Everything about The Brigantes totally explained
The
Brigantes were a
Celtic tribe who in
pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of
Northern England and a significant part of the
Midlands. Their
kingdom was known as
Brigantia and it was centered in what is now known as
Yorkshire, the Brigantes were the only Celtic tribe to have a presence in England and
Ireland; in the latter of which they could be found around
Wexford,
Kilkenny and
Waterford.
Within England the territory which the Brigantes dwelled was bordered by that of four other Celtic tribes in total; the
Carvetii in the North-West (whom they may have been related to), the
Parisii to the East and directly below them in the South was the
Coritani and the
Cornovii.
Etymology
The name
Brigantes (Βρίγαντες) is cognate to that of the goddess
Brigantia. The name is from a root meaning "high, elevated", and it's unclear whether settlements called
Brigantium were so named as "high ones" in a metaphorical sense of nobility, or literally as "highlanders" or inhabitants of physically elevated fortifications. (
IEW, s.v. "bhereg'h-").
There are several ancient settlements named
Brigantium around
Europe: there was also a tribe called the
Brigantes from what is modern day
Betanzos,
Spain falling within an area referred to as
Celtic Gallaecia. Similarly the
Brigantii from the
Alps is another example, from settlements bearing the name
Brigantium now known as
Bregenz and
Briançon.
The
Old Italian word
brigante, whence English
brigand, occurs in
medieval Latin in the 14th century n the forms
brigancii, brigantii, brigantini, brigantes (
OED). The exact connection of the Italian term to the Celtic ethnonym is opaque. The Italian noun appears to derive from a verb
brigare "to brawl, brabble", but the Latin forms show at least a secondary association with the Celtic tribe; during
Roman times, the Brigantes were known as the most
militant tribe in Britain,
History
The origins of the Brigantes are obscure, however at least the leaders are thought to have been related to
Continental European tribes, either the Brigantes of
Celtic Gallaecia or the Brigantii of the
Alps. Once a confederation of smaller
Iron Age tribes in Britain which had become one large one, the largest in all of
Great Britain, smaller
septs or
pagi within Brigantia included; Gabrantovices of coastal
North Yorkshire, Latenses of the
Leeds area, Setantii in coastal
Lancashire, the Lopocares and Textoverdi far north near where
Hadrian's Wall would be built and the
Carvetii of
Cumbria who would actually gain autonomy by the time of the
Roman conquest of Britain of 43 AD.
In 47, the governor of Britain,
Publius Ostorius Scapula, was forced to abandon his campaign against the
Deceangli of North Wales because of "disaffection" among the Brigantes. A few of those who had taken up arms were killed and the rest were pardoned. In 51, the defeated resistance leader
Caratacus sought sanctuary with the Brigantian queen,
Cartimandua, but she showed her loyalty to the Romans by handing him over in chains.. She and her husband
Venutius are described as loyal and "defended by Roman arms", but they later divorced, Venutius taking up arms first against his ex-wife, then her Roman protectors. During the governorship of
Aulus Didius Gallus (52-57) he gathered an army and invaded her kingdom. The Romans sent troops to defend Cartimandua and Venutius's rebellion was defeated after fierce fighting. After the divorce, Cartimandua married Venutius's armour-bearer,
Vellocatus, and raised him to the kingship. Venutius staged another rebellion in 69, taking advantage of Roman instability in the
Year of four emperors. This time the Romans were only able to send
auxiliaries, who succeeded in evacuating Cartimandua but left Venutius in possession of the kingdom.
After the accession of
Vespasian,
Quintus Petillius Cerialis was appointed governor of Britain and the conquest of the Brigantes was begun. It seems to have taken many decades to complete.
Gnaeus Julius Agricola (governor 78-84) appears to have engaged in warfare in Brigantian territory. The Roman poet Juvenal, writing in the early 2nd century, depicts a Roman father urging his son to win glory by destroying the forts of the Brigantes. It is possible that one of the purposes of
Hadrian's Wall (begun in 122) was to keep the Brigantes from making discourse with the tribes in what is now the lowlands of
Scotland on the other side. The emperor
Antoninus Pius (138-161) is said by
Pausanias to have defeated them after they began an unprovoked war against Roman allies, perhaps as part of the campaign that led to the building of the
Antonine Wall (142-144).
Tacitus, in a speech put into the mouth of the
Caledonian leader
Calgacus, refers to the Brigantes, "under a woman's leadership", almost defeating the Romans. This appears to be a reference to
Boudica of the
Iceni, attributed to the Brigantes in error. The Brigantes are attested in
Ireland as well as Britain in
Ptolemy's 2nd century
Geographia.
Settlements
Ptolemy named nine principal
poleis or towns belonging to the Brigantes, these were;
Other settlements known in Brigantian territory include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Brigantes'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://brigantes.totallyexplained.com">Brigantes Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
