The Celts have some pretty rotten luck. Almost undisputedly, they had the worst luck of any European ethnic group. Why? Well, the Celts once held most of Europe, save for most of Germany, Poland, the Baltic Nations, Scandinavia, and southern Italy. There were Celts in Portugal, and in Switzerland, and in Turkey. But by the year 500 A.D., the only civilizations that identified themselves as Celtic were in Ireland and Scotland. What happened? Well, two things happened: the Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes. Between the two of them, they effectively stamped out Celtic culture, either through assimilation or slaughter. The eastern Celts are basically extinct. Nobody really knows what happened to them, but I would infer that the Visigoths had something to do with it. Unlike the Germans, the Celts weren't so closely related, and Celtic culture and language, rather than ethnicity, defined a man as a Celt. However, it has been hypothesized that most of the Celts descended from the Hallstatt people, who originated in Austria.
The Gauls
Origin: France
Modern Descendants: Present in France
The Gauls represent the Celtic luck perfectly. They started out as, well, Celts, loving things like war, pillage, headhunting and human sacrifice. (Give it up for my ancestors, everybody.) The Gauls were powerful enough to sack the young Roman Republic. The Romans never forgot the Gaul's conquest, and they especially remembered the fact that the Gauls asked for a mere thousand pounds of gold in exchange for the Republic's sovereignty. As if Rome were only worth a thousand pounds of gold! As you should all know, a guy named Caesar led Rome into Gaul. A young leader named Vercingetorix tried to fight, but eventually retreated into the holdfast of Alesia to wait for reinforcements. Long story short - Rome beat the reinforcements, the Celts lost Gaul, the Gauls lost their Celtic identity, and Vercingetorix lost his head. When the Romans pulled out of Gaul, it wasn't long before the Germanic Franks came in and gave the Romanized Celts a new Frankish identity and new Frankish children.
The Britons
Origin: Southern Great Britain
Modern Descendants: Welsh; Present in England
The story of the Britons is parallel to the story of the Gauls, in that the Celtic peoples tried - and failed - to fight off the encroaching Roman legions. They lost because the Romans bought off their leaders with some persuasion in the form of war elephants. Much as the Gauls had, the Britons were Romanized - with the exception of a western corner of Great Britain. The hilly terrain of the lands now known as Wales served the Britons well, and they were able to beat off the Romans long enough to keep their culture intact. Wales would later hold out against the Anglo-Saxons, and would not fall until the stirrup-armed English Normans came knocking. Many Britons may have kept the Brythonic language (almost identical to Welsh), but it doesn't seem to matter whether that number was ninety percent of the population or nine individuals outside of Wales - the Anglo-Saxons would change all of that. The loss of Celtic identity of the Britons of England was completed long before the Normans arrived from their holdfasts in France.
The Picts
Origin: Scotland
Modern Descendants: Present in Scotland
The only Celtic peoples that remained wholly unconquered by Rome, the Picts were so terrifying that they inspired the construction of Hadrian's Wall, an incredibly advanced structure for its day. Although their origins were undoubtedly similar to those of the Britons, they spoke a slightly different language and practiced a slightly different religion. The Picts must have been disgusted by their cousins' lack of resistance against the Romans, because they attacked often. The Picts, ironically enough, would not be conquered by Romans, or by Saxons, or even by the Normans; they would be conquered by another group of Celts.
The Gaels
Origin: Iberia
Modern Descendants: Irish; Present in Scotland, Spain, Portugal
The only Celts whose identity survived to the middle ages were the Gaels, and even that was only in part of their range. In their native Iberia, the Gaels met a similar fate to their Gallic and Brythonic cousins - Romanization and a loss of Celtic identity. However, Iberia was not the only Gaelic stronghold; in the first or second millennium B.C. (there are no real records from this time), a group of Gaels arrived on an island about four hundred miles due north of their homeland. The Gaels took Ireland from the native Celts by force. It's possible they assimilated these other Celts into Gaelic culture; its just as likely that they took it upon themselves to kill off their weaker cousins. Only Christianity (which was spread, in Celtic fashion, through military means) prevented the Scoti, a tribe from the north of Ireland, from wiping out the Picts when they invaded the lands they would give their name. Up until the sixteenth century, any invading force was restricted to a small area (the English), forced out entirely, or assimilated into the rest of the population. But the countless invasions of Ireland and Scotland took their toll on the people, and both would fall to England.
Yeah history!
ReplyDeleteThis is a well worded and well informed post, and so is your other one. I learned a lot from both, and hopefully much of it will stick.
European history during the Dark Ages is unbelievably and even hilariously complicated. My father has a book that describes the history using maps. I read it last year, and it was a struggle. Constant changing borders, constant conquests. On the other hand, it is quite exciting if you can get a grasp of what's going on.
Keep writing! This is good stuff.