As the Roman Empire collapsed at the beginning of the 5th century there began a series of migrations across Europe. Famously, German tribes crossed the Rhine or the North Sea and started to settle the rest of Europe but in Cornwall and SW Britain ships were also loaded up with men and supplies and sent out to establish colonies across the sea.
While this has traditionally been presented as the Britons fleeing Anglo-Saxon expansion this theory has been put under increasing scrutiny. For one thing, the timeline of the earliest settlements is hundreds of years before the Anglo-Saxons reach the SW peninsula. For another, at least in the case of Britanny, the incomers seem to completely replace the language and culture of the natives (although this was already likely to be very similar to their own), something which would be unheard of for a refugee population to achieve.
Another problem with the flight theory is the location of the new Briton settlements. Certainly Armorica, which will become Britanny, is close enough to perhaps make sense as a place of refuge, however there is another settlement, quite often forgotten, on the Northern coast of Spain which seems a very long way to go to avoid some troublesome Saxons.
So if the Britons were not simply fleeing, what brought them to Galicia and what evidence did they leave behind?
To answer the first question, it is helpful to look at a Geological map of NW Europe, specifically looking at naturally occuring deposits of Tin. There are large clusters in SW Britain of course, but there are also deposits in Britanny and in Northern Spain and Galicia. As we've discussed previously, the Tin trade was absolutely vital to the economy of Dumnonia and later Kernow, and the disruption of established trade routes into the Mediterranean is probably the most significant impact the collapse of Roman stability immediately inflicted on the SW Elites.
As such it is perhaps unsurprising that securing access to other deposits, as well as staging points to sail into the Mediterranean, would become an immediate priority. Viewed in this way the settlement pattern in the 5th and 6th century makes much more sense.
While the settlers arriving in Britanny were able to establish a Brythonic cultural and linguistic heritage that survives into the modern era, the situation in Galicia is much more complicated. For one, although both the native Galicians and Britons shared a very broad 'Celtic' cultural ancestry from the pre-Roman period this label is only really a marker of certain stylistic and cultural trends. The tribal groups from Britain would be unlikely to share much in common with those on the Iberian peninsula. In the Early Medieval period they would have the shared inheritance of Roman life - it's likely the elites in both spoke Latin for example and were used to trading across cultural lines.
To make the situation more complicated the Empire had, in it's final days, allowed a Germanic tribe, the Suebi, to settle in Galicia as payment for becoming 'Foederati' or auxillary soldiers in the Roman army. They established a kingdom in Galicia, one which would face frequent conflict with fellow Germanic group the Visigoths who took over much of Spain.
It's not at all clear how stable relations were between the native Galicians and the incoming Suebi, certainly it seems that at least some traditional hill forts or 'Castros' were reoccupied in the post-roman period, including one at Castro Valente which has recently been excavated and identified as significantly fortified in the Early Medieval period (see Lidar image for article link).
Interestingly, the re-fortification of the Castros does match up to the patterns of settlement in SW Britain at the time where many ancient Hill Forts were being re-occupied and other significant earthworks either raised or occupied (i.e Cadbury Castle, Tintagel). The size and complexity of the fortification at Castro Valente does suggest a significant amount of wealth and manpower employed in its construction. This raises the intriguing possibility that the work was either supported, or perhaps fully undertaken, by the expanding Briton elite looking for safe settlements.
Certainly Galicia was much more remote (to them) then Armorica and so it is likely they would want, at a minimum, to establish good relations with the native Elite.
Certainly Castro Valente is within the bounds of the Diocese of Britonia (see map), this ecclesiastical structure is the best surviving record we have of British settlement in the region; established sometime in the 6th century it was officially recognised in 569 by a Council established to set the Diocese limits within the Suebian kingdom.
Interestingly it appears the Diocese may have followed the so-called 'Celtic' rites, specifically in relation to the calculation of Easter and monastic tonsure, until at least 633 when another council established Orthodoxy within Spain. This does support the settlers coming from the West of Britain, and most likely the South West.
While it's impossible to tell how long an actual Brittonic character persisted in the region, the Diocese itself seems to survive between 2-300 years. With the line of noted bishops going into the 8th Century while the Bishopric itself seems to be in place in the 9th when it's attacked by Vikings. This matches fairly closely with the expected lifespan of Castro Valente, which appears to have been occupied around 200 years. Today the Bishop of Britonia is a Titular See, that is a title the Pope can award without any specific duties attached. It has bene awarded several times in the last century or so.
Map showing Briton migrations on the Atlantic coast - Art by Dave Smith illustration.
Map of the Diocese of Britonia showing pre and post roman fortified hills or Castros as well as churches.
Lidar image of the hillfort at Castro Valente showing the line of the walls - taken from: https://www.livescience.com/lasers-reveal-ruins-of-5th...
Map showing the movement of Tin across Europe (dates are BC) as well as major Tin Deposits in Red. Note the distribution in SW Britain, Britanny and Northern Spain. Taken from: https://projectancienttin.wordpress.com/
FROM: Morvleydh the Cornish Early Medieval Warband (Facebook).
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário