Queen Boadicea of the Iceni tribe.

The Britons (also called Brythons) were the people who spoke a Celtic language known as Common Brittonic. They lived in Great Britain during the Iron Age, Roman Britain and the Sub-Roman period following the Romans leaving Britain. After the Anglo-Saxons arrived many of the Britons were absorbed into the new culture and became English. Others withdrew into Wales, Cornwall and southern Scotland. Still others left Britain for Brittany.

Name |

6th Century Britons pushed westward

In about 330 BC, Pytheas, a Greek explorer began a voyage in which he discovered the British Isles.^[1] In 326 BC he landed and gave the island the name Prettanike or Brettainiai.^[2] The name became Britain.

When the Romans conquered Britain in 43 AD, they called the people living there Brittanni (also spelled Britanni).^[3] They were also aware of their tribal identities. In their histories the Romans said of them "they are a people harassed by hosts,^[a] who receive political exiles, who rebel, and who are among the remote peoples of the world."^[3]Monks writing in the 4th and 5th centuries also called them Britanni. Some used the term Britto.^[3]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains an account of the land and the people of Britain. ""The island of Britain is eight hundred miles long and two hundred miles broad: and here are in the island five peoples: English, Brito-Welsh,^[b]Scottish, Pictish, and Book-Latin."^[4]

The Welsh scholar John Rhys first used the terms Brythons and Brythonic. He wanted a more specific terms for the people of Wales and the Welsh of Cumbria and Cornwall than just the word Britons.^[5]

Celtic tribes |

From the Iron Age onward, the territory inhabited by the Celtic Britons changed considerably. At first it was divided among a variety of Celtic tribes. Before the Romans came, they occupied most what is now the country of England.

Celtic tribes in pre-Roman Britain.

Central |

• The Brigantes - Controlled what would later be much of Northern England.


• The Carvetii - Located in the area of the Solway Plain just north of Hadrian's Wall.


• The Corieltauvi - They lived in what is now the East Midlands.


• The Cornovii - Lived in what is now the West Midlands.


• The Parisii - Occupied what is now East Yorkshire.

Southeastern |

• The Atrebates - Occupied what is now West Sussex, parts of Hampshire and Surrey.


• The Belgae - Were in and around the county of Hampshire.


• The Cantiaci - Lived in the modern county of Kent centered on Canterbury.


• The Catuvellauni - Occupied what would later be Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.


• The Durotriges - They occupied the later area of Dorset and western Hampshire.


• The Dumnonii - They lived in the later areas of Cornwall and Devonshire
  


• The Trinovantes - Controlled Essex and parts of Hertfordshire and Middlesex.


• The Iceni - Were in area of what was later Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire
  


• The Regnenses - They occupied what would be Sussex and Surrey.

Western |

• The Damnonii - Occupied what would be Cornwall and Devonshire.


• The Deceangli - Their territory included north-east Wales.


• The Demetae - Gave their name to Dyfed; also inhabited modern Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.


• The Dobunni - Their territory included Northern Somerset, Bristol, and Gloucestershire.


• The Gangani - They occupied much of northwestern Wales.


• The Ordovices - They lived in northern Wales and Anglesey
  


• The Silures - Their territory included modern Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire.

Notes |

References |

Other websites |

• The Kingdom of the Britons, BBC Scotland's History


• Celtic Britons, BBC Wales History