The Duchy of Brittany (Breton: Dugelezh Breizh, French: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the English Channel to the north, and less definitively by the Loire River to the south and Normandy and other French provinces to the east. The duchy was established after the expulsion of Viking armies from the region around 939. The Duchy, in the 10th and 11th centuries, was politically unstable, with the dukes only holding limited power outside their own personal lands. The duchy had mixed relationships with the neighbouring Duchy of Normandy, sometimes allying itself with Normandy, and at other times, such as the Breton-Norman War, entering into open conflict.