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Mr. Sedivy's
History Classes:
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Highlands Ranch High School - Mr. Sedivy
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Rise of Nation State England
The Celts - Gallic He-Men
"Kelt or Selt?"
Germans call them Keltn; French soften it to Celts. The Celts are
a group of related tribes linked by language, religion, and culture,
that gave rise to the first civilization north of the Alps. The Celts
were located from Spain, Black Sea, North Sea, and the Mediterranean.
Names of Celtic Rivers:
Danube, Rhine, Seine, Thames, Shannon, London, Lyon Celtic
City / Town Names:
Geneva, Paris recalls the Parisii.
Celtic Contributions
The Celts introduced the use of iron to northern Europe.
Celts were the first to give shape to handsaws, chisels, files, and
other tools we use today. (Standard 4-foot-8 1/2-inch railroad, span
of their chariots, rotary flour mill)
They created Europe's first major industrial revolution.
Celts introduced soap to the Greeks and Romans.
The Celts invented chain armor.
The Celts were the first people in Britain to make pottery on a wheel,
and to ride horses and use chariots.
They were first to shoe horses.
They also devised a cagey put-off for paying up: Since Celts saw no
real break between life and death, a debt could be carried over into
the other world.
Appearance of Ancient Celts
Gallic he-men bleached their hair. They wore jewelry, and loved loud
tunics and checked cloaks. Some wore chain mail. Others fought naked
- clad only in torques, or sacred collars, and bracelets, with limed
locks stiffened like a horse's mane, and sporting formidable mustaches.
That their "barbarian" speech would grate on Greco Roman
ears was only to be expected of outlanders who wore not the "civilized"
toga but the trousers of a horse-riding people. Celtic champions would
strut before the foe, brandishing their arms, boasting of their prowess,
and hurling taunts and insults. They not only looked big; some were
big. The Celts exercised "girth control" - a fat warrior was fined.
Hill of Tara, Meath. Iron Age ring forts enclosed within
a hill known as "the royal enclosure." Pre-Christian Irish
kings were coronated in the left-hand circle.
Celtic Power
The Celts never managed to forge an empire. Celts controlled major
transportation routes and charged Romans duties or tributes for the
use of the routes. Southern merchants most likely offered a diplomatic
gift to assure that the route would stay open. One "krater" was 460
pounds, and held 1200 bottles of wine.
Over 20,000 Gauls crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor.
Trier on the Moselle - bands ranged as far afield as Sicily and Egypt.
"The whole race ...
is madly fond of war,"
comments the Greek geographer Strabo.
Feasting when not fighting, or hunting, or trying to
outdo one another wrestling, gaming, or racing their treasured horsed,
hotheaded Celtic warriors often turned feasts into bloody brawls.
Diodorus Siculs, the Greek historian, tells us:
"They cut off the heads
of enemies ... and attach them to the necks of their horses. Singing
in triumph as they carried off these trophies, they nailed them upon
their houses. They embalm in cedar oil the heads of the most distinguished
enemies, and preserve them carefully in a chest, and display them
with pride to strangers ... Gathering in a chieftain's hall, sitting
cross-legged on wolf skin, they would consume prodigious portions
of wild boar. And guzzle wine, beer, or mead until they fell 'into
a stupor or a state of madness.'"
Presenting the traditional hero's portion was a chief
of protocol's nightmare. Greek historian Posidon tells us:
"When the hindquarters
were served up, the bravest hero took the thigh piece, and if another
man claimed it, they stood up and fought in single combat to the death."
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Mr. Sedivy's Lecture Notes
& Historical Info
The Celts
| Gallic He-Men | Celtic
Culture, Trade, Religion, Women |
| Threat of the Celts - Celtic Battles and
Conquests |
- Rise of Nation State England -
| Roman Conquest of Britain | Christianity
in Britain |
| Customs: Thanes, Churls, Thralls, Wergeld,
Folk-Moot |
| Dark Ages: Alfred the Great, Edward the
Elder, Athelstan |
| The Return of the Vikings |
| Kings of Britain: Aethelred, Cnut, Edward
the Confessor |
| Bayeaux Tapestry, William the Conqueror,
Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson, Harold II |
| The Crusades: Richard Lion Heart, Pope
Urban |
| King John, Innocent III, Archbishop Stephen
Langton |
| Magna Carta / First Parliament |
Wales and Scotland
| Wales: Edward I, Llewellyn, Snowdonia
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| Scotland: Alexander III, John Balliol,
William Wallace, Robert Bruce, King Edward II |
The 100 Years War
| Edward III, Longbows at Crecy, Edward IV,
Black Prince |
| Henry V, King Charles VI, Battle at Calais,
Treaty of Troyes |
More Information
| Other Kings of the Dark and Middle Ages:
William II, Henry I, Henry II |
| The
British Monarchy's Peerage: Dukes, Viscounts,
Marquess, Earls, Baronets, and Barons |
Class Activities
Roman Conquest Comparison
Battle of Agincourt
Related Information
Mr. Sedivy's World History - The Middle
Ages
The Complete Bayeux Tapestry
Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages
/ Crusades
The Hundred Years War
King Henry VIII
The Interesting
Life of Elizabeth I
The Stuarts - James I, Charles I, Charles
II, James II
Oliver Cromwell
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