Dol-de-Bretagne (, literally Dol of Brittany; ; Gallo: Dóu), cited in most historical records under its Breton name of Dol, is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine département in Brittany in northwestern France. Geography Dol-de-Bretagne is situated in the northern part of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, 6 km from the English Channel coast and 22 km southeast of Saint-Malo. Dol-de-Bretagne station is served by high speed trains to Rennes and Paris, and regional trains to Saint-Malo, Saint-Brieuc, Granville and Rennes. History Dol is a Breton term meaning "low and fertile place in the flood plain of a waterway;" cf. Welsh dôl ("meadow"). In 549, the Welsh Saint Teilo was documented as coming to Dol where he joined Samson of Dol, and the fruit groves which they planted remain and are known as the groves of Teilo and Samson. Legend has it that while there he was assigned by King Budic II to subdue a belligerent winged dragon, which he was said to have tamed and then tied to a rock in the sea off Brittany. He is reported to have stayed in Dol for seven years and seven months so must have left in 556 or 557. Dol-de-Bretagne is reputed to be the origin of the royal House of Stewart who became the monarchs of Scotland and later England and Ireland; a plaque in Dol commemorates that origin. The Stewart monarchs descend from Alan the Seneschal of the Bishop of Dol. His son, Flaad Fitzalan and his son Alan, arrived in Britain at the request of Henry I, King of England. Flaad's grandson, Walter Fitzalan, was appointed the 1st Steward of Scotland by David I of Scotland. Malcolm IV of Scotland later confirmed the honour bestowed by David and made the office of Steward of Scotland hereditary in Walter's family. In the fourteenth century, Walter Stewart (so named for his family's hereditary possession of the office of High Steward of Scotland), a descendant of Walter Fitzalan, married Marjorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert I of Scotland. Their son became King Robert II, and their descendants the royal House of Stewart. Dol figured prominently in the formation and evolution of the Duchy of Brittany. Nominoe, the ruler of Brittany attempted to establish a Patriarch for the Breton church in a move to give it autonomy, and thereby strengthen his rule and further secure his independence from the Carolingian Empire. It took centuries for