The Brigantes are classified as a Celtic tribe or confederation of tribes. They lived in Britain from the North Sea to the Irish Sea in the present-day counties of Cleveland, Durham, and Lancashire and the former county of Yorkshire, in present-day northern England. They are discussed as Celts or Britons. The Corionototae may have been a subtribe.
The Brigantes rulers Venutius and his wife, Cartimandua, made an alliance with the Romans in 43 C. E. Caractacus (Caradoc) of the Catuvellauni, leader of a rebellion against Roman occupation, sought refuge with the Brigantes in 51 C. E., but Cartimandua turned him over to the Romans. She also supported the Romans against her husband, who became her rival. She held power for a time as a Roman client-queen until he regained control of the kingdom in 69 C. E. Rebel elements among the Brigantes repeatedly attacked Eboracum (modern York), provoking a Roman campaign against them in 72-74 c. e. The Romans finally subdued rebel elements 10 years later. isurium Brigantum, on the site of present-day Aldborough, was a civ-itas capital during the Roman occupation lasting until 410 C. E.
A group of Brigantes also lived in the present-day counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, and Laioghis in southeastern Ireland. The chief goddess of the Brigantes, Brigantia, has been referred to as the Gaelic Minerva and the mother of the gods. She is associated with St. Briget (Bridget or Brigid), the founder of a monastery at Kildare.
World History
