Winnoc
Winwaloe
The "modern" in modern saints refers to the process, not the person, and groups those whose status has been recognized by Rome.
Benedetto Menni, priest, canonized in 1999
Gohard of Nantes, Bishop, canonized in 1096
Louis de Montfort, priest, canonized in 1947
Marie of the Cross (Jeanne Jugan), religious, canonized in 2009
Mother Theodore, religious, canonized in 2006
Vincent Ferrer, Dominican priest, canonized in 1455
William Pinchon, Bishop, canonized in 1247
Yves Helory, priest, canonized in 1347
Of the One Hundred Twenty Martyrs of China
Marie of Saint Natalie (Jeanne-Marie Guerguin)
Marie of Saint Just (Anne-Françoise Moreau)
Cassien of Nantes, Capuchin, beatified in 1905
Charles of Blois, duke, beatified in 1904
Julian Maunoir, Jesuit priest, beatified in 1951
Marcel Callo, layman, beatified in 1987
Mary of the Passion, religious, beatified in 2002
Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Lamoignon, religious, beatified in 2012
Pierre-Rene Rouge, Vincentian priest, beatified in 1934
Of the Twenty Martyrs of Capuchin Tertiary Fathers and Brothers of Our Lady of Sorrows in Spain, beatified in 2001
Carmen Marie Anne Garcia Moyon
Of the Fifteen Martyrs of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Ursulines of Valenciennes, beatified in 1920
Therese-Madeleine Fantou
Of the One Hundred Ninety-One Martyrs of the September Massacres, beatified in 1926
Charles-Francois le Gue
Claude-Antoine-Raoul Laporte
Francois-Hyacinth le Livec de Tresurin
Henri-August Luzeau de la Mulonniere
Jean-Charles-Marie Bernard du Cornillet
Joseph Becavin
Louis-Laurent Gaultier
Mathurin-Nicolas de la Villecrohain le Bous de Villeneuve
Nicolas-Marie Verron
Rene-Joseph Urvoy
Rene-Julien Massey
Rene-Marie Andrieux
Vincent-Joseph le Rousseau de Rosencoat
Yves-Andre Guillon de Keranrun
Yves-Jean-Pierre Rey de Kervisic
David, cult confirmed in 1120
Françoise d'Amboise, cult confirmed 1863
John of the Grating, Cistercian Bishop, cult confirmed in 1517
Yann Divotou, Franciscan priest, cult confirmed in 1989
Ralph de la Futaye, unclear when cult confirmed
Alain-Marie Guynot de Boismenu, religious Bishop, proclaimed in 2014
Jean-Marie Robert de la Mennais, religious priest, proclaimed in 1966
Marie-Amelie Fristel, religious, proclaimed in 1976
Michel le Nobletz, priest, proclaimed in 1915
Alano Maria du Noday
Catherine de Francheville
Claude-Francois Poullart des Places
Francois-Marie-Benjamin Richard de la Vergne
Jacques Cathelineau
Jean of Saint Samson
Marie-Yvonne-Aimee of Jesus
Pauline-Louise Pinczon du Sel
Pierre Quintin
Pierre-Joseph Picot de Cloriviere
Robert of Arbrissel
Simon Brute
Victor Lelievre
Yves Nicolazic (Ivon Nikolazig in Breton)
Of the Fifty Martyrs of France of the Apostolate Within the Service du Travail Obligatoire
Eugene Lemoine
Maurice-Philippe Bouchard
Roger (Paul) le Ber
Of the Thirty-Eight Martyrs of the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris
Francois-Georges Cormaux
Therese Guillaudeu du Plessis
Victoire Conen de Saint-Luc
Of the Nineteen Martyrs of Algeria
Alain Dieulangard
Celestin Ringeard
Michel Fleury
Of the Fifteen Martyrs of Laos
Jean-Baptiste Malo
Joseph Boissel
Vincent L'Henoret
The Eighty-Five Martyrs of Rennes
Fr. Corentin Cloarec, OFM, killed by the Nazis
Joachim Nio, OMI, killed by the Gestapo
