Brennus or Brennos is the name of two
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...
chieftain
A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribe
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia.
Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...
s, famous in ancient history:
*
Brennus
Brennus or Brennos is the name of two Gaulish chieftains, famous in ancient history:
* Brennus, chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, and Yonne; in 387 BC, in t ...
, chieftain of the
Senones
The Senones or Senonii (Gaulish: "the ancient ones") were an ancient Gallic tribe dwelling in the Seine basin, around present-day Sens, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Part of the Senones settled in the Italian peninsula, where they ...
, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...
,
Loiret
Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.[< ...]
, and
Yonne
Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...
; in 387 BC, in the
Battle of the Allia
The Battle of the Allia was a battle fought between the Senones – a Gallic tribe led by Brennus, who had invaded Northern Italy – and the Roman Republic. The battle was fought at the confluence of the Tiber and Allia rivers, 11 Roman ...
, he led an army of
Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome.
* Another
Brennus
Brennus or Brennos is the name of two Gaulish chieftains, famous in ancient history:
* Brennus, chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, and Yonne; in 387 BC, in t ...
was one of the leaders of the army of
Gauls
The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...
who attempted to invade and settle in the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
mainland in 278 BC. After a looting spree and after managing to pass
Thermopylae
Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...
by encircling the Greek army and forcing it to retreat he made his way to the rich treasury at
Delphi but he was defeated by the re-assembled Greek army. Brennus was heavily injured at the battle of Delphi and committed suicide there.
The linguistic origins of the name are unclear, despite two theories linking it to
Welsh words. Despite suggestions by scholars as early as the 12th century AD, including one by
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...
in his ''
Historia Regum Britanniae
''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...
'', Brennus is not likely to share a common origin with the Welsh personal name ' (or ') meaning "
crow
A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
"; the similarity of the names is deemed to be superficial. Recurrence of the name Brennus makes it possible that it was a title rather than a proper name. However, despite assertions by some 19th-century scholars, Brennus and the modern
Welsh word for "king", ' (earlier ') are not related. ''Brenin'' is instead derived from the
Celtic , meaning "(someone) pre-eminent, outstanding".
Similar names
Variants and adaptations of the name may include:
*
Brân the Blessed
Brân the Blessed ( cy, Bendigeidfran or ''Brân Fendigaidd'', literally "Blessed Crow") is a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology. He appears in several of the Welsh Triads, but his most significant role is in the Second Branch of ...
, Welsh ''Bendigeidfran'', a legendary giant leader of the British from the
Mabinogion, the probable Welsh antecedent of Geoffrey's Brennius;
*
Brinno
Brinno was leader of the Canninefates when they joined in the Batavian rebellion at the mouth of the Rhine in AD 70. According to Tacitus, his father had been hostile towards the Romans during the reign of Caligula. Therefore, Brinno was chosen ...
, chief of the
Cananefates
The Cananefates, or Canninefates, Caninefates, or Canenefatae, meaning "leek masters", were a Germanic tribe, who lived in the Rhine delta, in western Batavia (later Betuwe), in the Roman province of '' Germania Inferior'' (now in the Dutch pr ...
– a tribe from ''
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...
'' – whose name was said by Tacitus to be that of "a family of rebels";
* "
Brennius
Brennius was a legendary king of Northumberland and Allobroges, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Belinus, probably based upon one or both of the historical Brenni.
Claimant to the throne o ...
", listed in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia'' as brother of
Bellinus, the latter a legendary king of the Britons; the two are said to have conquered Gaul and then Rome. Monmouth likely created Brennius as a
composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials
...
of the two historical Gauls named Brennus. Geoffrey's Brennius was mentioned by
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, (1473 – 25 August 1554) was a prominent English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beheade ...
, in 1530, when the duke, while arguing in favor of the claims of the
House of Tudor claims to imperial status, told Holy Roman Imperial ambassador
Eustace Chapuys
Eustace Chapuys (; c. 1490/92 – 21 January 1556), the son of Louis Chapuys and Guigonne Dupuys, was a Savoyard diplomat who served Charles V as Imperial ambassador to England from 1529 until 1545 and is best known for his extensive and detaile ...
that Brennius had founded
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and conquered Rome.
[Thomas Healy, ''Times Literary Supplement'', 24 June 2005, p. 25; reviewing Philip Schwyzer, ''Literature, Nationalism, and Memory in Early Modern England and Wales'', Cambridge University Press, 2005.]
Allusions
* The name was given to the French battleship
''Brennus'' (commissioned 1896).
* The name in its form "Brennos" is used for one of three fictitious "barbarian" chieftains in the 2008 video game ''
Civilization Revolution''.
References
Notes
General references
*John T. Koch, "Brân, Brennos: an instance of Early Gallo-Brittonic history and mythology'", ''Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies'' 20 (Winter 1990:1-20).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennus
Celtic names