Quimper

Quimper grew at the meeting of the Odet and Steïr in western Brittany, as an episcopal and commercial centre of Cornouaille. In the later Middle Ages its walled town lay under the bishop's jurisdiction, while the duke's authority extended over a suburb beyond the Steïr. The town suffered during the Breton War of Succession, and after Brittany's union with France in 1532 its community continued to negotiate with the bishop over local rights. In 1547 the town gained control of the Sainte-Catherine hospital despite his opposition. During the Wars of Religion Quimper declared for the Catholic League in 1594, endured sieges by royal forces, and submitted to the king that October. War, famine and plague afflicted Cornouaille. At nearby Locmaria, Jean-Baptiste Bousquet established himself as a pipe maker in 1690; his son Pierre, a faience maker, joined him in 1707. Their work helped begin the pottery tradition for which Quimper became known.