Celtic Britons

The Britons, also known as Celtic Britons or ancient Britons, were the Celtic people who lived in Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages. During this time, they spoke a language called Common Brittonic, which is the ancestor of modern Brittonic languages. Ancient Britain was made up of many tribes and kingdoms, often linked to strong forts called hillforts. They followed an ancient Celtic religion led by leaders known as druids.

The earliest written records about the Britons come from Greco-Roman writers during the Iron Age. Some southern groups had close ties with Europe, especially Gaul and Belgica, and even made their own coins. In the 1st century AD, the Roman Empire took control of most of Britain, creating a region called the province of Britannia. Although the Romans reached northern Britain, tribes such as the Caledonians and Picts were never defeated, and Hadrian's Wall marked the edge of the Roman empire.

After the Romans left Britain in the 5th century, new groups such as the Anglo-Saxons began settling in eastern and southern parts of the island. This led to big changes in culture and language for the Britons. Many moved to places like Brittany in France, the Channel Islands, and even parts of Spain. By the 11th century, the Brittonic-speaking people had divided into distinct groups, including the Welsh in Wales, the Cornish in Cornwall, and the Bretons in Brittany.

Name

Main article: Britain (placename)

In the study of ancient cultures, the word "Britons" describes people who spoke special languages called Brittonic. These people lived in Britain from very old times, called the Iron Age, up until the middle ages.

The oldest mention of Britain’s people was made by a Greek explorer named Pytheas, who traveled around the British Isles between 330 and 320 BC. Although his own writings did not survive, later writers often talked about these people. The ancient Greeks called them Pretanoí or Bretanoí. Other old writers called the island Albion or "island of the Albions." The name may have come from nearby people called the Gauls.

The name for these people has changed over time. In old Welsh, they were called Brython, and this name was later used in English. By the middle ages, these people were known separately as Welsh, Cornish, and Bretons, because they lived in different places and had their own histories. Later, the words "British" and "Briton" came to mean all people living in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Language

See also: British Latin

The Britons spoke a language called Common Brittonic, which was used across Britain, including places we now call England, Wales, and Scotland, as well as the Isle of Man. Over time, this language split into different forms. One form became the Welsh language in Wales, while another became Cornish in South West England and Breton in a place called Brittany. Today, Welsh and Breton are still spoken, but Cornish stopped being used regularly a long time ago and is now being brought back by people who are learning it again.

Tribal groups

Celtic Britain was home to many areas ruled by Brittonic tribes. These tribes lived across the whole island of Great Britain, at least as far north as the Clyde–Forth isthmus. The area even farther north was mostly home to the Picts. We don't know much about the Pictish language, but some place names and names from old Irish annals show it was related to the Common Brittonic language. The Picts were also called Cruithne in their Goidelic (Gaelic) language.

Here is a list of the main Brittonic tribes, shown in both Latin and Brittonic names, along with their main towns during Roman times.

Art

The La Tène style, which includes British Celtic art, arrived late in Britain. But after 300 BC, the ancient British shared many cultural practices with nearby Celtic cultures on the continent. The most famous period for what is called the "Insular La Tène" style, mostly seen in metalwork, was in the years just before and after the Roman conquest.

The carnyx, a special trumpet with an animal-headed bell, was used by Celtic Britons during both war and ceremonies.

History

Origins

There are different ideas about when Celtic people and their languages first came to Britain. One old idea is that Celtic culture started in central Europe and reached Britain around the first millennium BC. A newer idea suggests that Celtic languages developed as a trade language along the coast of Europe before spreading eastward. Another idea says Celtic started in Gaul and spread to Britain during the same time.

In 2021, a big study found that people moved into southern Britain during the Bronze Age, between 1,300 BC and 800 BC. These people were most similar to people from ancient France and had more ancestry from early European farmers. By around 875 BC, their genetic markers spread through southern Britain, making up about half of the ancestry of Iron Age people there. This change likely happened through contact between Britain and Europe over many years, like trade and small family groups moving. This might have helped spread early Celtic languages into Britain. There wasn’t much migration during the Iron Age, so Celtic languages probably reached Britain before that time.

Roman conquest

In 43 AD, the Roman Empire invaded Britain. The British tribes fought against the Romans for many years, but by 84, the Romans had taken over most of southern Britain and moved into areas that would become northern England and southern Scotland. In 122, the Romans built Hadrian’s Wall along what is now Northern England. Later, they built the Antonine Wall in Scotland but pulled back to Hadrian’s Wall after 20 years. Although the Britons south of Hadrian’s Wall kept their land, they were ruled by Roman leaders. The Britons north of the wall stayed independent. The Roman Empire left Britain around 410, though some areas had already stopped being ruled by Rome decades earlier.

Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain

About 50 years after the Romans left, Germanic-speaking Anglo-Saxons started moving to the southeast coast of Britain and set up their own kingdoms. At the same time, Irish-speaking Scots moved from Northern Ireland to the west coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man. The Britons moved to places now called Brittany and the Channel Islands, where they set up small kingdoms and developed the Breton language. Another group of Britons set up a colony called Britonia in northwestern Spain.

Many old Brittonic kingdoms slowly disappeared after invasions by Anglo-Saxons and Gaelic Scots. Areas like East Anglia, East Midlands, North East England, Argyll, and South East England were among the first to fall. The kingdom of Ceint, or modern Kent, fell in 456 AD. Other kingdoms like Linnuis, Regni, Ynys Weith, and Caer Colun also fell to the Anglo-Saxons over the next centuries. The Gaels from Ireland took over areas in the northwest, like modern Argyll and Skye.

Yr Hen Ogledd (the Old North)

Some Brittonic kingdoms managed to resist these invasions. Rheged, covering parts of modern Northumberland, County Durham, and southern Scotland, lasted until the 8th century before joining the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia–Northumberland. The kingdom of Gododdin, with its court in modern Edinburgh, lasted until around 775 before being divided by Picts, Gaelic Scots, and Anglo-Saxons.

The Kingdom of Cait, covering modern Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney, and Shetland, was taken over by Gaelic Scots in 871. Dumnonia, in modern Cornwall, Devonshire, and the Isles of Scilly, was partly taken by the Anglo-Saxons in the mid-9th century, but Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly stayed under Brittonic control for a time. The Channel Islands, settled by Britons in the 5th century, were attacked by Norse and Danish Vikings in the early 9th century and were taken over by the end of that century.

The Kingdom of Ce, covering parts of modern Marr, Banff, Buchan, Fife, and Aberdeenshire, disappeared soon after 900. Fortriu, a large Brittonic-Pictish kingdom covering Strathearn, Morayshire, and Easter Ross, fell to the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba (Scotland) around 950. Other Pictish kingdoms like Circinn, Fib, Fidach, and Ath-Fotla also fell by the beginning of the 11th century.

Wales, Cornwall and Brittany

The Britons kept control of Wales and Kernow (Cornwall, parts of Devon, and the Isles of Scilly) until the mid-11th century when Cornwall was taken over by the English. Wales stayed free from Anglo-Saxon, Gaelic Scots, and Viking control and was divided into several Brittonic kingdoms like Gwynedd, Powys, Deheubarth, Gwent, and Morgannwg. These kingdoms once included areas east of modern Wales but were mostly confined to the current borders by the beginning of the 12th century.

By the early 12th century, Anglo-Saxons and Gaels became the main cultural force in most of the former Brittonic areas of Britain. The language and culture of the Britons remained only in Wales, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and Brittany. Cornwall was mostly taken over by England by the 1050s to early 1100s but kept a distinct Brittonic culture and language. Wales and Brittany stayed independent for a long time, with Brittany uniting with France in 1532 and Wales uniting with England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 in the mid-16th century.

Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isles of Scilly still keep a distinct Brittonic culture, identity, and language today. Welsh and Breton languages are still widely spoken, and Cornish has seen a revival since the 20th century.

Eastern England

Eastern England was home to Brythonic tribes like the Iceni, Corieltauvi, and Catuvellauni. The common view is that the Britons of Eastern England were taken over by Anglo-Saxons in the first 200 years of invasion, from 450-600 AD, as their kingdoms fell. This idea is supported by the lack of Brittonic place names in the region and mentions in old texts.

There is evidence that Britons still lived in Eastern England. Stories from the 8th century mention Britons attacking people in the Fens. A 12th-century story includes a Saxon king of Brittonic origin who ruled over Lincoln, Lindsey, Rutland, and Stamford. In 1090, a monk wrote about Britons causing trouble in Huntingdon. Another story from the 10th century mentions Britons near Royston. A law from the 10th century refers to a “Welshman” in Cambridgeshire, showing that some Britons lived there but were not very numerous.

Place names in the region sometimes have roots from the Britons, like Walewrth, Walsoken, Walpole, River Great Ouse, River Welland, River Cam, Chettisham, Chatteris, King’s Lynn, and Comberton.

Northern Iberia

In the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD, a colony called Britonia was set up in northern Galicia. The British settlers first appeared at the First Council of Lugo in 569, and later, a separate bishopric was established with the first Bishop being Maeloc. Though the exact location and how long Brythonic culture and language lasted in the region isn’t known, several place names in Galicia and Asturias have roots like bret- or brit-, such as Bretelo in Ourense, Bertoña in A Capela, and El Breton in Corvera, Asturias.

Genetics

Further information: Celts § Genetics

See also: Bell Beaker culture § Genetics, Urnfield culture § Genetics, Hallstatt culture § Genetics, La Tène culture § Genetics, Gauls § Genetics, and Celtiberians § Genetics

Scientists studied the remains of ancient Britons from the Iron Age, around 100 BC. They found that these people had genetic traits common in Northwest Europe. These early Britons were different from later groups who came from places like Denmark and the Netherlands.

More studies looked at people from between 210 BC and the 4th century AD. These studies showed that the Britons from Roman times were closely related to people from the Iron Age and to modern Celts in the British Isles, especially the Welsh. They were also different from the Anglo-Saxons who arrived later, showing that these new settlers changed the genetic makeup of the area.