The Brigantes were a British Celtic tribe (people), that used to live in the North of Roman Britain; between the rivers Tyne and Humber. They occupied what was later Northumbria. To the north was the territory of the Votadini, which straddled the present day border between England and Scotland.
Brigantes
History
Before the Roman invasion, the Brigantes were the predominant ethnic group in what is now northeast England, though not an indigenous population in the area: these had presumably been Picts (pre-Indo-European, according to some), later named by the Romans because of their body paint, who had been pushed north by the Brigantes.
The Brigantes were defeated by the troops of Emperor Claudius in 43 AD, but their territory was initially not occupied and incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia: Unlike other Celtic tribes on the island, and especially the Picts, the Brigantes sought political settlement with Rome as an ally early on, so as not to endanger their own supremacy; at least that is how Tacitus reports it. The princess Cartimandua, who cleverly knew how to exploit rivalries within the various groups of the Brigantes and other ethnic groups associated with them, was particularly outstanding: according to Tacitus, in the year 51 she used a trick to lure the Welsh Celtic general Caratacus, who was leading the fight against the Romans, into a trap and delivered him to the Romans. This secured her the esteem of the Roman provincial governor Publius Ostorius Scapula, who repeatedly came to the aid of Cartimandua, a controversial figure within the Brigantes' Federation, with troops.
Only after Cartimandua's disempowerment around 70, when the revolts of individual brigand leaders increased, did Emperor Vespasian end the special status of the brigand federation, which consisted of nine power centers, and had the governor Gnaeus Iulius Agricola finally incorporate the area into the Roman province of Britannia in 79. During this time Isurium Brigantum emerged as the administrative center. The old forts of the Brigant Federation were razed.
In the course of the 2nd century, there were repeated Brigantes uprisings, which were, however, always put down by the Romans, as indicated by Roman coin finds from this period. The Greek geographer Pausanias reports of the suppression and expulsion of the Brigantes, especially under Emperor Antoninus Pius. The confederation was finally broken up and individual tribes or groups were forcibly resettled or expelled. During this period, some groups of Brigantes are said to have fled to Ireland, as suggested by an entry on a map by the Hellenic geographer and cartologist Ptolemy. Excavations on Lambay Island in southeastern Ireland, which have unearthed artifacts attributable to the Brigantes culture dating to the late 2nd century, seem to confirm this thesis.
As the Romans gradually withdrew from Britain by 410, the Picts, who were never fully pushed back, repeatedly invaded the Brigantes' tribal territory around 409, but were repelled with the help of the Saxons. Later, as Saxons and other Germanic tribes subdued Britain, many Brigantes retreated northward. The kingdom of Strathclyde is said to date back to them.
See also
- History of Britain
- List of Celtic tribes