Talk:Brigantes

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The Roman invasion of Britain = 43 AD... The Roman invasion of Gaul = 58 BCE... the latter is on the 100th ANNIVERSARY of the former. Coincidence??

[edit] Brigand

I've removed the reference to "Brigand" being possibly derived from the Brigantes. Dictionary.com derives it from "Old Italian brigante, skirmisher, from present participle of brigare, to fight". The Concise Oxford gives the same derivation. --Nicknack009 11:52, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

The Celts were known for FIGHTING... 'Brigand' is a derogatory RACIAL SLUR just like the Germanic equivalent "Vandal", as well as "Gothic Architecture" (a reference to Gothic Architecture being as ugly as the burned out buildings the ancient evil evil Goths left behind in Byzantium & Rome, "Barbarian Architecture"). Brigand, Vandal, and Gothic are all racially derived slurs and epithets. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.143.68.244 (talkcontribs) 01:20, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm not really sure what 24.143.68.244 is trying to get at, surely you realise that in those times people only showed loyalty to their immediate peoples, probably seeing most people as a threat, it wasn't really 'racism' unless every tribe alien to the specific tribe were subjected to 'it'. Gazh 14:28, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

I saw this think regarding to the word Brigante too[1] and still seems to be in regular use in the Italian language, the description seems very similar to the reputation the tribe has as a fighting nation and perhaps it could be connected to fighting against the surrounding tribes and then the Romans? I think there should be a section about the name and its possibile connections. - Yorkshirian (talk) 07:01, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Brigantia

All of the toponyms mentioned in this article or in the article about Brigantia have nothing to do with this Celtic godess, but rather their names reffer to the type of terrain they are/were located on. The Indoeuropean root of this "BRIG" denotes 1) a 'slope' (of a hill or a mountain; compare German 'Berg' = mountain, Slovene 'breg' = slope etc.) or 2) 'a bank', 'a coast' (of a river, lake, sea; compare Russian 'bereg' = bank, South-Slavic 'breg' or 'brijeg' = bank, Irish 'bruach' = bank, etc). In short - it denotes a certain type of 'higher ground'.

1) The ancient Brigantium (nowadays Bregenz in Austria) stood on the bank of Lake Constance;
2) The ancient Brigetio (a city in Pannonia) stood on the bank of the river Danube;
3) The ancient Brigantium (nowadays Briançon in France, the second highest city in Europe) was built on a plateau which dominates the junction of the Durance river with the Guisane;
4) The ancient Brigantium (nowadays Coruna in Spain) stood on the coast of the Atlantic;
5) The ancient region of Phrygia (from the tribe called Brigians) was first mentioned by Homer on the banks of the Sangarius (now Sakarya river) in Asia minor;
6) The ancient Brigantia (nowadays Bragança in Portugal) stood on a branch of the Sabor River south of the Culebra Mountains;
7) The modern English city - Brighton - stands on the southern coast of Britain;
8) The modern English town - Brigg - is situated on the bank of river Ancholme;
9) The modern English town - Brighouse - is situated on the bank of river Calder;
10) The modern Polish town - Brzeg (Brieg in German) - stands on the left bank of the Oder river and was in earlier documents referred to as 'Civitas Altae Ripae', meaning "city at high banks";

and so on and so on.

There are numerous such toponyms - ancient and modern - all over Europe, and - it seems - especially in Slavic lands. They absolutely cannot have anything to do with any Celtic godess, since many are found in areas that were never inhabited by Celts (in Poland or Ukraine, for example).

Here is a short list of a few such modern toponyms from my country (Slovenia) only:

Breg ob Bistrici (municipality Tržič)
Breg ob Kokri (municipality Preddvor)
Breg ob Savi (municipality Kranj)
Breg pri Borovnici (municipality Borovnica)
Breg pri Dobu (municipality Ivančna Gorica)
Breg pri Golem Brdu (municipality Brda)
Breg pri Kočevju (municipality Kočevje)
Breg pri Komendi (municipality Komenda)
Breg pri Konjicah (municipality Slovenske Konjice)
Breg pri Litiji (municipality Litija)
Breg pri Polzeli (municipality Polzela)
Breg pri Ribnici na Dolenjskem (municipality Ribnica)
Breg pri Sinjem Vrhu (municipality Črnomelj)
Breg pri Temenici (municipality Ivančna Gorica)
Breg pri Velikem Gabru (municipality Ivančna Gorica)
Breg pri Zagradcu (municipality Ivančna Gorica)
Breg (municipality Majšperk)
Breg (municipality Mežica)
Breg (municipality Sevnica)
Breg (municipality Žirovnica)
Brege (municipality Krško)
Breginj municipality Kobarid)

(http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seznam_naselij_v_Sloveniji_%28dolgi_seznam%29)

Compare these names with the Austrian city of Bregenz (ancient Brigantium). All of them can be found either on slopes of hills, mountains etc. or on banks of rivers, streams etc. There are many more similar micro toponyms, known only to local population, and hundreds more in other countries.

From this BRIG comes also the English word bridge - a structure built between two "brigs" (banks) of a river. Compare also German 'Brück' (bridge) and Old Norse 'briggja' (jetty)

Considering that the inscription from Irthington, Yorkshire, says: "divine nymph Brigantia" and taking into acount that "Nymphs live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymph), it should be concluded that this locally worshipped nymph recieved her name from the same word BRIG. This, however, does not mean that the toponyms mentioned in both articles came from the name of this Celtic godess. Places were never originally named after gods or godesses, always after the features of the surrounding terrain or the socioeconomical function of the settlement. The tribal name Brigantes probably simply means 'mountain/hill people', while Brigantii of the eastern Alps were 'the people living on banks of Lake Constance'. 193.77.172.48 18:54, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject Ireland

I am removing the {{WikiProject Ireland}} tag as there is no substantial evidence presented of a relationship to Ireland other than a cursory mention. ww2censor 03:02, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

I've put it back, they were one of the original tribes of Ireland so it falls within topics related to it.Heres a map with their name in the South-East area - Yorkshirian (talk) 07:05, 5 December 2007 (UTC)