THE CELTS

Who were they?

The term refers to any number of ancient tribes in

Europe using the Celtic languages
Origins and geographical distribution
• Some historians believe that they originate from the
Caspian steppes
• The first records date back to 600BC
• By that time they had spread over much of Central
Europe, the Iberian peninsula, Ireland and Britain
 Geographical Distribution
• the core Hallstatt territory,
expansion before 500
BC(yellow)
• maximum Celtic expansion by
the 3rd century BC (blue),
• the boundaries of the six
commonly-recognized 'Celtic
nations', which remained Celtic
speaking throughout the
Middle Ages (green).
• areas that remain Celtic-
speaking today (dark green)
Celtic languages in Britain
• Pictish (Scotland)
• Brythonic (England)
• Scotti (Ireland)
• Cornish (South-England)
Other Celtic languages
• Belgae (Belgium)
• Gaulish (France)
• Proto-Basque (Spain)
• Galatian (Greece)
• Etc.
The Celts before the Romans
• Social hierarchy:
kings
warrior aristocracy
druids, poets, jurists
everyone else
Organization of society
• Around wars
• Kings were elected – the best warriors became the high
and low kings
• Women were also participating in all spheres – they
could become queens
• They were hunters and raiders – all the goods were
shared
Make-up of Society
Hierarchical (sex, class, & rank)
Druids
• Classes: prophets, bards and priests
• Assisted by sorcerers (female priests)
• Druids had the power:
- of mastering astrology
- of magic
- to control animals and plants
- of healing
Druids
• Druids “very knowledgeable one” were important to the celtic
culture
• They could stop a battle
• Responsibilities included: teaching the religious doctrine,
medicine, civil justice, sacrifice, divination, and care of temples
• To become a druid, school would take up to 20 years because it
all had to be memorized
• They performed animal and human sacrifices and practiced
divination and other forms of magic
Nobility
• “The King or Queen was the central part of the social
structure.”
• “They were responsible for harmony between the tribe
and the land, and also for the prosperity of the tribe.”
Celtic arts
• They were literate, but preferred the oral tradition
• Highly skilled in visual arts (on clay, metal, wood)
Faith
• Druidism, after the Roman conquest `Celtic Christianity`
• Druidism:
- Immortality of the soul
- When somebody dies the soul passes to a newborn child
- They believed that they descended from a supreme
being
Sacred rituals
• Rituals carried out in oak forests
• Sacred plants: oak trees and mistletoes
• Used altars (stone monuments)
• Stone temples (Stonehenge)
• Providing sacrifices (human heads, plants, animals) to
animistic gods (gods of the wood, elements, rivers, etc.)
After the Roman conquest
• Julius Caesar conquered Gallia, and parts of Britain; Claudius
went deeper into the inlands of Britain; Hadrian's limes
established the northern border against the Pictish and Scottish
invasions
• 3rd to 5th century AD
Roman influence
• Christianity
• Roads, aqueducts
• Urbanization
• Taxation, commerce
Anglo-Saxon invasion
• From 6th century onwards
• Lots of Celts fled to Ireland
• Remained only in Wales (Cymru, Cardiff = Caerdydd) and
Scotland (Gaelic: Alba)
• Language slowly disappeared
Celtic influence on Modern England
• Christianity
• Beliefs/Customs: Wiccas, Halloween, May Day
• Language (qw- queen, kn- knight, knife
-gh burgh, loch, lake-kh)