Rennes City Guide

First establishments

Portes Mordelaises

The Holy See

Jean Leperdit

The City Hall

Palais du Commerce

The Parliament of Brittany

<p>Standing before the imposing façade of the Parlement of Brittany, you are not just looking at a building; you are witnessing a key chapter in the story of Rennes and its place in the broader tapestry of French history. The Parlement of Brittany, established in 1554, was more than a court of law—it was the very heart of Brittany's resistance to centralization and a powerful symbol of the region's unique identity. The integration of Rennes into the Kingdom of Brittany in the early medieval period set the stage for centuries of tension between the fiercely independent Breton nobility and the centralizing ambitions of the French monarchy. This building stands as a testament to that struggle.</p> <p>During the Old Regime, Brittany was one of the few provinces that retained significant autonomy within the Kingdom of France. The nobles of Brittany, through the Parlement, vigorously defended their "Brittany freedom," a set of privileges that protected their rights and local customs from being overridden by royal edicts. This balance of power was delicate, often tense, and the Parlement of Brittany was at the center of it all, mediating between the demands of the French crown and the rights of the Breton people. It was a time when the notions of regional identity and centralized power were in constant conflict, with Rennes often at the forefront of these battles.</p> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ciceru-assets-stg/db499b03-0bd0-4a07-afa1-d2ee7f363c5f/nQ2rVkJx-zUSom62V-Ouverture_des_Etats_de_Bretagne.webp" alt="undefined" style="height: auto;width: 320px"/> <blockquote>The States of Brittany - <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ouverture_des_Etats_de_Bretagne.jpg" target="_self"><ins>Source</ins></a></blockquote> <p>One of the most significant events in this ongoing struggle was the Stamped Paper Revolt of 1675. Sparked by the imposition of new taxes by Louis XIV, the revolt was a dramatic assertion of Brittany’s resistance to the central government’s overreach. The Parlement of Brittany, caught between the demands of the people and the orders of the king, became a flashpoint for this unrest. Though the revolt was eventually suppressed, it marked a critical moment in the long history of Brittany's defiance against centralized authority, a defiance that would continue to simmer until the French Revolution.</p>

Saint-Germain

Saint George Palace