The Celts Explained in 11 Minutes

this video is brought to you by captivating history the celtic culture today is so closely linked to ireland that it is hard to remember there were once tribes of celtic speakers throughout germany poland italy austria switzerland spain france and on the british isles the celts left an indelible mark on europe but left us little in the way of historical documents lacking a written language much of the oral stories of the celts have been lost to time forcing historians to piece together their culture from shreds of evidence still we know that the celts plundered village after village to expand their territory from roughly 500 bce to 100 bce the celts built a culture that was intriguing spiritual and artistic yet the various celtic tribes failed to work together as a cohesive unit that flaw led to their eventual downfall the celts retreated to the relative safety of ireland and quietly continued their unique traditions let's look at this once mighty yet disorganized group of people and learn how their history is interwoven with the history of the european continent while most people assume that the celts hailed from ireland maybe they may have originated near the danube river in central europe as far back as 1200 bce both the romans and the greeks made references about them noting that they lived in northern europe and gaul in present-day france the celts while widespread across the region were clustered in farming communities they established thriving trade routes putting them in contact with other groups however anthropologists believed that the different group of celts were mostly unrelated to each other anthropologists put forth a theory that parts of europe underwent a celtization process in which various tribes appropriated or adopted the celtic ways and their language despite the vast territory covered by celts there never seemed to be a united cohesive celtic culture instead the different groups maintained their independence until they were eventually integrated into other european cultures without textual evidence historians cannot know why some of the celtic societies died out when the tribe spread so far across europe while the evidence is lacking because there are no written accounts from the celts researchers can understand the celtic culture from linguistic evidence it is believed that the celtic language emerged between 1200 and 450 bce from a proto-celtic branch of the indo-european language family this same branch eventually produced many present-day languages including french german english persian portuguese hindi spanish and italian the celtic language split into the insular group which eventually became the tongue spoken on the british isles and the continental group they covered the rest of europe the continental branch died out long ago but the insular branch still exists today as early as around 1 1200 bce the celtic migration spread the celtic culture into the iberian peninsula the site of present-day portugal and spain they interbred with the indigenous people of the region and celtis them this blended culture was distinctive it drew on elements of the native iberians and the celts and later the romans land in the iberian peninsula often flip-flop between roman ownership and carthage ownership many of the celtic tribes sided with the carthage and fought against the romans in time the romans emerged as the dominant force on the iberian peninsula the calteberians as they were known were an easy conquest for the advancing roman armies between about 58 to 50 bc rome's julius caesar engaged his army in the gallic wars a series of military battles against several celtic tribes in the region known as gaul or present-day france and belgium the celts had an army as significant and courageous as the romans but they lacked central organization still they went head-to-head with the formidable roman army several times leading to the battle of alicia in 52 bc the decisive campaign that ended in a roman victory the battle might have gone in the celt's favor but an attempt by the celtic chieftain for congentrix to unify the tribes and develop a unilateral front against the roman forces did not come in time today many historians agreed that the gallic wars were not fought for power or territory as much as they were fought to bolster julius caesar's reputation and enforce his political position an old saying states history is written by the victors here it is true most of the information we have about the gallic wars comes from a single source commentary de bello gallico written by caesar it is unclear when and why the celts spread to the british isles but by the first century bce they were well established in britannia the britons who were living on the island adopted the celtic language and rituals but were much more tenacious than their european counterparts they kept the invading romans at bay for several years even after the roman conquest of the british isles pockets of celts remained independent in some of the northern reaches because of this the celtic culture outlasted the roman occupation of the region when the romans ruled britannia they tried to suppress the celtic culture historians have uncovered evidence that leads them to believe that the romans intentionally prevented the celts from inventing a written language finally in the 6th century bce after the roman occupation of the british isles was over a written version of the celtic language was developed for the first time the rich oral stories of the celts were recorded having a written language allowed the celts to advance their mythology customs and laws during the roman occupation of the british isles various celtic leaders waged resistance campaigns against romans legions some of these accounts of rebellion provided the foundation of celtic legends and folklore such as the story of bodica according to legend bodica was married to the assini tribe's chieftain not far from the city of london her husband had established a makeshift alliance with the roman invaders to keep his tribal lands intact when he died however the romans no longer honored the agreement and the roman governor gaius suetonius paulinus set his sights on the island of anglesey then called mona off the coast of wales to protect the aseni land bodica rallied the tribe's army and launched a massive assault on the romans in 61 a.d at first botica succeeded under her command the celtic army defeated two roman towns londinium and verlamium burning them to the ground gaius suetonius paulinus gathered his defeated troops and prepared for another attack meanwhile bottica recruited men from neighboring celtic tribes to boost her numbers although the romans were gearing up for battle back in rome emperor nero was so concerned about bautica's initial defeat of his men he considered pulling all the roman troops out of the british isles in their next clash however suetonius's army swiftly defeated bodica to regain control over the area shortly after the battle bodica died either by suicide or illness depending on the version of her story during the victorian era the british people rediscovered the story of queen bodica and she became a national folk hero stories based in fact like that ebotica were added to the myths and folklore of the celts a polytheistic culture the celts worshiped a collection of deities like the gods and goddesses of the greek and roman pantheon the key figures of the celtic religion lured over specific aspects of the natural world although there were venerated celtic temples many of the religious ceremonies were held outdoors in sacred groves or beneath hallowed oak trees or near rocky outcroppings historians of the past credited the construction of stonehenge in england to the celts but modern carbon dating of the site indicates that it was constructed at least one thousand years before the celtic people arrived on the british isles in celtic society the druids belong to the learning class therefore they presided over the religious rituals of the celts they provided spiritual guidance administered sacred rites and cast spells to ward off evil spirits beyond that the druid's role remains largely unknown because the celts did not leave a written record according to several historians it is likely that the druids oversaw human sacrifice rituals and perhaps head historians have gleaned some understanding of the religion of the celts by examining irish myths and folklore however this may cause an inaccurate look at the celtic religion that's because the celt's spiritual beliefs merge with the roman religion during the roman occupation of the british isles later when christianity was introduced across the island in the 5th and 6th centuries the original myths took on a biblical slant with no written language of their own many of the celtic folk tales were recorded on paper for the first time by christian scribes who injected the tales with christian morals many aspects of the celtic culture remained shrouded in mystery simply because the celts did not have a written language despite the lack of textual evidence we know that the celtic culture was at one time widespread throughout the european continent while they had sheer numbers they failed to organize themselves into a central group they remained a loose collection of tribes each with their army through their interactions with the romans greeks and other civilizations we learn of their military prowess traditions and territory their disorganization contributed to their decline until they were relocated to the british isles while the celts influenced europe's cultures they are more closely linked to the irish and welsh who still speak a celtic language to this day to discover more about the ancient celts check out our book the celts a captivating guide to ancient celtic history and mythology including their battles against the roman republic and the gallic wars it's available as an e-book paperback and audiobook also grab your free mythology bundle ebook for free while still available all links are in the description if you enjoyed the video please hit the like button and subscribe for more videos like this

Channel: Captivating History

Views: 73,756

Rating: 4.8256931 out of 5

Keywords: Celts, The Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon, Ancient History for Kids, History for Kids, History of the Barbarians, Barbarians, Great Britain History, English history, History of England, Medieval England, England in the Middle Ages, Goths, History of England animated, History of England explained

Id: Ul-ZDg-rIKY

Length: 11min 0sec (660 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 21 2020