Brigantes

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Brigantes

The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe

List of Celtic tribes

This is a list of Celtic tribes and associated Celts with their geographical localization....
who in pre-Roman

British Iron Age

The British Iron Age is a conventional name in the archaeology of Great Britain referring to the prehistoric and proto-historic phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding Ireland....
times controlled the largest section of Northern England

Northern England

Northern England, the North, the North of England, or the North Country refers to the parts of England north of an ill-defined line....
and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
was known as Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a Historic counties of England of northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Because of its great size, over time functions were increasingly undertaken by its subdivisions, which have been subject to History of local government in Yorkshire....
. The Brigantes were the only Celtic tribe to have a presence in both England and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, in the latter of which they could be found around Wexford

County Wexford

County Wexford is a maritime county in the southeast of Republic of Ireland, in the province of Leinster. It takes its name from the principal town, Wexford, founded by Vikings and named by them 'Waesfjord', meaning 'inlet or bay of the mud-flats' in the Old Norse language....
, Kilkenny

Kilkenny

Kilkenny, , is the county seat of County Kilkenny in Republic of Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore, at the centre of County Kilkenny in the Provinces of Ireland of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland....
and Waterford

County Waterford

County Waterford is a county in the province of Munster on the south coast of Republic of Ireland. It is the smallest county in Munster in terms of both area and population....
.

Within England, the territory which the Brigantes inhabited was bordered by that of four other Celtic tribes: the Carvetii

Carvetii

The Carvetii were a people and civitas of Roman Britain living in what is now Cumbria and Lancashire in north-west England. They are not mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography or in any other classical text, and are known only from inscriptions found in Penrith, Cumbria and Temple Sowerby in Cumbria....
(to whom they may have been related) in the North-West, the Parisii

Parisii (Yorkshire)

The Parisii were a List of Celtic tribes who in British Iron Age times controlled almost all of the area which is now known as the East Riding of Yorkshire....
to the East and, to the South, the Coritani

Coritani

The Corieltauvi were a tribe of people living in British Iron Age prior to the Roman conquest of Britain, and thereafter a civitas of Roman Britain....
and the Cornovii.

name Brigantes (????a?te?) is cognate to that of the goddess Brigantia

Brigantia (goddess)

Brigantia was a goddess in Celtic polytheism religion of Late Antiquity.In the interpretatio Romana, she was equated with Victoria ....
.

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Encyclopedia

The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe

List of Celtic tribes

This is a list of Celtic tribes and associated Celts with their geographical localization....
who in pre-Roman

British Iron Age

Northern England

Monarchy

Yorkshire

Ireland

County Wexford

Kilkenny

County Waterford

Carvetii

Parisii (Yorkshire)

Coritani

The Corieltauvi were a tribe of people living in British Iron Age prior to the Roman conquest of Britain, and thereafter a civitas of Roman Britain....
and the Cornovii.

Etymology

The name Brigantes (????a?te?) is cognate to that of the goddess Brigantia

Brigantia (goddess)

Brigantia was a goddess in Celtic polytheism religion of Late Antiquity.In the interpretatio Romana, she was equated with Victoria ....
. The name is from a root meaning "high, elevated", and it is 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
Brigantium

The ancient Latin name Brigantium may refer to:* Betanzos, Galicia, Spain* Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria* Brian?on, Dauphin?, France* Bragan?a, Alto Tr?s-os-Montes, Portugal...
around Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
: there was also a tribe called the Brigantes from what is modern day Betanzos

Betanzos

Betanzos is a municipality in Galicia , Spain, in the A Coru?a . Betanzos was formerly called by its ancient Latin name Brigantium. The town is located in a fertile valley close to the Atlantic Ocean, and it has one of the best preserved old quarters in Galicia....
, Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
falling within an area referred to as Celtic Gallaecia

Celtic Gallaecia

Gallaecia has had human settlers since Prehistoric Europe, dating back to the 30th century BC. The Ancient Greece knew the settlers resided on the north of the river Douro by the name of Kallaikoi, maybe because of the name of the Celtic Goddess Cailleach....
. Similarly the Brigantii from the Alps

Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
is another example, from settlements bearing the name Brigantium now known as Bregenz

Bregenz

Bregenz is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria of Austria. The city is located on the eastern shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the east and Germany in the northwest....
and Briançon

Briançon

Brian?on is a communes of France in the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France in the Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is the Subprefectures in France of the department....
.

The Old Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
word brigante, whence English brigand

Brigand

Brigand may refer to:* An outlaw, one who practices brigandage.* The Bristol Brigand, a torpedo bomber....
, occurs in medieval Latin

Medieval Latin

Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration....
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

Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
times, the Brigantes were known as the most militant

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
tribe in Britain.

History

The origins of the Brigantes are obscure, however at least the leaders are thought to have been related to Continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas....
an tribes, either the Brigantes of Celtic Gallaecia

Celtic Gallaecia

Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
. Once a confederation of smaller Iron Age tribes in Britain

Iron Age tribes in Britain

The names of the Iron Age tribes in Britain were recorded by Roman Empire and Ancient Greece historians and geographers, especially Ptolemy, although information from coin distribution has also shed light on the extents of the territories of the various groups that occupied the island....
which had become one large one, the largest in all of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, smaller sept

Sept (social)

A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a Scottish clan. The word might have its origin from Latin septum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect....
s or pagi

Pagus

In the later Western Roman Empire, following the reorganization of Diocletian, a pagus became the smallest administrative district of a Roman province....
within Brigantia included; Gabrantovices of coastal North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a shire county or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial counties of England in that region and also partly in North East England....
, Latenses of the Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England. It is the urban core and administrative centre of the wider metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds....
area, Setantii in coastal Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of Historic counties of England in the North West England of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea....
, the Lopocares and Textoverdi far north near where Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall is a Rock and Sod fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the middle of three such fortifications built across Great Britain, the first being from the River Clyde to the River Forth under Agricola and the last the Ant...
would be built and the Carvetii

Carvetii

Cumbria

Cumbria is a non-metropolitan county in the North West England of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
who would actually gain autonomy by the time of the Roman conquest of Britain

Roman conquest of Britain

By AD 43, the time of the main Roman invasion of Britain, Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire....
of 43 AD.

In 47, the governor of Britain, Publius Ostorius Scapula

Publius Ostorius Scapula

Publius Ostorius Scapula was a Roman empire statesman and general who governed Roman Britain from 47 until his death, and was responsible for the defeat and capture of Caratacus....
, was forced to abandon his campaign against the Deceangli

Deceangli

The Deceangli or Deceangi were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Isles, prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. The tribe lived in north Wales, though it is uncertain whether their territory covered only the modern counties of Flintshire and Denbighshire in the north-east of Wales or whether it extended further west....
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

Caratacus

Caratacus was a historical British Iron Age chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. The legendary Welsh mythology character Caradoc and the legendary British king Arvirargus may be based upon Caratacus....
sought sanctuary with the Brigantian queen, Cartimandua

Cartimandua

Cartimandua , whose name appears to contain the Indo-European element *mandu "pony",was a queen of the Brigantes, who formed a large tribal agglomeration in northern England in the early Roman Britain period....
, but she showed her loyalty to the Romans by handing him over in chains.. She and her husband Venutius

Venutius

Venutius was a 1st century king of the Brigantes in northern Roman Britain at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain. Some have suggested he may have belonged to the Carvetii, a tribe which probably formed part of the Brigantes confederation....
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

Aulus Didius Gallus

Aulus Didius Gallus was a Roman Empire general and politician of the 1st century AD. He was governor of Roman Britain between 52 and 57 AD....
(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

Vellocatus

Vellocatus was a 1st century king of the Brigantes tribe of northern Roman Britain.He was originally armour-bearer to Venutius, husband of Cartimandua, the queen of the Brigantes and an ally of Roman Empire....
, 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

Auxiliaries (Roman military)

Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen Roman legion. By the 2nd century, the auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all the Roman army's Roman cavalry and more specialised troops ....
, who succeeded in evacuating Cartimandua but left Venutius in possession of the kingdom.

After the accession of Vespasian

Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
, Quintus Petillius Cerialis

Quintus Petillius Cerialis

Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus was a Ancient Rome general.His name suggests that he was an Adoption in Rome of a Caesius family into the Petilii....
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

Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman Empire general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Roman Britain. His biography, the Agricola , was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, and is the source for most of what is known about him....
(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

Hadrian's Wall

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
on the other side. The emperor Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius

Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus , generally known in English as Antoninus Pius was Roman Emperors from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors and a member of the Aurelii....
(138-161) is said by Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Roman Greece traveller and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius....
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

Antonine Wall

The Antonine Wall also known as the Severan Wall, is a rock and sod fortification, built by the Roman Empire across what is now the central belt of Scotland and is also known as the Clyde-Forth frontier line....
(142-144).

Tacitus, in a speech put into the mouth of the Caledonian leader Calgacus

Calgacus

According to Tacitus, Calgacus was a chieftain of the Caledonian Confederacy who fought the Ancient Rome army of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at the Battle of Mons Graupius in northern Scotland in AD 83 or 84....
, refers to the Brigantes, "under a woman's leadership", almost defeating the Romans. This appears to be a reference to Boudica

Boudica

Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
of the Iceni

Iceni

The Iceni or Eceni were a Brythonic tribe who inhabited an area of Roman Britain corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD....
, attributed to the Brigantes in error. The Brigantes are attested in Ireland

Ireland

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman Greek mathematics, Greek astronomy, geographer and astrologer. He lived in History of Roman Egypt, and was probably born there in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou; he died in Alexandria around 168 AD....
's 2nd century Geographia
Geographia (Ptolemy)

The Geographia or Geography is Ptolemy's main work besides the Almagest. It is a compilation of what was known about the world's geography in the Roman Empire of the 2nd century....
.

Settlements

Ptolemy

Latin name	Modern name	County Historic counties of England The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxons kingdoms and shires....
Epiacum	Whitley Castle Alston, Cumbria Alston is a small town in Cumbria, England on the River Tyne. It is said to be the highest elevation market town in the country, at about 1000 feet above sea level....	Northumberland Northumberland Northumberland is a Counties of England in the North East England of England. The non-metropolitan counties of England of Northumberland borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of Nort...
Vinovium	Binchester Binchester Binchester is a small village in County Durham, in England. It has a population of 271. There is also a Binchester Roman Fort. It is situated between Bishop Auckland, which is to the south, and a short distance to the west of Spennymoor....	County Durham County Durham County Durham is a Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of Historic counties of England in North East England England. The county town is Durham.The largest settlement in the county is the town of Darlington....
Caturactonium	Catterick Catterick, North Yorkshire Catterick, sometimes Catterick Village to distinguish it from the nearby Catterick Garrison, is a village in North Yorkshire. It dates back to Roman times, when Cataractonium was a Ancient Rome fort protecting the crossing of the Great North Road and Dere Street over the River Swale....	North Yorkshire North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a shire county or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial counties of England in that region and also partly in North East England....
Calatum	Burrow, Lonsdale Lonsdale (hundred) Lonsdale was a hundred of Lancashire, England. For many decades, it covered most of the northwestern part of Lancashire around Morecambe Bay, including the detached part around Furness, and the city of Lancaster, Lancashire....	Lancashire Lancashire Lancashire is a Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of Historic counties of England in the North West England of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea....
Isurium Brigantum Isurium Brigantum Isurium Brigantum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Aldborough, North Yorkshire, in North Yorkshire, England....	Aldborough Aldborough, North Yorkshire Aldborough is a village in the civil parish of Boroughbridge, part of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England.Historic counties of England a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, what is now known as Aldborough was built on the site of a major Romano-British town, Isurium Brigantum....	North Yorkshire North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a shire county or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial counties of England in that region and also partly in North East England....
Rigodunum	Castleshaw Castleshaw Castleshaw is a hamlet in the Saddleworth parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines, north of Uppermill, west-southwest of Marsden, West Yorkshire, and east-northeast of Oldham....	Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England by population. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Metropolitan Borough of...
Olicana Olicana Olicana is generally recognised as the castra on the south bank of the River Wharfe, situated at the centre of where Ilkley, a Victorian spa town in West Yorkshire, England now stands....	Elslack Elslack Elslack is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, near to the border with Lancashire and 4 miles west of Skipton....	North Yorkshire North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a shire county or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial counties of England in that region and also partly in North East England....
Eboracum Eboracum Eboracum was a castra and city in Roman Britain. Today it is known as York, located in North Yorkshire, England....	City of York City of York City of York may refer to:York, a city in North Yorkshire, EnglandCity of York , a constituency represented in the British House of Commons...	York York York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire and River Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city status in the United Kingdom is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence....
Cambodunum	Slack Calderdale The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name....	West Yorkshire West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England by population....

Other settlements known in Brigantian territory include:

Wincobank
Wincobank (hill fort)

Wincobank is an Iron Age hill fort in the district of Sheffield, England of the Shiregreen and Brightside. The fort stands on the summit of a steep hill above the River Don, South Yorkshire, it is oval in shape and covers about 10,000 square metres , surrounded by a ditch that was originally 1.5–2 m deep and a bank consisting of...
, on the border of Sheffield
Sheffield

Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. It is so named because of its origins in a field on the River Sheaf that runs through the city....
.
Bremetenacum Veteranorum (Ribchester
Ribchester

Ribchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston....
, Lancashire)
Calcaria (Tadcaster
Tadcaster

Tadcaster is a market town in North Yorkshire, England, lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse, Yorkshire about downstream....
, North Yorkshire) - mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary
Antonine Itinerary

The Antonine Itinerary is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another....
and the Ravenna Cosmography
Ravenna Cosmography

The Ravenna Cosmography was compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around AD 700. It consists of a list of place-names covering the world from India to Ireland....
Luguvalium
Luguvalium

Luguvalium was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Carlisle, located in the England county of Cumbria ....
(Carlisle
Carlisle

Carlisle is in the City of Carlisle, a district of Cumbria in North West England. It is located at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, River Caldew and River Petteril, south of the Anglo-Scottish border....
, Cumbria
Cumbria

Cumbria is a non-metropolitan county in the North West England of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
) - probably a settlement of the Carvetii
Coria
Coria (Corbridge)

Coria was a fortification and town, located south of Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia. Its full Latin name is uncertain. Today it is known as Corchester or Corbridge Roman Site, adjoining Corbridge in the English county of Northumberland....
(Corbridge
Corbridge

Corbridge is a small town in Northumberland, England, situated west of Newcastle upon Tyne and east of Hexham. Villages in the vicinity include Halton, Northumberland, Acomb, Northumberland, Aydon and Sandhoe....
, Northumberland) - perhaps a settlement of the Lopocares

Brigantes

Etymology

History

Settlements

Further reading

External links