cularly
those of St Samson, St Paul, Aurelian, St Winwaloe, St Ninnoc, St Gildas
and St Brieuc. Of even greater value are the names in the Charter of
Redon, which was written in the 11th century, but dates largely from the
9th (published by A. de Courson, 1865); we may also mention the Charter
of Landevennec (11th century). In the Middle Breton period, which
extends from the 11th to the 17th centuries, we are obliged, down to the
15th century, to rely on official documents such as the Charter of
Quimperle. French seems to have been the language of the aristocracy and
the medium of culture. Hence the oldest connected texts are either
translated or imitated from French, and are full of French words. We
might mention a Book of Hours belonging to the 16th century, published
by Whitley Stokes, and three religious poems bound up with the _Grand
Mystere de Jesus_; further, the _Life of St Catherine_ (1576) in prose
(published by Ernault, _Revue celtique_, viii. 76), translated from the
_Golden Legend_, the _Mirror of Death_, containing 3360 verses, which
was composed in 1519 and printed in 1576, the _Mirror of Confession_, a
translation from the French in prose (1621), the _Christian Doctrine_, a
translation in verse (1622), a collection of carols (_An Nouelou
ancien_, 1650, _Rev. celt._ vols. x.-xiii.) and the _Christian
Meditations_ of J. Cadec, 1651 (_Rev. Celt._ xx. 56). The earliest
Breton printed work is the _Catholicon_ of Jean Lagadeuc, a
Breton-Latin-French dictionary, dated 1464 but printed first in 1499
(reprinted by R.F. Le Men, Lorient, 1867). Modern Breton begins with the
orthographical reforms of the Jesuit, Julien Maunoir, whose grammar (_Le
Sacre College de Jesus_) and dictionary appeared in 1659. Throughout the
modern period we find numerous collections of religious poems and
manuals of devotion in prose and verse, which we cannot here attempt to
enumerate. But the bulk of Breton literature before the 19th century
consists of mysteries and miracle plays. This class of literature had a
tremendous vogue in Brittany, and the native stage was only killed about
1850. It is stated, for instance, that no less than 15,000 copies were
sold of the _Tragedy of the Four Sons of Aymon_, first published in
1815. It is impossible to give the titles of all the dramas which have
come down to us (about 120). The manuscript collection of the
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris is described in the _Revue celtique_,
xi. 389-423 (many