Bretonnia is a royal land of knights, chivalry and fay spirits. The commonfolk, as well as the nobility and the gentry, all worship a benign goddess known as the "Lady of the Lake." Bretonnia is a powerful Kingdom governed by a hereditary monarchy and divided into thirteen feudal duchies each controlled by a powerful Duke.
As one becomes more familiar with this royal land, you can see several similarities between the legends and myths of our world and that of the world of Warhammer. The Kingdom of Bretonnia is most closely associated with the Arthurian mythos as well as the grandeur and nobility of Medieval France. In fact, most, if not all, of the main characters of Bretonnia have French-sounding names though there is also a smattering of characters from the Legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
According to the legends, the Lady appeared to a young nobleman known as Lord Gilles of Bastonne and requested that he free the lands of the Bretonni tribesmen from the presense of the evil "greenskins" (ie. orcs and goblins). Lord Gilles slowly ventured throughout the land joined one by one by other noble warriors while undertaking the "Twelve Great Battles."
Lord Gilles' original twelve companions included the following chivalrous knights: