The Brigantes

The Brigantes were one of the largest ancient tribes of pre- Roman Britain. They controlled most of the North East of England with the exception of Cumbria and Humberside which were owned by other Celtic tribes. The name Brigante comes from the Celtic Goddess Brigantia. The archaeology around Yorkshire suggests continued occupation from an early age, so although there are no written records of the Brigantes before the Roman conquest in 43AD, it seems that the tribe grew in power over time rather than a sudden conquest.

The Brigantes were ruled by Queen Cartimandua from 43AD to 69AD who appears to have inherited the ‘throne’ rather than by marriage as she was in charge, not her husband Venutius. In Tacitus’ narratives he describes her as “treacherous”, “self indulgent” and “cunning” although he also refers to her loyalty to Rome. He does however; always refer to her as a Queen, the only one in Roman Britain – Boudicca as another female leader at the time is never referred to as such. Cartimandua betrayed the other Celtic tribes and did a deal with the Romans which made it easier for them to take the rest of the country.

Celtic tribes were always fighting between themselves and in 51AD, Caratacus, the British resistance leader sought sanctuary with the Queen after being defeated in Wales but she placed him in chains and handed him over to the Romans. Cartimandua seems to have been quite a character. Having being rewarded with great wealth for handing over Caratacus, she then divorced her husband in favour of his armour bearer, a common soldier named Vellocatus. Her husband Venutius didn’t take kindly to this rebuff and despite Cartimandua holding his relatives hostage, he rebelled against her and Rome in 57AD with alliances he had made outside of the Brigantes. The Romans sent cohorts to defend the Queen but the rebels were not defeated conclusively until the arrival of another Legion. Venutius was patient and in 69AD he staged another rebellion, taking advantage of an unsettled time for Rome with the “year of the four emperors”. This time the Romans could only send auxiliaries which meant that Cartimandua was evacuated and Venutius victorious.

In 73AD Roman governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis started the conquest of the Brigantes, but as Agricola was still engaged in battles in Brigantian territory during his time as governor from 78 – 84AD it seems to have taken decades to finally defeat them.

Following this defeat, Agricola built Isurium Brigantium now known as Aldborough near Boroughbridge. This is possibly where Venutius had his headquarters, with the most probable place for Cartimandua’s seat being an Iron Age settlement found at Stanwick, near Richmond. Isurium appears to have been a civilian settlement rather than a fort, with archaeology showing substantial buildings from an early time with bank and ditch defences added later. Stone walls and gates were also added later, around the mid 3rd century. There are visible remains of a very small part of the town with two mosaic floors in their original positions as well as a section of the town wall. There is also a small museum on this site run by English Heritage which houses finds from the area. A mosaic showing the founders of Rome – Romulus and Remus was also found and is on display in the Leeds museum. Defensive ditches found near Lotherton Hall are thought to be where the Brigante stood their ground against Roman attack.

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