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Britonia (which became Bretoña in Galician and Spanish language) is the name of a Romano-Britons settlement on the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. The area is roughly that of the northern parts of the modern provinces of A Coruña and Lugo in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.
The Britons may have occupied a pre-existing hill fort or Castro culture. Gallaecia had earlier been inhabited by the Gallaeci peoples, before the arrival of the Germanic Suebi.
Some modern toponyms across Galicia and Asturias prove the existence of Brythonic influence on the region. Examples include Bretios in Lugo, Bertoña in A Capela and Barro, or El Breton in Asturias.
The establishment of the episcopal see of the Britons in Gallaecia was more probably not because of a migration, but only because a group of Christians, led by their bishop, must have taken refuge in a place near the coast of Lugo, where they would establish and organize a personal episcopal see, which later reached a territorial demarcation.Ramón Yzquierdo Perrín, Universidade da Coruña, I Congreso do Patrimonio da Diocesis de Mondoñedo, 2000 For this reason the diocese was mentioned in the "Suevo Parish" as Ad sedem Britonorum ecclesiae quae sunt intro Britones una cum Monasterio Maximi et quae sunt in Asturiis. Established in Britonia, the capital of the diocese, regardless of its origin and provenance, its bishops appear in conciliar documents from the 6th century on. For example, Mailoc is among those who participated in the II Bracarense Council held in the year 572, and as its headquarters "was erected shortly before ... Mailoc signed last as least ancient". His successors attended other councils in Toledo and Braga : Errnerico participated in the III of Toledo signing, in 589, as bishop Laniobrense; Metopio attended the next one in 633; at VII, Sonna, who was already consecrated in 646 and who sent the priest Materico to the following council, in 653. In 675 Bishop Bela participated in the III Bracarense Council and then the title of Britonian appears for the last time, since Brandila and Suniagisido, who attended the XIII and XVI Councils of Toledo in the years 683 and 693, sign as Laniobrense bishops.(...)"
The Brythonic settlements were quickly integrated and their adherence to Celtic rite lasted only until the Fourth Council of Toledo in 633 decreed the now so-called Visigothic or Mozarabic rite as the standard liturgy of Hispania. Optimistic scenarios suggest survival of Brythonic language and culture till ~700-800 AD, due to several influences on Galician toponymy.Sabelfeld, Leon-Alexander (2026) Britonian language: A possibility for a Brythonic language in Spanish Galicia
The diocese was suppressed in 716. The line of (errant?) bishops of Britonia nevertheless existed at least until 830, when the area was attacked by the Vikings; it may have continued as late as the Council of Oviedo in 900.
It was finally restored as or merged into the Diocese of Mondoñedo-Ferrol in 866, being assigned territories split off from the Diocese of Oviedo and from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lugo (since 1071 a suffragan of Santiago de Compostela).
In 1233, in the monastery of Meira, Lugo, it was reported about "... britones et biortos, et quantam habui de mulieribus que dicebantur chavellas.", where "britones", most likely addresses Brythonic people, inhabiting Britonia colony, which suggests further survival of Brittonic population into the High Middle Ages.
"Bishop Maeloc is the only Britonian prelate who has a Celtic name (= "great"). The other known bishops always bear Latin or Germanic names.(...)".José Miguel Novo Güisán, Los pueblos vasco-cantábricos y galaicos en la Antigüedad Tardía, siglos III-IX, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Servicio de Publicaciones, 1992 : "(...) el obispo Mailoc, único prelado de Britonia que tiene nombre céltico ( = "grande"). Los demás obispos conocidos llevan siempre nombres latinos o germánicos.(...)
The diocese was nominally restored in 1969 as the Latin Titular bishopric of Britonia (also Curiate Italian) / Britonien(sis) (Latin adjective).
It has had the following incumbents, so far secular priests of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:
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