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80-497: Cassivellaunus was a historical British military leader who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. He led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was revealed to Julius Caesar by defeated Britons. Cassivellaunus made an impact on the British consciousness. He appears in British legend as Cassibelanus , one of Geoffrey of Monmouth 's kings of

160-568: A Proto-Celtic name Belgius or Bolgios borne by one of the chieftains who led the Gallic invasion of Macedonia in 280–279 BCE against King Ptolemy Ceraunus . Ptolemy was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty ( Cleopatra ), founded by his father, Ptolemy I Soter , a Greek general and the successor of Alexander the Great . Koch therefore proposes that this great leader Belgius came to be regarded as

240-460: A wrestling bout, Cassibelanus's nephew Hirelglas is killed by Androgeus's nephew Cuelinus. Cassibelanus demands that Androgeus turn his nephew over to him for trial, but Androgeus refuses, insisting he should be tried in his own court in Trinovantum. Cassibelanus threatens war, and Androgeus appeals to Caesar for help, agreeing to accept him as liege and sending his son as a hostage. Caesar invades

320-560: A "plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain". There was much less migration into Britain during the subsequent Iron Age, so it is more likely that Celtic reached Britain before then. Barry Cunliffe suggests that a branch of Celtic was already being spoken in Britain and that the Bronze Age migration introduced the Brittonic branch. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , which

400-620: A Celtic name, since Monocan appears in the Cartulaire de Redon (RC LI, p. 10; Chr. Br., p. 152). Two further instances of this name in Celtic sources may also be included: Jes. Gen. XVIII Manogan m. Pascen m. Cadell; and the Ogham inscription MINNACCANNI (Macalister, Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum I, no. 135)." Thus, although Beli became a separate personage in medieval pseudohistory from Cunobelinus (Welsh Cynfelyn , Shakespeare's Cymbeline ), he

480-619: A distinct Brittonic culture and language. Britonia in Spanish Galicia seems to have disappeared by 900 AD. Wales and Brittany remained independent for a considerable time, however, with Brittany united with France in 1532, and Wales united with England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 in the mid 16th century during the rule of the Tudors (Y Tuduriaid), who were themselves of Welsh heritage on

560-696: A great lover, who competed with Caesar over the beautiful Fflur. He is named as one of the Three Golden Shoemakers of the Island of Britain in relation to his trip to Rome seeking his love; context suggests he disguised himself as a shoemaker. A later collection of triads compiled by the 18th-century Welsh antiquarian Iolo Morganwg gives an expanded version of this tradition, including the details that Caswallawn had abducted Fflur from Caesar in Gaul, killing 6,000 Romans, and that Caesar invaded Britain in response. As with

640-517: A profound genetic impact. Heli, King of Britain The origin of the name Beli is still a matter of debate among scholars. The most popular hypothesis sees the name Beli as a Middle Welsh reflex of the Gaulish and Brittonic divine name Belenus (also attested as a personal name), but a more recent alternative is that proposed by Harvard Celticist John T. Koch , who suggests that Beli derives from

720-596: A river crossing by means of an armoured elephant. This claim may derive from a confusion with the Roman conquest of 43 AD, when Claudius is supposed to have brought elephants to Britain. Cassivellaunus appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century work Historia Regum Britanniae ( History of the Kings of Britain ), usually spelled Cassibelanus or Cassibelaunus. The younger son of the former king Heli , he becomes king of Britain upon

800-600: A sub-kingdom of Calchwynedd may have clung on in the Chilterns for a time. Novant , which occupied Galloway and Carrick, was soon subsumed by fellow Brittonic-Pictish polities by 700 AD. Aeron , which encompassed modern Ayrshire , was conquered by the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria by 700 AD. Some Brittonic kingdoms were able to successfully resist these incursions: Rheged (encompassing much of modern Northumberland and County Durham and areas of southern Scotland and

880-753: A term unambiguously referring to the P-Celtic speakers of Great Britain, to complement Goidel ; hence the adjective Brythonic refers to the group of languages. " Brittonic languages " is a more recent coinage (first attested in 1923 according to the Oxford English Dictionary ). In the early Middle Ages , following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain , the Anglo-Saxons called all Britons Bryttas or Wealas (Welsh), while they continued to be called Britanni or Brittones in Medieval Latin . From

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960-421: A third time, landing at Richborough . As Cassibelaunus's army meets Caesar's, Androgeus attacks Cassibelaunus from the rear with five thousand men. His line broken, Cassibelanus retreats to a nearby hilltop. After two days siege, Androgeus appeals to Caesar to offer terms. Cassibelanus agrees to pay tribute of three thousand pounds of silver, and he and Caesar become friends. Six years later, Cassibelanus dies and

1040-776: A tradition about Caswallawn not drawn from either Roman nor existing medieval sources. Triad 38 names his horse as Meinlas ("Slender Gray") and calls him one of the Three Bestowed Horses of the Island of Britain; this is echoed in Triad 59, in which the decision to allow the Romans to land in Britain in exchange for Meinlas is called one of the Three Unfortunate Counsels of the Island of Britain. Triad 35 indicates that Caswallawn left Britain with 21,000 men in pursuit of Caesar and never returned. Triads 67 and 71 portray Caswallawn as

1120-515: A voyage of exploration around the British Isles between 330 and 320 BC. Although none of his own writings remain, writers during the following centuries make frequent reference to them. The ancient Greeks called the people of Britain the Pretanoí or Bretanoí . Pliny 's Natural History (77 AD) says the older name for the island was Albion , and Avienius calls it insula Albionum , "island of

1200-712: Is buried in York . Androgeus has gone to Rome with Caesar, so Tenvantius succeeds as king of Britain. Cassivellaunus appears as Caswallawn, son of Beli Mawr , in the Welsh Triads , the Mabinogion , and the Welsh versions of Geoffrey's Historia Regum Britanniae known as Brut y Brenhinedd . In the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, he appears as a usurper, who seizes the throne of Britain while

1280-593: Is buried with the sword he took from Caesar, which is named Crocea Mors (Yellow Death). Two years later, Caesar invades again with a larger force. Cassibelanus, forewarned, had planted stakes beneath the waterline of the Thames which gut Caesar's ships, drowning thousands of men. The Romans are once again quickly put to flight. The leaders of the Britons gather in Trinovantum to thank the gods for their victory with many animal sacrifices and celebrate with sporting events. During

1360-682: Is related. Cassivellaunus appears in Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico , having been given command of the combined British forces opposing Caesar's second invasion of Britain. Caesar does not mention Cassivellaunus's tribe, but his territory, north of the River Thames , corresponds with that inhabited by the tribe named the Catuvellauni at the time of the later invasion under Claudius . Caesar tells us that Cassivellaunus had previously been in near-constant conflict with his neighbours, as

1440-860: The Breton language , a language related to Welsh and identical to Cornish in the early period, and is still used today. Thus, the area today is called Brittany (Br. Breizh , Fr. Bretagne , derived from Britannia ). Common Brittonic developed from the Insular branch of the Proto-Celtic language that developed in the British Isles after arriving from the continent in the 7th century BC. The language eventually began to diverge; some linguists have grouped subsequent developments as Western and Southwestern Brittonic languages . Western Brittonic developed into Welsh in Wales and

1520-466: The British Isles , particularly Welsh people , suggesting genetic continuity between Iron Age Britain and Roman Britain, and partial genetic continuity between Roman Britain and modern Britain. On the other hand, they were genetically substantially different from the examined Anglo-Saxon individual and modern English populations of the area, suggesting that the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain left

1600-924: The Channel Islands , and Britonia (now part of Galicia , Spain). By the 11th century, Brittonic-speaking populations had split into distinct groups: the Welsh in Wales, the Cornish in Cornwall, the Bretons in Brittany, the Cumbrians of the Hen Ogledd ("Old North") in southern Scotland and northern England, and the remnants of the Pictish people in northern Scotland. Common Brittonic developed into

1680-465: The Channel Islands . There they set up their own small kingdoms and the Breton language developed from Brittonic Insular Celtic rather than Gaulish or Frankish . A further Brittonic colony, Britonia , was also set up at this time in Gallaecia in northwestern Spain . Many of the old Brittonic kingdoms began to disappear in the centuries after the Anglo-Saxon and Scottish Gaelic invasions; Parts of

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1760-621: The Cumbric language in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain (modern northern England and southern Scotland), while the Southwestern dialect became Cornish in Cornwall and South West England and Breton in Armorica. Pictish is now generally accepted to descend from Common Brittonic, rather than being a separate Celtic language. Welsh and Breton survive today; Cumbric and Pictish became extinct in

1840-494: The Devil's Dyke , Wheathampstead ). Caesar proceeded to put the stronghold under siege. Cassivellaunus managed to get a message to the four kings of Kent , Cingetorix , Carvilius , Taximagulus and Segovax , to gather their forces and attack the Roman camp on the coast, but the Romans defended themselves successfully, capturing a chieftain called Lugotorix . On hearing of the defeat and

1920-657: The Farne Islands fell to the Anglo-Saxons in 559 AD and Deira became an Anglo-Saxon kingdom after this point. Caer Went had officially disappeared by 575 AD becoming the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia . Gwent was only partly conquered; its capital Caer Gloui ( Gloucester ) was taken by the Anglo-Saxons in 577 AD, handing Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to the invaders, while the westernmost part remained in Brittonic hands, and continued to exist in modern Wales. Caer Lundein , encompassing London , St. Albans and parts of

2000-586: The Home Counties , fell from Brittonic hands by 600 AD, and Bryneich, which existed in modern Northumbria and County Durham with its capital of Din Guardi (modern Bamburgh ) and which included Ynys Metcaut ( Lindisfarne ), had fallen by 605 AD becoming Anglo-Saxon Bernicia. Caer Celemion (in modern Hampshire and Berkshire) had fallen by 610 AD. Elmet, a large kingdom that covered much of modern Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire and likely had its capital at modern Leeds,

2080-625: The Kingdom of Gwynedd , following the End of Roman rule in Britain during the late 4th century under Magnus Maximus . The pedigree is shown in the Harleian genealogies , the oldest documented genealogies of Welsh royal families. In Welsh legend, according to the Welsh Classical Dictionary, Beli Mawr was born between 120 BC and 80 BC. Another Beli from medieval Welsh literature, who first appears in

2160-742: The Old English of the Anglo-Saxons, and Scottish Gaelic , although this was likely a gradual process in many areas. Similarly, the Brittonic colony of Britonia in northwestern Spain appears to have disappeared soon after 900 AD. The kingdom of Ystrad Clud (Strathclyde) was a large and powerful Brittonic kingdom of the Hen Ogledd (the 'Old North') which endured until the end of the 11th century, successfully resisting Anglo-Saxon, Gaelic Scots and later also Viking attacks. At its peak it encompassed modern Strathclyde, Dumbartonshire , Cumbria , Stirlingshire , Lanarkshire , Ayrshire , Dumfries and Galloway , Argyll and Bute , and parts of North Yorkshire ,

2240-767: The Scottish Borders ) survived well into the 8th century AD, before the eastern part peacefully joined with the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia – Northumberland by 730 AD, and the west was taken over by the fellow Britons of Ystrad Clud . Similarly, the kingdom of Gododdin , which appears to have had its court at Din Eidyn (modern Edinburgh ) and encompassed parts of modern Northumbria , County Durham , Lothian and Clackmannanshire , endured until approximately 775 AD before being divided by fellow Brittonic Picts, Gaelic Scots and Anglo-Saxons. The Kingdom of Cait , covering modern Caithness , Sutherland , Orkney , and Shetland ,

2320-591: The Thames Estuary . During the fighting, Cassibelanus's brother Nennius encounters Caesar and sustains a severe head wound. Caesar's sword gets stuck in Nennius's shield, and when the two are separated in the mêlée, Nennius throws away his own sword and attacks the Romans with Caesar's, killing many, including the tribune Labienus. The Britons hold firm, and that night Caesar flees back to Gaul. Cassibelanus's celebrations are muted by Nennius's death from his head wound. He

2400-467: The Welsh , Cornish , and Bretons (among others). They spoke Common Brittonic , the ancestor of the modern Brittonic languages . The earliest written evidence for the Britons is from Greco-Roman writers and dates to the Iron Age. Ancient Britain was made up of many tribes and kingdoms, associated with various hillforts . The Britons followed an Ancient Celtic religion overseen by druids . Some of

2480-503: The 11th century, they are more often referred to separately as the Welsh , Cumbrians , Cornish , and Bretons , as they had separate political histories from then. From the early 16th century, and especially after the Acts of Union 1707 , the terms British and Briton could be applied to all inhabitants of the Kingdom of Great Britain , including the English , Scottish , and some Irish , or

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2560-447: The 12th century. Cornish had become extinct by the 19th century but has been the subject of language revitalization since the 20th century. Celtic Britain was made up of many territories controlled by Brittonic tribes . They are generally believed to have dwelt throughout the whole island of Great Britain , at least as far north as the Clyde – Forth isthmus . The territory north of this

2640-480: The 2nd century AD and the 4th century AD during the period of Roman Britain . Six of these individuals were identified as native Britons. The six examined native Britons all carried types of the paternal R1b1a2a1a and carried the maternal haplogroups H6a1a , H1bs , J1c3e2 , H2 , H6a1b2 and J1b1a1 . The indigenous Britons of Roman Britain were genetically closely related to the earlier Iron Age female Briton, and displayed close genetic links to modern Celts of

2720-423: The 9th century Historia Brittonum and is often confused or conflated with Beli Mawr in both medieval and modern sources, is Beli son of Manogan (also spelled Mynogan). This Beli is actually derived from the historical pre-Roman Brittonic king of the Catuvellauni , Cunobeline and his son Adminius (or Amminius). Via a series of textual corruptions that span several different popular books from Late Antiquity and

2800-649: The Albions". The name could have reached Pytheas from the Gauls . The Latin name for the Britons was Britanni . The P-Celtic ethnonym has been reconstructed as * Pritanī , from Common Celtic * kʷritu , which became Old Irish cruth and Old Welsh pryd . This likely means "people of the forms", and could be linked to the Latin name Picti (the Picts ), which is usually explained as meaning "painted people". The Old Welsh name for

2880-529: The Britons , and in the Mabinogi , Brut y Brenhinedd and the Welsh Triads as Caswallawn , son of Beli Mawr . The Common Brittonic personal name Cassiuellaunos stems from the word uellaunos ('chief, commandant'). The meaning of the prefix cassi- has been debated, but it possibly signifies 'tin, bronze'. Cassivellaunus may thus been translated as 'Chief-of-Tin', that is to say 'the inflexible'. The personal name Ver-cassivellaunus ('True-Chief-of-Tin')

2960-464: The Britons fragmented, and much of their territory gradually became Anglo-Saxon , while the north became subject to a similar settlement by Gaelic -speaking tribes from Ireland. The extent to which this cultural change was accompanied by wholesale population changes is still debated. During this time, Britons migrated to mainland Europe and established significant colonies in Brittany (now part of France),

3040-409: The Brittonic state of Kernow . The Channel Islands (colonised by Britons in the 5th century) came under attack from Norse and Danish Viking attack in the early 9th century AD, and by the end of that century had been conquered by Viking invaders. The Kingdom of Ce , which encompassed modern Marr , Banff , Buchan , Fife , and much of Aberdeenshire , disappeared soon after 900 AD. Fortriu ,

3120-703: The Centre', which suggests Celtic originated in Gaul and spread during the first millennium BC, reaching Britain towards the end of this period. In 2021, a major archaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern Britain during the Bronze Age , over a 500-year period from 1,300 BC to 800 BC. The migrants were "genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France" and had higher levels of Early European Farmers ancestry. From 1000 to 875 BC, their genetic marker swiftly spread through southern Britain, making up around half

3200-466: The Iron Age individuals were markedly different from later Anglo-Saxon samples, who were closely related to Danes and Dutch people . Martiano et al. (2016) examined the remains of a female Iron Age Briton buried at Melton between 210 BC and 40 AD. She was found to be carrying the maternal haplogroup U2e1e . The study also examined seven males buried in Driffield Terrace near York between

3280-691: The Isles of Scilly and Brittany are Brittonic, and Brittonic family and personal names remain common. During the 19th century, many Welsh farmers migrated to Patagonia in Argentina , forming a community called Y Wladfa , which today consists of over 1,500 Welsh speakers. In addition, a Brittonic legacy remains in England, Scotland and Galicia in Spain, in the form of often large numbers of Brittonic place and geographical names. Examples of geographical Brittonic names survive in

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3360-430: The Picts was Prydyn . Linguist Kim McCone suggests the name became restricted to inhabitants of the far north after Cymry displaced it as the name for the Welsh and Cumbrians . The Welsh prydydd , "maker of forms", was also a term for the highest grade of a bard . The medieval Welsh form of Latin Britanni was Brython (singular and plural). Brython was introduced into English usage by John Rhys in 1884 as

3440-417: The Roman Empire invaded Britain. The British tribes opposed the Roman legions for many decades, but by 84 AD the Romans had decisively conquered southern Britain and had pushed into Brittonic areas of what would later become northern England and southern Scotland. During the same period, Belgic tribes from the Gallic-Germanic borderlands settled in southern Britain. Caesar asserts the Belgae had first crossed

3520-411: The Roman period. The La Tène style , which covers British Celtic art , was late arriving in Britain, but after 300 BC the Ancient British seem to have had generally similar cultural practices to the Celtic cultures nearest to them on the continent. There are significant differences in artistic styles, and the greatest period of what is known as the "Insular La Tène" style, surviving mostly in metalwork,

3600-404: The Romans managed to cross it. Cassivellaunus dismissed most of his army and resorted to guerilla tactics, relying on his knowledge of the territory and the speed of his chariots. Five British tribes, the Cenimagni , the Segontiaci , the Ancalites , the Bibroci and the Cassi , surrendered to Caesar and revealed the location of Cassivellaunus's stronghold. (Possibles sites include Hexton and

3680-434: The ancestry of subsequent Iron Age people in this area, but not in northern Britain. The "evidence suggests that rather than a violent invasion or a single migratory event, the genetic structure of the population changed through sustained contacts between mainland Britain and Europe over several centuries, such as the movement of traders, intermarriage, and small-scale movements of family groups". The authors describe this as

3760-401: The channel as raiders, only later establishing themselves on the island. 122 AD, the Romans fortified the northern border with Hadrian's Wall , which spanned what is now Northern England . In 142 AD, Roman forces pushed north again and began construction of the Antonine Wall , which ran between the Forth–Clyde isthmus, but they retreated back to Hadrian's Wall after only twenty years. Although

3840-475: The death of his elder brother Lud , whose own sons Androgeus and Tenvantius are not yet of age. In recompense, Androgeus is made Duke of Kent and Trinovantum ( London ), and Tenvantius is made Duke of Cornwall . After his conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar sets his sights on Britain, and sends a letter to Cassibelanus demanding tribute. Cassibelanus refuses, citing the Britons' and Romans' common Trojan descent (see Brutus of Britain ), and Caesar invades at

3920-559: The devastation of his territories, Cassivellaunus surrendered. The terms were mediated by Commius , Caesar's Gallic ally. Hostages were given and a tribute agreed. Mandubracius was restored to the kingship of the Trinovantes, and Cassivellaunus undertook not to wage war against him. All this achieved, Caesar returned to Gaul where a poor harvest had caused unrest. The Roman legions did not return to Britain for another 97 years. The Greek author Polyaenus relates an anecdote in his Stratagemata that Caesar overcame Cassivellaunus's defence of

4000-421: The distinct Brittonic languages: Welsh , Cumbric , Cornish and Breton . In Celtic studies , 'Britons' refers to native speakers of the Brittonic languages in the ancient and medieval periods, "from the first evidence of such speech in the pre-Roman Iron Age , until the central Middle Ages ". The earliest known reference to the inhabitants of Britain was made by Pytheas , a Greek geographer who made

4080-472: The early Middle Ages, the names of Cunobelinus and his son Adminius were combined and then jumbled, giving way to a new Beli, with the patronymic "son of Manogan": Rachel Bromwich writes that such a figure has origins in traditional names/characters: "Beli Mawr is a character rooted far too firmly in Welsh tradition for his existence to be accounted for merely as an adaptation of Nennius 's Bellinus. Further, Loth showed that Manogan itself can be explained as

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4160-452: The form of a romance detailing the king's adventures, but would have been largely uninfluenced by the classical accounts. Celtic Britons The Britons ( * Pritanī , Latin : Britanni , Welsh : Brythoniaid ), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons , were the indigenous Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages , at which point they diverged into

4240-427: The formerly Brittonic ruled territory in Britain, and the language and culture of the native Britons was thereafter gradually replaced in those regions, remaining only in Wales, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and Brittany , and for a time in parts of Cumbria, Strathclyde, and eastern Galloway. Cornwall (Kernow, Dumnonia ) had certainly been largely absorbed by England by the 1050s to early 1100s, although it retained

4320-496: The largest Brittonic-Pictish kingdom which covered Strathearn , Morayshire and Easter Ross , had fallen by approximately 950 AD to the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba ( Scotland ). Other Pictish kingdoms such as Circinn (in modern Angus and The Mearns ), Fib (modern Fife ), Fidach ( Inverness and Perthshire ), and Ath-Fotla ( Atholl ), had also all fallen by the beginning of the 11th century AD or shortly after. The Brythonic languages in these areas were eventually replaced by

4400-435: The male side. Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isles of Scilly continued to retain a distinct Brittonic culture, identity and language, which they have maintained to the present day. The Welsh and Breton languages remain widely spoken, and the Cornish language , once close to extinction, has experienced a revival since the 20th century. The vast majority of place names and names of geographical features in Wales, Cornwall,

4480-630: The mid 11th century AD when Cornwall was effectively annexed by the English, with the Isles of Scilly following a few years later, although at times Cornish lords appear to have retained sporadic control into the early part of the 12th century AD. Wales remained free from Anglo-Saxon, Gaelic Scots and Viking control, and was divided among varying Brittonic kingdoms, the foremost being Gwynedd (including Clwyd and Anglesey ), Powys , Deheubarth (originally Ceredigion , Seisyllwg and Dyfed ), Gwent , and Morgannwg ( Glamorgan ). These Brittonic-Welsh kingdoms initially included territories further east than

4560-421: The modern borders of Wales; for example, Powys included parts of modern Merseyside , Cheshire and the Wirral and Gwent held parts of modern Herefordshire , Worcestershire , Somerset and Gloucestershire , but had largely been confined to the borders of modern Wales by the beginning of the 12th century. However, by the early 1100s, the Anglo-Saxons and Gaels had become the dominant cultural force in most of

4640-539: The names of rivers, such as the Thames , Clyde , Severn , Tyne , Wye , Exe , Dee , Tamar , Tweed , Avon , Trent , Tambre , Navia , and Forth . Many place names in England and Scotland are of Brittonic rather than Anglo-Saxon or Gaelic origin, such as London , Manchester , Glasgow , Edinburgh , Carlisle , Caithness , Aberdeen , Dundee , Barrow , Exeter , Lincoln , Dumbarton , Brent , Penge , Colchester , Gloucester , Durham , Dover , Kent , Leatherhead , and York . Schiffels et al. (2016) examined

4720-400: The namesake and ancestor of the powerful Brittonic and Gallic tribal group, the Belgae , whence would have come the doctrine that Beli was the ancestor of tribal dynasties. The Belgae were also described by Julius Caesar in Commentarii de Bello Gallico , his diary on the Gallic Wars . Beli Mawr is claimed as the head of the House of Gwynedd by the line of Cunedda Wledig , founder of

4800-420: The native Britons south of Hadrian's Wall mostly kept their land, they were subject to the Roman governors , whilst the Brittonic-Pictish Britons north of the wall probably remained fully independent and unconquered. The Roman Empire retained control of "Britannia" until its departure about AD 410, although parts of Britain had already effectively shrugged off Roman rule decades earlier. Thirty years or so after

4880-439: The regions of modern East Anglia , East Midlands , North East England , Argyll , and South East England were the first to fall to the Germanic and Gaelic Scots invasions. The kingdom of Ceint (modern Kent) fell in 456 AD. Linnuis (which stood astride modern Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire) was subsumed as early as 500 AD and became the English Kingdom of Lindsey. Regni (essentially modern Sussex and eastern Hampshire )

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4960-418: The remains of three Iron Age Britons buried ca. 100 BC. A female buried in Linton, Cambridgeshire carried the maternal haplogroup H1e , while two males buried in Hinxton both carried the paternal haplogroup R1b1a2a1a2 , and the maternal haplogroups K1a1b1b and H1ag1 . Their genetic profile was considered typical for Northwest European populations. Though sharing a common Northwestern European origin,

5040-407: The rest of Morganwg's Triads, however, the provenance of these references is suspect. However, the 12th-century poet Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr knew of some version of the Fflur story, writing that Caesar's love for her was costly. Welsh scholar Rachel Bromwich suggests the fragmentary allusions to Caswallawn in the Triads relate to a narrative of the character that has been lost. This may have been in

5120-419: The rightful king, Bran the Blessed , is at war in Ireland . Using a magic cloak which renders him invisible, he kills six of the seven stewards Bran has left in charge, while the seventh, Bran's son Caradog , dies of despair at the sight of a disembodied sword killing his men. He then appears in the Third Branch , in which Bran's followers offer their submission to him to avoid fighting. He is also mentioned in

5200-458: The southeast, and British Latin coexisted with Brittonic. It is unclear what relationship the Britons had with the Picts , who lived outside of the empire in northern Britain, however, most scholars today accept the fact that the Pictish language was closely related to Common Brittonic. Following the end of Roman rule in Britain during the 5th century, Anglo-Saxon settlement of eastern and southern Britain began. The culture and language of

5280-434: The southern tribes had strong links with mainland Europe, especially Gaul and Belgica , and minted their own coins . The Roman Empire conquered most of Britain in the 1st century AD, creating the province of Britannia . The Romans invaded northern Britain , but the Britons and Caledonians in the north remained unconquered and Hadrian's Wall became the edge of the empire. A Romano-British culture emerged, mainly in

5360-408: The subjects of the British Empire generally. The Britons spoke an Insular Celtic language known as Common Brittonic . Brittonic was spoken throughout the island of Britain (in modern terms, England, Wales, and Scotland). According to early medieval historical tradition, such as The Dream of Macsen Wledig , the post-Roman Celtic speakers of Armorica were colonists from Britain, resulting in

5440-444: The tale Lludd and Llefelys , which features his two brothers Lludd Llaw Eraint (Geoffrey's Lud) and Llefelys . Caswallawn is referenced frequently in the Welsh Triads . Triad 51 describes his conflict with "Afarwy" (Mandubracius/Androgeus) as described in Geoffrey of Monmouth, while Triad 95 references the story of Caradawg son of Bran's death as told in the Mabinogion . However, other triads (35, 36, 38, 59, 67, and 71) refer to

5520-408: The text (and under the influence of Geoffrey of Monmouth), Liud (or Luid ) (see Lludd Llaw Eraint ). Beli also appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth 's history Historia Regum Britanniae (1130s) as the British king Heli, son of Digueillus and father of Lud , Cassivellaunus and Nennius . He is said to have held the throne for 40 years, after which he was succeeded by his son Lud (Llud). In

5600-409: The time of the Roman departure, the Germanic -speaking Anglo-Saxons began a migration to the south-eastern coast of Britain, where they began to establish their own kingdoms, and the Gaelic -speaking Scots migrated from Dál nAraidi (modern Northern Ireland ) to the west coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man. At the same time, Britons established themselves in what is now called Brittany and

5680-408: The western Pennines , and as far as modern Leeds in West Yorkshire . Thus the Kingdom of Strathclyde became the last of the Brittonic kingdoms of the 'old north' to fall in the 1090s when it was effectively divided between England and Scotland. The Britons also retained control of Wales and Kernow (encompassing Cornwall , parts of Devon including Dartmoor , and the Isles of Scilly ) until

5760-463: Was conquered by Gaelic Scots in 871 AD. Dumnonia (encompassing Cornwall , Devonshire , and the Isles of Scilly ) was partly conquered during the mid 9th century AD, with most of modern Devonshire being annexed by the Anglo-Saxons, but leaving Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly ( Enesek Syllan ), and for a time part of western Devonshire (including Dartmoor ), still in the hands of the Britons, where they became

5840-416: Was conquered by the Anglo-Saxons in 627 AD. Pengwern , which covered Staffordshire , Shropshire , Herefordshire , and Worcestershire , was largely destroyed in 656 AD, with only its westernmost parts in modern Wales remaining under the control of the Britons, and it is likely that Cynwidion, which had stretched from modern Bedfordshire to Northamptonshire, fell in the same general period as Pengwern, though

5920-540: Was generally presented as a king reigning in the period immediately before the Roman invasion; his "son" Caswallawn is the historical Cassivellaunus . The 12th-century English historian Henry of Huntingdon , in his Historia Anglorum first published in 1129, follows the Historia Brittonum in his discussion of Julius Caesar 's invasion of Britain, mentioning a Belinus , brother of Cassibella(u)nus , who are both styled sons of Minocannus , but in later revisions of

6000-399: Was in the century or so before the Roman conquest, and perhaps the decades after it. The carnyx , a trumpet with an animal-headed bell, was used by Celtic Britons during war and ceremony. There are competing hypotheses for when Celtic peoples, and the Celtic languages, first arrived in Britain, none of which have gained consensus. The traditional view during most of the twentieth century

6080-512: Was largely inhabited by the Picts ; little direct evidence has been left of the Pictish language , but place names and Pictish personal names recorded in the later Irish annals suggest it was indeed related to the Common Brittonic language . Their Goidelic (Gaelic) name, Cruithne , is cognate with Pritenī . The following is a list of the major Brittonic tribes, in both the Latin and Brittonic languages, as well as their capitals during

6160-452: Was likely fully conquered by 510 AD. Ynys Weith (Isle of Wight) fell in 530 AD, Caer Colun (essentially modern Essex) by 540 AD. The Gaels arrived on the northwest coast of Britain from Ireland, dispossessed the native Britons, and founded Dal Riata which encompassed modern Argyll , Skye , and Iona between 500 and 560 AD. Deifr (Deira) which encompassed modern-day Teesside, Wearside, Tyneside, Humberside, Lindisfarne ( Medcaut ), and

6240-510: Was originally compiled by the orders of King Alfred the Great in approximately 890, starts with this sentence: "The island Britain is 800 miles long and 200 miles broad. And there are in the island five nations; English, Welsh (or British), Scottish, Pictish, and Latin. The first inhabitants were the Britons, who came from Armenia, and first peopled Britain southward" ("Armenia" is possibly a mistaken transcription of Armorica , an area in northwestern Gaul including modern Brittany ). In 43 AD,

6320-691: Was that Celtic culture grew out of the central European Hallstatt culture , from which the Celts and their languages reached Britain in the second half of the first millennium BC. More recently, John Koch and Barry Cunliffe have challenged that with their 'Celtic from the West' theory, which has the Celtic languages developing as a maritime trade language in the Atlantic Bronze Age cultural zone before it spread eastward. Alternatively, Patrick Sims-Williams criticizes both of these hypotheses to propose 'Celtic from

6400-490: Was typical of the British tribes in this period, and had recently brought down the king of the Trinovantes , the most powerful tribe in Britain at the time. The king's son, Mandubracius , fled to Caesar in Gaul . Despite Cassivellaunus's harrying tactics, designed to prevent Caesar's army from foraging and plundering for food, Caesar advanced to the Thames. The only fordable point was defended and fortified with sharp stakes, but

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