The Celts

The Celts were the pre-Roman people who lived in the Northwest of Europe and Britain during the Iron Age around 600 BC to 43 AD. An advanced society, they learned how to make weapons from iron, because of this, many know this era in time as the 'Iron Age'. Throughout Britain, the Celts settled in Cornwall and Wales Mostly. 

There were three main factions of Celts in Europe, these included Brythonic, Gaulic and Gaelic. The main Celts who settled in Britain were the Brythonic branch. Once settled, like the Celts who arrived in England, they would split into many different tribes. Each tribe would be ruled by a king or queen. Most Celts were farmers and lived in houses that were round instead of square like we know today. 

The Celtic tribes were ruled over by a warrior class, of which the priests, or Druids, seem to have been particularly important members. These Druids could not read or write, but they memorised all the religious teachings, the tribal laws, history, medicine and other knowledge necessary in Celtic society. The Druids from different tribes all over Britain probably met once a year. They had no temples, but they met in sacred groves of trees, on certain hills, by rivers or by river sources. We know little of their kind of worship except that at times it included human sacrifice.

Celtic armies also included cavalry, mounted on ponies, and infantry. One custom for which their warriors became well known was painting themselves blue, using a substance known as woad, before going into battle. The reason for this is not clear, but it may have had something to do with the display of individual valor. Upper-class British men also made a point of displaying personal courage through hunting, although of course much hunting was carried out primarily for meat.

During the Celtic period women may have had more independence than they had again for hundreds of years. When the Romans invaded Britain two of the largest tribes were ruled by women who fought from their chariots. The most powerful Celt to stand up to the Romans was a woman, Boadicea. She had become queen of her tribe when her husband had died. She was tall, with long red hair, and had a frightening appearance. In AD 61 she led her tribe against the Romans. She nearly drove them from Britain, and she destroyed London, the Roman capital, before she was defeated and killed.



Last modified: Monday, 5 December 2022, 3:33 PM