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Brigantes

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Brigantes
Approximate territory of the Brigantes
Geography
CapitalIsurium Brigantum(Aldborough)
LocationYorkshire-Lancashire-Northumberland-Durham
RulersCartimandua,Venutius,Vellocatus
TheStanwickHorse Mask, 1st century AD

TheBriganteswereAncient Britonswho inpre-Romantimes controlled the largest section of what would becomeNorthern England.Their territory, often referred to asBrigantia,was centred in what was later known asYorkshire.The Greek geographerPtolemynamed the Brigantes as a people inIrelandalso, where they could be found around what is nowWexford,KilkennyandWaterford,[1]while another people namedBrigantiiis mentioned byStraboas a sub-tribe of theVindeliciin the region of theAlps.[2]

WithinBritain,the territory which the Brigantes inhabited was bordered by that of four other peoples: theCarvetiiin the northwest, theParisiito the east and, to the south, theCorieltauviand theCornovii.To the north was the territory of theVotadini,which straddled the present day border betweenEnglandandScotland.

Etymology

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The nameBrigantes(Βρίγαντες inAncient Greek) shares the sameProto-Celticroot as the goddessBrigantia,*brigant-meaning "high, elevated", and it is unclear whether settlements calledBrigantiumwere so named as "high ones" in a metaphorical sense of nobility, or literally as "highlanders", referring to thePennines,or inhabitants of physically elevated fortifications. (IEW,s.v. "bʰerǵʰ-" ). The word is related to GermanBurgundandIranianAlborz (OIr.Hara Berezaiti).

In modern Welsh the wordbraintmeans 'privilege, prestige' and comes from the same root*brigantī.Other related forms from the modern Celtic languages are: Welshbrenin'king' (< *brigantīnos); Welsh/Cornish/Bretonbri'prestige, reputation, honour, dignity', Scottish Gaelicbrìgh'pith, power', Irishbrí'energy, significance',Manxbree'power, energy' (all < *brīg-/brigi-); and Welsh/Cornish/Bretonbre'hill' (<*brigā). The name Bridget fromOld IrishBrigit(Modern IrishBríd) also comes fromBrigantī,as does the English river nameBrentand the connected areaBrentford.

There are several ancient settlements namedBrigantiumaround Europe, such as Berganza inÁlava(Spain),A CoruñaandBergantiñosinGalicia(Spain),BragançaandBragainPortugalandBriançon,[3][4]Brigetioon the border ofSlovakiaandHungary,[5]Brigobannesituated on theBreg riverand near theBrigachriver in southGermany(pre-RomanVindelicia[6])[7]andBregenzin theAlps.From the same origin also stems the name of the Italian sub-region ofBrianza.

Inchronostratigraphy,the Britishsub-stageof theCarboniferousperiod, the Brigantian, derives its name from the Brigantes.[8]

History

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Romano-Brigantiantheatrical mask

There are no written records of the Brigantes before theRoman conquest of Britain;it is therefore hard to assess how long they had existed as a political entity prior to that. Most keyarchaeologicalsites in the region seem to show continued, undisturbed occupation from an early date, so their rise to power may have been gradual rather than a sudden, dramatic conquest, or it may be linked to the burning of the large hill fort atCastle Hill, Huddersfield,c. 430 BC.[9]Territorially the largest tribe in Britain, the Brigantes encompassed sub-tribes orseptssuch as theGabrantoviceson the Yorkshire Coast,[10]and theTextoverdiin the upper valley of the River South Tyne[11]nearHadrian's Wall.The namesPortus SetantiorumandCoria Lopocarumsuggest other groups, theSetantiiand theLopocareslocated on theLancashirecoast and theRiver Tynerespectively. A nameCorionototae[12]is also recorded but since the name seems to derive from*Corion Toutasmeaning "tribal army" or "people's army" it may have been a name for a military force or resistance against the Romans rather than any tribe or sub-tribe. TheCarvetiiwho occupied what is nowCumbriamay have been another sub-tribe, or they may have been separate from the Brigantes. This is often disputed as the Carvetii made up a separatecivitasunder Roman rule.

Roman era

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During the Roman invasion, in 47 AD, the governor of Britain,Publius Ostorius Scapula,was forced to abandon his campaign against theDeceangliofNorth Walesbecause of "disaffection" among the Brigantes, whose leaders had been allies of Rome. A few of those who had taken up arms were killed and the rest were pardoned.[13]In 51, the defeated resistance leaderCaratacussought sanctuary with the Brigantian queen,Cartimandua,but she showed her loyalty to the Romans by handing him over in chains.[14]She and her husbandVenutiusare described as loyal and "defended by Roman arms", but they laterdivorced,Venutius taking up arms first against his ex-wife, then her Roman protectors. During the governorship ofAulus Didius Gallus(52–57) he gathered an army and invaded her kingdom. The Romans sent troops to defend Cartimandua, and they defeated Venutius' rebellion.[15]After the divorce, Cartimandua married Venutius' armour-bearer,Vellocatus,and raised him to the kingship. Venutius staged another rebellion in 69, taking advantage of Roman instability in theYear of the Four Emperors.This time the Romans were only able to sendauxiliaries,who succeeded in evacuating Cartimandua but left Venutius and his anti-Roman supporters in control of the kingdom.[16]

The extensive Iron Age fortifications atStanwickin North Yorkshire were excavated in the 1950s byMortimer Wheelerwho concluded that Venutius probably had this site as his capital, but Durham University's later excavations from 1981 to 1986 ledColin Haselgroveand Percival Turnbull to suggest a slightly earlier dating with Stanwick a centre of power for Cartimandua instead.[17]

After the accession ofVespasian,Quintus Petillius Cerialiswas appointed governor of Britain and the conquest of the Brigantes was begun.[18]It seems to have taken many decades to complete.Gnaeus Julius Agricola(governor 78–84) appears to have engaged in warfare in Brigantian territory.[19]Tacitus, in a speech put into the mouth of theCaledonianleaderCalgacus,refers to the Brigantes, "under a woman's leadership", almost defeating the Romans.[20]The Roman poetJuvenal,writing in the early 2nd century, depicts a Roman father urging his son to win glory by destroying the forts of the Brigantes.[21]There appears to have been a rebellion in the north sometime in the early reign of Hadrian, but details are unclear. A rising of the Brigantes has often been posited as the explanation for the disappearance of theNinth Legion,stationed at York. It is possible that one of the purposes ofHadrian's Wall(begun in 122) was to keep the Brigantes from making discourse with the tribes in what is now the lowlands ofScotlandon the other side. The emperorAntoninus Pius(138–161) is said byPausaniasto have defeated them after they began an unprovoked war against Roman allies,[22]perhaps as part of the campaign that led to the building of theAntonine Wall(142–144).

Settlements

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Ptolemynamed nine principalpoleis(cities) or towns belonging to the Brigantes; these were:

Latin name Modern name Modern County
Epiacum Whitley Castle,Alston[23] Northumberland
Vinovium Binchester[23] County Durham
Caturactonium Catterick[23] North Yorkshire
Calatum Burrow,Lonsdale[23] Lancashire
Isurium Brigantum Aldborough[23] North Yorkshire
Rigodunum Unknown[a] Greater Manchester
Olicanaor Olenacum Ilkley[b] West Yorkshire
Eboracum City of York[23] North Yorkshire
Cambodunum Unknown[c] West Yorkshire
aRigodunum is most likelyCastleshaw’sRoman Fort[23]inGreater Manchester.
bOlenacum is traditionally thought to beIlkley’sRoman Fort,West Yorkshire,but is now thought to be a predecessor ofElslack.[23]
cCambodunum is most likely theSlack Roman Fort[23]nearOutlane,West Yorkshire.

Other settlements known in Brigantian territory include:

Brigantes in Ireland

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The Brigantes are attested inIrelandas well as Britain inPtolemy's 2nd centuryGeographia,[24]but it is not clear what link, if any, existed between the Irish and the British Brigantes.T. F. O'Rahillyproposed that the Irish branch was the origin of the laterUí Bairrcheclan, believing that they belonged to the Érainn (Ptolemy'sIverni) who he hypothesized were originally descendant from the Gaulish and British Belgae[25]according to his model of Irish prehistory. ProfessorJohn T. Kochposits links between the British and Irish groups, identifying the Romano-British goddessBrigantiawith the IrishBrigidand pointing to a possibly Roman or Romano-British burial in Stonyford,County Kilkenny.He identifies the Irish Brigantes with the early mediaeval Uí Brigte clan.[26]

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  • The 2010 filmCenturionfollows the destiny of theNinth Legion,seen from the perspective of centurion Quintus Dias. Both the Ninth and Dias become embroiled in the machinations of Etain (Olga Kurylenko), a Brigantes warrior, acting as a scout, when she subsequently betrays them to thePicts.
  • In the 1954 novelThe Eagle of the NinthbyRosemary Sutcliff,one of the main characters is Esca, the captured son of a chieftain of the Brigantes, who travels with the Roman soldier Marcus Aquila north ofHadrian's Wallto discover what happened to theLegio IX Hispana.The character was played byChristian Rodskain the 1977 BBC adaptation andJamie Bellin the 2011 film adaptationThe Eagle.
  • In 2020, the English rugby league club,Wigan Warriors,referenced a Brigantian warrior in their new club logo claiming that the Brigantes "had roots and lineage in the town of Wigan".[27]
  • The 1982science fictionnovelBattlefield Earth,byL. Ron Hubbard,includes a group of minor characters in the distant future who call themselves the Brigantes. They are presented as treacherous mercenaries andcannibalsfrom somewhere inAfrica,and no connection to the historical Brigantes or the meaning of their chosen name is ever explained.[28]

References

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  1. ^"Celtic Ireland in the Iron Age".WesleyJohnston.com. 24 October 2007.
  2. ^Strabo,GeographiaBook IV Chap. 6
  3. ^"The Brigantes".Roman-Britain.co.uk. 24 October 2007.
  4. ^"Brigantium".Terra.es. 24 October 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 18 September 2008.Retrieved25 October2007.
  5. ^"Brigetio (Szöny) Komárom".The Princeton encyclopedia. 1976.
  6. ^"Vindelicia map".Europeana. 1830.
  7. ^"Brigobanne Germany".The Princeton encyclopedia. 1976.
  8. ^Harland, W.B. 1990A Geologic Time Scale 1989,Cambridge University Press p43
  9. ^William Jones Varley,Castle Hill, Almondbury; A Brief Guide to the Excavations 1939–1972Tolson Memorial Museum (1973)
  10. ^Ptolemy,GeographiaII, 3, 4
  11. ^B. Collingwood & R.P. Wright (eds.)The Roman Inscriptions of Britain(1965) Oxford
  12. ^Mc Caul, John,Britanno-Roman Inscriptions with Critical Notes(1863)
  13. ^Tacitus,Annals12.32
  14. ^Tacitus,Annals12:36
  15. ^Tacitus,Annals12:40
  16. ^Tacitus,Histories3:45
  17. ^Stanwick North Yorkshire, Part I: Recent Research and Previous Archaeological Investigations; Haselgrove, Turnbull, Fitts; Royal Archaeological Institute
  18. ^Tacitus,Agricola17
  19. ^Tacitus,Agricola20
  20. ^Tacitus,Agricola31
  21. ^Juvenal,Satires14.196
  22. ^Pausanias,Description of Greece8.43.4
  23. ^abcdefghiGeographical identifications as given inwww.roman-britain.co.uk."The Geography of Ptolemy".Retrieved3 September2023.
  24. ^Ptolemy,Geographia2.1,2.2
  25. ^O'Rahilly, T. F. (1946),Early Irish History and Mythology,Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
  26. ^Koch, J.T.,Celtic Culture: A Historical EncyclopediaVol. I pp. 312-313
  27. ^"The Why and How".Wigan Warriors Blog.1 November 2020.Retrieved2 November2020.
  28. ^"Compendium".

Further reading

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