The Seigneurial Domestic Buildings of Brittany: A Provisional Assessment

Abstract

Since 1983 a multi-disciplinary survey of buildings of the manor-house type in the historic duchy of Brittany has been undertaken. The present paper presents provisional results, chiefly based on work up to the 1987 season in two of the five modern départements of the province: Côtes-du-Nord and Ille-et-Vilaine. After a brief historical introduction discussing the political and social context of the manoirs, their relationship to earlier seigneurial dwellings such as motte-and-bailey castles or maisons-fortes, their origins and numbers are considered. Then the different forms of the manorial ensemble and existing types of building are surveyed, highlighting those where detailed archival, archaeological and dendrochronological studies have been carried out. The survey has brought to light a small number of standard forms originating in the Middle Ages. Their main features and variants are described and the general architectural evolution of this class of building down to the Renaissance is traced, concluding with a limited commentary on the broader historical context.

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