Britons (historic)

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This article is about the ancient ethnic groups of Great Britain. For other uses, see Briton.
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Historically, the Britons (sometimes Brythons or British) were the indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Britain who can be described as (Insular) Celts, before their language and culture was largely replaced by invading Anglo-Saxons. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions. In terms of language and culture, much of north western Europe was mainly Celtic during this period, although the island of Britain and Brittany were inhabited by Brythonic Celts. The inhabitants of Ireland, the Isle of Man and Dál Riata were Gaels or Gaelic Celts who spoke Goidelic languages.

A number of scholars argue that the unknown Pictish language was Brythonic, but in Sub-Roman Britain the Picts were distinguished as a separate group, as were the Gaels of Dál Riata. Therefore, the term "Briton" or "Brython" traditionally refers to the inhabitants of ancient Britain excluding the Picts, because many Pictish cultural traits (for example their sculpture, pottery and monuments) differ from those of the Britons.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

Main article: Britain (name)
Further information: Priteni and Brittia

The earliest known reference to the Britons comes from Pytheas, a Greek geographer who made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe between 330-320 BC. Although none of his own writings remain, writers during the time of the Roman Empire made much reference to them. Pytheas called the Britons the Pritani or Pretani,[1][2] and referred to the islands as the Pritanic or Pretanic islands. The term may have reached Pytheas from the Gauls, who may have used it as their term for the inhabitants of the islands.[2][3]

Ultimately, the term Briton is from Celtic *Britto, plural *Britton-es, whence the Welsh collective Brython. The Latin name in the early Roman Empire period was Britanni or Brittanni, following the Roman conquest in 43 BC replaced by Britto, Brittones directly loaned from the native British language. The single -t- in modern Briton is from an erroneous Latin form Brito, Britones in medieval manuscript tradition; French Breton derives from the more correct Latin form with double -tt-.[4]

In current usage, Briton is mostly used synonymously with British, the contemporary ethno-linguistic group. Welsh Brython was introduced into English usage by John Rhys in 1884 as a term unambiguously referring to the P-Celtic speakers of Great Britain, as complementing Goidel; hence the adjective Brythonic referring to the group of languages.[5] Brittonic is a more recent coinage (first attested 1923 according to OED) intended to refer to the ancient Britons specifically.

[edit] Language

Main article: Brythonic languages

The Britons were speakers of the Brythonic (or Brittonic) languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic languages. The other branch of Insular Celtic that co-existed with Brythonic was the Goidelic (or Gaelic) languages. The Brythonic languages are believed to have been spoken on the entire island of Britain as far north as the Clyde-Forth. Beyond this was the territory of the Picts and Gaels. However, Britons later migrated to Brittany and the Brythonic Breton language developed there.

The Brythonic languages are believed to have developed from Proto-Celtic, after it was introduced to the British Isles from the continent. The first form of the Brythonic languages is believed to be British. After the Roman conquest of Britain, the British language adopted some words from Latin; hence it is sometimes termed Romano-British in this period.

The British language then branched into three dialects: Eastern, Western and Southwestern. The Eastern dialect was largely replaced by the invading Anglo-Saxons and their language. The Western and Southwestern developed into Cumbric, Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Only Welsh, Cornish and Breton survive today.

[edit] Territory

Main articles: British Iron Age, Roman Britain, and Sub-Roman Britain
The British Isles during the Anglo-Saxon conquest around 500AD. Brythonic kingdoms are labelled in black, Germanic kingdoms in red, Pictish kingdoms in brown, and Gaelic kingdoms in blue.
The British Isles during the Anglo-Saxon conquest around 500AD. Brythonic kingdoms are labelled in black, Germanic kingdoms in red, Pictish kingdoms in brown, and Gaelic kingdoms in blue.

Throughout their existence, the territory inhabited by the Britons was composed of numerous ever-changing areas controlled by tribes. The extent of their territory before and during the Roman period is unclear, but is generally believed to include the whole of the island of Great Britain, as far north as the Clyde-Forth isthmus. The territory north of this was largely inhabited by the Picts, although a portion of it was eventually absorbed into the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The Isle of Man was originally inhabited by Britons also, but eventually it became Gaelic territory. Meanwhile, Ireland is generally believed to have been entirely Gaelic throughout this period.

In 43 AD the Roman Empire invaded Britain. The Brythonic tribes continually opposed the Roman legions, but by 84 CE the Romans had conquered as far north as the Clyde-Forth isthmus, where they built the Antonine Wall. However, after just twenty years they retreated south to Hadrian's Wall. Although the native Britons mostly kept their land, they were subject to the Roman governers. The Roman Empire retained control of "Britannia" until its departure about 400 AD.

Around the time of the Roman departure, the Germanic Anglo-Saxons began large-scale migrations to the east coast of Britain, where they set up kingdoms. Eventually, Brythonic language and culture in these areas was largely replaced by those of the Anglo-Saxons. At the same time, some Brythonic tribes migrated across the channel to what is now called Brittany. There they set up their own small kingdoms and the Brythonic Breton language developed. By the end of the 1st millennium AD, the Anglo-Saxons had conquered most of the Brythonic territory in Britain, and the language and culture of the native Britons had largely been extinguished.

[edit] Famous Britons

Main articles: King of the Britons and List of legendary kings of Britain

[edit] References

  1. ^ Snyder, Christopher A. (2003). The Britons. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-22260-X. 
  2. ^ a b Foster (editor), R F; Donnchadh O Corrain, Professor of Irish History at University College Cork: Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland (1 November 2001). The Oxford History of Ireland. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280202-X. 
  3. ^ Encyclopedia of the Celts: Pretani
  4. ^ OED s.v. "Briton". See also Online Etymology Dictionary: Briton
  5. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary: Brythonic

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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