View source for Brigantes

{{Short description|British tribe of the Iron Age and Roman era}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox Celts of England
| Name     = Brigantes
| fullname = Brigantes
| map      = [[Image:Map of the Territory of the Brigantes.svg|250px|Approximate territory of the Brigantes]]
| name     = Brigantes
| capital  = ''[[Isurium Brigantum]]'' <small>([[Aldborough, North Yorkshire|Aldborough]])</small>
| location = [[Cheshire]]<br>[[Cumberland]]<br>[[County Durham]]<br>[[Derbyshire]]<br>[[Northumberland]]<br>[[Nottinghamshire]]<br>[[Lancashire]]<br>[[Staffordshire]]<br>[[Westmorland]]<br>[[Yorkshire]]
| rulers   = [[Cartimandua]], [[Venutius]], [[Vellocatus]]
}}
[[File:Brit Mus 17sept 048-crop.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications|Stanwick]] Horse Mask, 1st century AD]]	
The '''Brigantes''' were [[Ancient Britons]] who in [[British Iron Age|pre-Roman]] times controlled the largest section of what would become [[Northern England]]. Their territory, often referred to as [[Brigantia (ancient region)|Brigantia]], was centred in what was later known as [[Yorkshire]]. The Greek geographer [[Ptolemy]] named the Brigantes as a people in [[Ireland]] also, where they could be found around what is now counties [[County Wexford|Wexford]], [[County Kilkenny|Kilkenny]] and [[County Waterford|Waterford]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_history/iron_age.html|publisher=WesleyJohnston.com|title=Celtic Ireland in the Iron Age|date=24 October 2007}}</ref> while another people named ''[[Brigantii]]'' is mentioned by [[Strabo]] as a sub-tribe of the [[Vindelicia|Vindelici]] in the region of the [[Alps]].<ref>Strabo, ''Geographia'' Book IV Chap. 6</ref>

Within [[Great Britain|Britain]], the territory which the Brigantes inhabited was bordered by that of four other peoples: the [[Carvetii]] in the northwest, the [[Parisi (Yorkshire)|Parisii]] to the east and, to the south, the [[Corieltauvi]] and the [[Cornovii (Midlands)|Cornovii]]. To the north was the territory of the [[Votadini]], which straddled the present day border between [[England]] and [[Scotland]].

==Etymology==
The name {{lang|grc-Latn|Brigantes}} ({{lang|grc|Βρίγαντες}} in [[Ancient Greek]]) shares the same [[Proto-Celtic]] root as the goddess [[Brigantia (goddess)|Brigantia]], {{lang|cel-x-proto|brigantī, brigant-}} meaning 'high, elevated', and it is unclear whether settlements called {{lang|xtg|Brigantium}} were so named as 'high ones' in a metaphorical sense of nobility, or literally as 'highlanders', or inhabitants of physically elevated fortifications. The reconstructed [[Proto-Indo-European]] root is {{lang|ine-x-proto|bʰerǵʰ-}}.<ref>{{cite book |first=Julius |last=Pokorny |author-link=Julius Pokorny |title=[[Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch]] |date=1959 |publisher=Francke Verlag |volume=1 |at="bhereĝh-" entry, [https://archive.org/details/pokorny-indogermanisches-etymologisches-worterbuch-band-i-1959/page/n143/mode/2up pp. 140–141] |via=Internet Archive}}. The conventions for writing PIE have changed since the publication of this work.</ref> The word is related to Germanic {{lang|gem-x-proto|[[Burgundians|Burgund, Burgundī]]}} and [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] {{lang|ira|Alborz}} (Old Iranian {{lang|ae|[[Hara Berezaiti]]}}).

In modern Welsh, the word {{lang|cy|braint}} means 'privilege, prestige' and comes from the same root {{lang|cel-x-proto|brigantī}}.  Other related forms from the modern Celtic languages are: Welsh {{lang|cy|brenin}} 'king' (&lt; {{lang|cel-x-combrit|brigantīnos}}); Welsh/Cornish/Breton {{lang|cy|bri}} 'prestige, reputation, honour, dignity', Scottish Gaelic {{lang|gd|brìgh}} 'pith, power', Irish {{lang|ga|brí}} 'energy, significance', [[Manx language|Manx]] {{lang|gv|bree}} 'power, energy' (all &lt; {{lang|cel-x-proto|brīg-/brigi-}}); and Welsh/Cornish/Breton {{lang|cy|bre}} 'hill' (&lt; {{lang|cel-x-combrit|brigā}}).  The name Bridget from [[Old Irish]] {{lang|sga|[[Brigit]]}} (Modern Irish {{lang|ga|Bríd}}) also comes from {{lang|cel-x-proto|Brigantī}}, as does the English river name [[River Brent|Brent]] and the connected area [[Brentford]].

There were several ancient settlements named {{lang|xtg|[[Brigantium (disambiguation)|Brigantium]]}} around Europe, corresponding to modern places (many with cognate names), including Berganza in [[Álava]] (Spain), [[A Coruña]] and [[Bergantiños]] in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] (Spain), [[Bragança (Portugal)|Bragança]] and [[Braga]] in [[Portugal]], [[Briançon]] in France,<ref name="rborg">{{cite news |url=http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/tribes/brigantes/ |publisher=Roman-Britain.co.uk |title=The Brigantes |date=24 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/brigantium/brigantiumcity.htm |publisher=Terra.es |title=Brigantium |date=24 October 2007 |access-date=25 October 2007 |archive-date=18 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918140839/http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/brigantium/brigantiumcity.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Szőny|Brigetio]] on the border of [[Slovakia]] and [[Hungary]],<ref name="brigetio1">{{cite news |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=brigetio |publisher=The Princeton encyclopedia |title=Brigetio (Szöny) Komárom |year=1976}}</ref> [[Hüfingen|Brigobanne]]<ref name="brigobanne">{{cite news |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=brigobanne |publisher=The Princeton encyclopedia |title=Brigobanne Germany |year=1976}}</ref> situated on the [[Breg River]] and near the [[Brigach]] river in south [[Germany]] (pre-Roman [[Vindelicia]]<ref name="vindmap">{{cite news |url=http://cartotecadigital.icc.cat/cdm/singleitem/collection/europa/id/1401 |publisher=Europeana |title=Vindelicia map |year=1830}}</ref>) [[Bregenz]] in the Austrian [[Alps]], and [[Brianza]] in Italy.

In [[chronostratigraphy]], the British [[Stage (stratigraphy)|sub-stage]] of the [[Carboniferous]] period, the Brigantian, derives its name from the Brigantes.<ref>Harland, W. B. (1990); ''A Geologic Time Scale 1989''; [[Cambridge University Press]], p. 43.</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Brigantian theatrical mask, YMT.jpeg|thumb|Romano-Brigantian [[Mask|theatrical mask]]]]
There are no written records of the Brigantes before the [[Roman conquest of Britain]]; it is therefore hard to assess how long they had existed as a political entity prior to that. Most key [[archaeology|archaeological]] sites in the region seem to show continued, undisturbed occupation from an early date, so their rise to power may have been gradual rather than a sudden, dramatic conquest, or it may be linked to the burning of the large hill fort at [[Castle Hill, Huddersfield]], c. 430 BC.<ref>William Jones Varley, ''Castle Hill, Almondbury; A Brief Guide to the Excavations 1939&ndash;1972'' Tolson Memorial Museum (1973)</ref> Territorially the largest tribe in Britain, the Brigantes encompassed sub-tribes or [[sept]]s such as the [[Gabrantovices]] on the Yorkshire Coast,<ref>Ptolemy, ''Geographia'' II, 3, 4</ref> and the [[Textoverdi]] in the upper valley of the [[River Tyne#South Tyne|River South Tyne]]<ref>B. Collingwood & R.P. Wright (eds.) ''The Roman Inscriptions of Britain'' (1965) Oxford</ref> near [[Hadrian's Wall]]. The names ''Portus Setantiorum'' and ''Coria Lopocarum'' suggest other groups, the [[Setantii]] and the [[Lopocares]] located on the [[Lancashire]] coast and the [[River Tyne]] respectively. A name ''[[Corionototae]]''<ref>Mc Caul, John, ''Britanno-Roman Inscriptions with Critical Notes'' (1863)</ref> is also recorded but since the name seems to derive from ''*Corion Toutas'' meaning "tribal army" or "people's army" it may have been a name for a military force or resistance against the Romans rather than any tribe or sub-tribe. The [[Carvetii]] who occupied what is now [[Cumbria]] may have been another sub-tribe, or they may have been separate from the Brigantes. This is often disputed as the Carvetii made up a separate [[civitas]] under Roman rule.

===Roman era===
During the Roman invasion, in 47 AD, the governor of Britain, [[Publius Ostorius Scapula]], was forced to abandon his campaign against the [[Deceangli]] of [[North Wales]] because of "disaffection" among the Brigantes, whose leaders had been allies of Rome. A few of those who had taken up arms were killed and the rest were pardoned.<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+12.32 12.32]</ref> In 51, the defeated resistance leader [[Caratacus]] sought sanctuary with the Brigantian queen, [[Cartimandua]], but she showed her loyalty to the Romans by handing him over in chains.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+12.36 12:36]</ref> She and her husband [[Venutius]] are described as loyal and "defended by Roman arms", but they later [[divorce]]d, Venutius taking up arms first against his ex-wife, then her Roman protectors. During the governorship of [[Aulus Didius Gallus]] (52–57) he gathered an army and invaded her kingdom. The Romans sent troops to defend Cartimandua, and they defeated Venutius' rebellion.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+12.40 12:40]</ref> After the divorce, Cartimandua married Venutius' armour-bearer, [[Vellocatus]], and raised him to the kingship. Venutius staged another rebellion in 69, taking advantage of Roman instability in the [[Year of the Four Emperors]]. This time the Romans were only able to send [[Auxiliaries (Roman military)|auxiliaries]], who succeeded in evacuating Cartimandua but left Venutius and his anti-Roman supporters in control of the kingdom.<ref>Tacitus, ''[[Histories (Tacitus)|Histories]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Hist.+3.45 3:45]</ref>

The extensive Iron Age fortifications at [[Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications|Stanwick]] in North Yorkshire were excavated in the 1950s by [[Mortimer Wheeler]] who concluded that Venutius probably had this site as his capital, but Durham University's later excavations from 1981 to 1986 led [[Colin Haselgrove]] and Percival Turnbull to suggest a slightly earlier dating with Stanwick a centre of power for Cartimandua instead.<ref>Stanwick North Yorkshire, Part I : Recent Research and Previous Archaeological Investigations; Haselgrove, Turnbull, Fitts; Royal Archaeological Institute</ref>

After the accession of [[Vespasian]], [[Quintus Petillius Cerialis]] was appointed governor of Britain and the conquest of the Brigantes was begun.<ref>Tacitus, ''[[Agricola (book)|Agricola]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0081&layout=&loc=17 17]</ref> It seems to have taken many decades to complete. [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]] (governor 78–84) appears to have engaged in warfare in Brigantian territory.<ref>Tacitus, ''Agricola'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0081&layout=&loc=20 20]</ref> Tacitus, in a speech put into the mouth of the [[Caledonii|Caledonian]] leader [[Calgacus]], refers to the Brigantes, "under a woman's leadership", almost defeating the Romans.<ref>Tacitus, ''Agricola'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ag.+31 31]</ref> The Roman poet [[Juvenal]], writing in the early 2nd century, depicts a Roman father urging his son to win glory by destroying the forts of the Brigantes.<ref>Juvenal, ''[[Satire XIV|Satires]]''  14.196</ref> There appears to have been a rebellion in the north sometime in the early reign of Hadrian, but details are unclear. A rising of the Brigantes has often been posited as the explanation for the disappearance of the [[Legio IX Hispana|Ninth Legion]], stationed at York. It is possible that one of the purposes of [[Hadrian's Wall]] (begun in 122) was to keep the Brigantes from making discourse with the tribes in what is now the lowlands of [[Scotland]] on the other side. The emperor [[Antoninus Pius]] (138–161) is said by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] to have defeated them after they began an unprovoked war against Roman allies,<ref>Pausanias, ''[[Description of Greece]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+8.43.1 8.43.4]</ref> perhaps as part of the campaign that led to the building of the [[Antonine Wall]] (142–144).

==Settlements==
[[Ptolemy]] named nine principal ''[[poleis]]'' (cities) or towns belonging to the Brigantes; these were:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
![[Latin language|Latin name]]
!Modern name
![[counties of England|Modern County]]
|-
|[[Epiacum]]||align=center|[[Whitley Castle]], [[Alston, Cumbria|Alston]]<ref name="rombrit">Geographical identifications as given in {{cite web|url= https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/classical-references/the-geography-of-ptolemy/ |author= www.roman-britain.co.uk |access-date= 2023-09-03 |title= The Geography of Ptolemy}}</ref> ||align=center|[[Northumberland]]
|-
|[[Binchester Roman Fort|Vinovium]]||align=center|[[Binchester]]<ref name="rombrit"/> ||align=center|[[County Durham]]
|-
|[[Cataractonium|Caturactonium]]||align=center|[[Catterick, North Yorkshire|Catterick]]<ref name="rombrit"/> ||align=center|[[North Yorkshire]]
|-
|Calatum||align=center|Burrow, [[Lonsdale (hundred)|Lonsdale]]<ref name="rombrit"/> ||align=center|[[Lancashire]]
|-
|[[Isurium Brigantum]]||align=center|[[Aldborough, North Yorkshire|Aldborough]]<ref name="rombrit"/> ||align=center|[[North Yorkshire]]
|-
|[[Rigodunum]]||align=center|Unknown{{ref label|A|a}}||align=center|[[Greater Manchester]]
|-
|[[Olicana]] or Olenacum||align=center|Ilkley{{ref label|B|b}}||align=center|[[West Yorkshire]]
|-
|[[Eboracum]]||align=center|[[City of York]]<ref name="rombrit"/> ||align=center|[[North Yorkshire]]
|-
|[[Cambodunum (Britain)|Cambodunum]]||align=center|Unknown{{ref label|C|c}}||align=center|[[West Yorkshire]]
|}
{{Refbegin}}{{note label|a|<sup>a</sup> Rigodunum is most likely [[Castleshaw|Castleshaw’s]] [[Rigodunum|Roman Fort]]<ref name="rombrit"/> in [[Greater Manchester]].}}<br />
{{note label|b|<sup>b</sup> Olenacum is traditionally thought to be [[Ilkley|Ilkley’s]] [[Olicana|Roman Fort]], [[West Yorkshire]], but is now thought to be a predecessor of [[Elslack]].<ref name="rombrit"/>}}<br />{{note label|c|<sup>c</sup> Cambodunum is most likely the [[Slack Roman Fort]]<ref name="rombrit"/> near [[Outlane]], [[West Yorkshire]].}}{{Refend}}

Other settlements known in Brigantian territory include:

*[[Wincobank (hill fort)|Wincobank]], on the border of [[Sheffield]]
*[[Bremetennacum|Bremetenacum Veteranorum]] ([[Ribchester]], Lancashire)
*Calcaria ([[Tadcaster]], North Yorkshire) – mentioned in the [[Antonine Itinerary]] and the [[Ravenna Cosmography]]
*[[Luguvalium]] ([[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]], [[Cumbria]]) – probably a settlement of the Carvetii
*[[Coria (Corbridge)|Coria]] ([[Corbridge]], Northumberland) – perhaps a settlement of the [[Lopocares]]

==Brigantes in Ireland==
The Brigantes are attested in [[Ireland]] as well as Britain in [[Ptolemy]]'s 2nd century ''[[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'',<ref name="ptolemy">[[Ptolemy]], ''[[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/2/1*.html 2.1], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/2/2*.html 2.2]</ref> but it is not clear what link, if any, existed between the Irish and the British Brigantes. [[T. F. O'Rahilly]] proposed that the Irish branch was the origin of the later [[Uí Bairrche]] clan, believing that they belonged to the Érainn (Ptolemy's [[Iverni]]) who he hypothesized were originally descendant from the Gaulish and British Belgae<ref>O'Rahilly, T. F. (1946), ''Early Irish History and Mythology'', Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies</ref> according to his model of Irish prehistory. Professor [[John T. Koch]] posits links between the British and Irish groups, identifying the Romano-British goddess [[Brigantia (goddess)|Brigantia]] with the Irish [[Brigid]] and pointing to a possibly Roman or Romano-British burial in Stonyford, [[County Kilkenny]]. He identifies the Irish Brigantes with the early mediaeval Uí Brigte clan.<ref>Koch, J.T., ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' Vol. I pp. 312-313</ref>

==In popular culture==
* The 2010 film ''[[Centurion (film)|Centurion]]'' follows the destiny of the [[Ninth Legion]], seen from the perspective of centurion Quintus Dias. Both the Ninth and Dias become embroiled in the machinations of Etain ([[Olga Kurylenko]]), a Brigantes warrior, acting as a scout, when she subsequently betrays them to the [[Picts]].
* In the 1954 novel ''[[The Eagle of the Ninth]]'' by [[Rosemary Sutcliff]], one of the main characters is Esca, the captured son of a chieftain of the Brigantes, who travels with the Roman soldier Marcus Aquila north of [[Hadrian's Wall]] to discover what happened to the [[Legio IX Hispana]]. The character was played by [[Christian Rodska]] in the 1977 BBC adaptation and [[Jamie Bell]] in the 2011 film adaptation ''[[The Eagle (2011 film)|The Eagle]]''.
* In 2020, the English rugby league club, [[Wigan Warriors]], referenced a Brigantian warrior in their new club logo claiming that the Brigantes "had roots and lineage in the town of Wigan".<ref>{{cite web |title=The Why and How |url=https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2020/11/01/the-new-badge-why-and-how/ |website=Wigan Warriors Blog |access-date=2 November 2020 |date=1 November 2020}}</ref>
* The 1982 [[science fiction]] novel ''[[Battlefield Earth (novel)|Battlefield Earth]]'', by [[L. Ron Hubbard]], includes a group of minor characters in the distant future who call themselves the Brigantes. They are presented as savage and treacherous bandit mercenaries and [[Human cannibalism|cannibals]] from [[Zimbabwe]] in [[Africa]], led by a man called “[[Ian Smith|Snith]]” but with no connection to the historical Brigantes other than descending from British colonists. The meaning of their name is never explained, but is possibly related to the word “[[Brigandage|brigand]].”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://battlefieldearth.com/compendium/ | title=Compendium }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last=Branigan |first=Keith |title=Rome and the Brigantes: the impact of Rome on northern England |publisher=[[University of Sheffield]] |year=1980 |isbn=0-906090-04-0}}
*{{cite book |last=Hartley |first=Brian |title=The Brigantes |publisher=Sutton |year=1988 |isbn=0-86299-547-7}}

==External links==
*[http://www.brigantesnation.com/ Brigantes Nation]
*[http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/tribes/brigantes/ Brigantes] at [http://www.roman-britain.co.uk Roman-Britain.co.uk]

{{Celtic tribes of England}}
{{Yorkshire}}
{{Ptolemy's Ireland}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Historical Celtic peoples]]
[[Category:Briton people]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Ireland]]
[[Category:Tribes of ancient Ireland]]