Brittany (The Once and Never Kings)

The Kingdom of Brittany and Duchy of Aquitaine, Brittany-Aquitaine, Brittany, is a member of Francia, holding much of its Atlantic coast. It borders numerous other Francian states, including Normandy, Guyenne, Auvergne, and Anjou. It is divided by the County of Retz, which has lead to conflict with the small state and its allies.

History
Long subject to Viking raids, the kings of Brittany expelled them in the late ninth century. The Breton kings became closely associated with the Frankish kings, and were brought into Francia as Dukes. As central authority in Francia collapsed following the Capetian War, the Bretons were eager to assert their independence again, and to take a leading role in the empire.

But attempts to subjugate Maine, Anjou, and Retz militarily would only lead to embassing defeats. The rule of Alan IV would see the Dukes turn to marriage and diplomacy. While their intended targets (the lands of the House of Anjou), didn't pan out, they managed to inherit the Duchy of Aquitaine, having been divide into it and Guyenne as division of inheritance. Their rule in Aquitaine would be contested by Normandy and Burgundy, however it was successfully defended.

However, the Aquitainians themselves were often displeased with their Breton overlords, and rebellions defined the early fifteenth century. When Breton explorers discovered Eriksbjod in 1461, many in the first waves of settlers in Brittany's new holdings in the Caribbean were from Aquitaine.

In another attempt to reject Breton rule, many in Aquitaine turned Lutheranism when the Reformation picked up steam (something the staunchly Catholic Breton rulers denounced). Divided from Brittany proper when the lands were split between the brothers of John of Brittany and Robert of Aquitaine, Lutheranism spread faster. Joining the Schmalkaldic League, it brought the religious strife plaguing the Holy Roman Empire to Francia. Despite the League's defeat in the Schmalkaldic War, it won religious freedom for Litheran practitioners.

The death of the childless Duke John saw Aquitaine revert to Brittany proper in 1603. When the newly ascended zealotous Duke Robert tried to forcefully bring Aquitaine back to Catholicism in 1618, it revolted.

The revolt provoked a military response from the Protestant states of Francia and the Holy Roman Empire, starting the Forty Years War. The rebel Protestant forces in Aquitaine would fall in 1620, however, leaving Brittany to deal with the Aragonese armies. Southern Aquitaine would be ravaged by the war, and leave many towns deserted as a result. Thanks to it having to deal with Aragon, it would be unable to send forces westward, where Germany was proving to be the main battleground of the war (the the exception of a minor Swedish invasion in 1629). The Breton victory at the battle of Rodez in 1640 improved the Francian Catholic Leagues position greatly. But an attempted invasion of Aragonese Toulouse amounted to little. In the end, the Battle of Heilbronn, where Brittany was uninvolved, ushered the end of the war. Brittany's control of Aquitaines would be confirmed in the Peace of Hamburg, though it would have to tolerate Calvinism too as a result.

It's repeated holding of the Francian throne has allowed it to fulfill several ambitions within the Empire. First among them, King Peter was able to secure Brittany's ascension to a kingdom in 1749. There was much celebration in the former duchy when Peter was crowned the first King of Brittany in eight hundred years.

Brittany's aims to expand colonial possessions in the mainland New World continents would prove failures. It would shift to Africa and Asia, establishing a number of forts. It would also secure a large section of northeast Australia as its own, known as New Poitou.

Attempts to push into the East Indies only invited conflict from Ayutthaya and Brunei, leading to the confiscation of Breton trading forts in the area. A brief war with the Hanseatic Republic over their Caribbean islands also yielded no gains, and only lead to increased tensions.