Episode 10 Celtic Britain After Rome

The Celtic World

Dr Jennifer Paxton (2018)

Film Review

Paxton begins this lecture by describing the conditions that led the Romans to withdraw their legions from Britain in 406 AD. Beginning in the second half of the 4th century, Rome faced increasing attack from “barbarian” tribes throughout the empire, including Britain. There they faced increasing smash and grab raids from ocean-going Germanic tribes (for booty and slaves).

In 367 AD, the Barbarian Conspiracy nearly ended Roman rule altogether. At a time when most Roman legions were fighting Germanic incursions in Gaul, it was easy for the Picts and Scoti (ancient name for the Irish) to launch coordinated attacks against Londinium and other southeast British strongholds. They were only repelled when Emperors Theodosium and Stilicho dispatched reinforcements.

In 406 AD, the Rhine froze, allowing barbarian troops to walk across into the Roman province of Gaul. This forced Rome to withdraw their remaining legions from Britain to defend the homeland.

The withdrawal of Roman troops was quickly followed by an incursion of Angle settlers and the gradual (over 200 years) disappearance of the Celtic language from southeastern Britain.*

Archeological evidence suggests this linguistic shift resulted from gradual assimilation and infiltration, as Saxon elites extended their power westward by seizing control of former Roman estates. By 519 AD, the Saxon province of Wessex extended to the Tamar River, cutting off Cornwall from the rest of Britain.

The written history paints a somewhat different different history, with Gildas reporting on the Battle of Badon in his 550 AD manuscript The Ruin and Conquest of Britain. Badon is the first recorded battle by Celtic forces against Anglo-Saxon encroachment. Later historical sources describe a courageous warrior named Arthur leading the Celts. Arthur (aka King Arthur) would become a Celtic hero, later adopted by Anglo Saxon Britain. It’s believed he was born in Cornwall, possibly at Tintagel Castle.

The Cornish language persisted through the Middle Ages, with the last Cornish speaker Dolly Pentreath dying in 1777. In 1549, Cornwall was the site of the Prayer Book Rebellion, in which the Cornish rebelled at having an English prayer book forced on them. British forces slaughtered more than 4,000 rebels.

The Celtic language Cumbric continued to be spoken during the early Middle Ages in Westmorland, Cumberland, north Lancashire and the independent kingdom of Elmet (Yorkshire). At the time, the “civilized” north was divided into three Brittonic kingdoms: Strathclyde, Rheged and Gododden.

The Angles conquered Gododdin and Elmet in the 7th century AD. King Urien of Rheged held out until the 8th century, when his kingdom was swallowed up by Northumbria. Strathclyde (Glasgow) survived until the 11th century, when it was conquered by the Gaelic-speaking kingdom of Alba (under an Irish/Pict coalition). The original Brittonic language was spoken in Glasgow until the 12th century, when it was replaced first by Gaelic and then by English.

The kingdom of Wales, which survived the longest, made a concerted effort to preserve all northern Brittonic historical documents and literature. The current movement to revive the Cumbric language owes its legacy to the Welsh.

*Paxton refers to a long period of trilingualism, with Latin spoken by government administrators and the church and early English and P-Celtic by the middle and lower classes.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://pukeariki.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/video/5701024/5701044