The Dark Age Kingdom that Divided Britain [11:20]

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0:07 · in 577 ad a battle would take place here Dyrham Camp gorgeous view across to our West towards the
0:15 · severn Estuary is a battle that would change the face of this landscape forever and its territories
0:21 · because the occupation here would change from the British to the English now we only have one
0:28 · very short record of this battle taken place and coincidentally that was written by the
0:32 · people that were victorious that is in the form of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and that paragraph
0:38 · reads thus here caewlin and coelin fought against the Britains and they killed three kings coinmail
0:45 · Condidon and farenmail in a place which is called deham and they took three cities Gloucester,
0:52 · Cirencester and Bath so then the question becomes did this battle actually take place up here on
0:58 · Dyrham camp because this wouldn't have been built for the battle this is an Iron Age Hill
1:03 · for so built around about a thousand years prior to that by the dobunni tribe and like today they'
1:09 · have had a beautiful view from here all the way across the Severn estuary towards Wales and you
1:14 · can even see some of the Welsh mountains in the distance there and then of course
1:17 · we have the name well this is now Dyrham Camp it didn't used to be this used to be burh Hill,
1:24 · Burill but the village just down in the valley there well that does retain the name
1:30 · well maybe the battle took place either in the valley just below there or down towards
1:34 · the village don't really know for sure but more importantly this is a document written long after
1:40 · this battle so is this an attempt by the West Saxons to later legitimize their politics of
1:46 · that time and circulating stories of battles that never were either way that battle well whether it
1:51 · took place or not that gave us the formation of a long lost kingdom here in the United Kingdom
2:01 · this battle would have marked the fourth recorded for caewlin of wessex potentially
2:05 · the grandson of cerdic who essentially founded wesex it's possible to map the
2:09 · progress he made through wessex via these battles and his name being related within
2:14 · various places I always think if you sort of go down the side of a hill for get to the bottom as
2:20 · far as you can get a real good sense of how formidable that Hill for would have been and
2:25 · maybe a reason of why they would have built it this one seems to stand on a Ridgeway looking
2:29 · over what would have been the Dobunni territory really good position importantly for the West
2:34 · Saxons this is regarded as one of the single most important battles you see we've had three kings
2:39 · we've never heard of before and we will never hear from ever again we've captured the cities of bath,
2:45 · cirencester and Gloucester all in one foul swoop but most importantly of all is the territory you
2:52 · seeing capturing here capturing this Valley across us now looking towards South Wales why you've
2:57 · split the Britains because you've reached the severn estuary and you now have to the South what
3:02 · was the Devon and cornwall pennisula and of course to the north and you split that in half in terms
3:07 · of advancements for the West Saxons well that was considered hugely important and with that we
3:14 · have the start of Hwicce so how exactly did we get which and more importantly Why didn't it last that
3:22 · long the area that we know Caelwin to have conquered in 577 ad well that area thereafter
3:33 · known as Hwicce well if we compare this to pre-roman area of Iron age Britain and their
3:38 · tribes then there is a remarkable similarity between Hwicce and the Iron age tribe of the
3:44 · dobunni, now one of many ways in which we know these areas of the iron age tribes to
3:49 · have existed is the coinage found from those tribes the Dobunni were no exception in fact
3:55 · they seem to have coins that separated the North and the South of their territory
4:00 · and on some occasions it indicated a ruler of all of their land either way we have a
4:05 · do bunny map and we have a witch map and the similarities are there for all to see exactly
4:10 · how does that happen never ceases to amaze me how territories and boundaries and borders shape
4:17 · the landscape today from hundreds of years ago and give us what we still see today hedge rows
4:23 · which could be hundreds of years old and I don't think that was any different 1500 years ago you
4:29 · see when when the Romans came here where they made civiates out of the areas by and large
4:35 · that were represented by the Iron Age tribes that came before them and why would they not in fact
4:40 · this continuity this Hwicce territory gives us real sense of how a Roman unit transferred
4:47 · into the Anglo-Saxon era in fact you could almost suggest that the Iron Age territory
4:53 · went all the way into this early Anglo-Saxon era that's absolutely fascinating and here we are now
4:59 · in Hwicce and we have this Long Lost Kingdom that once was the battle at 577 which basically
5:06 · started this territory and uh well we have peace from 577 onwards but it wouldn't last
5:13 · long so my journey now is going to head north to another equally
5:21 · fascinating Hill fort to continue the story of this long lost kingdom of witch
5:32 · one of the benefits of making these films and of learning and telling you the stories as I
5:37 · go as well well the places we get to go and see up ahead is little sodbury Hill Fort never been
5:43 · there before but on the map it look like an absolutely gorgeous area many little quirks
5:47 · that are worth exploring even from here it looks quite spectacular up ahead sure if I'm walking
5:53 · up sort of a ditch and a rampart there or if this is just an old holay too cold to look at
5:59 · the map now despite which being overrun by the West Saxons despite the West Saxons taking bath
6:07 · cirencester and Gloucester despite all of that which still seems to remain its own province
6:14 · in fact "Sims Williams" writes that we have the angles coming from the Northeast now if as we're
6:20 · led to believe the angles are mercenaries or at least collecting taxes for safety from the dough
6:25 · bunny then they are probably are not best pleased with the advances of the Saxons okay have a look
6:31 · at this this is a hill fort Iron Age presumably in construction when you look on a map it looks
6:37 · very squared or rectangular and when you look at it here well it doesn't look like it's using the
6:41 · Contours of the land at all in fact all around me is a bit of a plateau and it's just plunked
6:47 · in the middle no Contour usage whatsoever and then you look at the sign back there cuz the
6:51 · sign tells us where the Romans used this and they reified it that makes much more sense owing to
6:58 · its shape and potentially size so that's good the other thing the sign tells us is in 577 ad
7:05 · the West Saxons used this fort to overthrow the territory of htch that's really curious because
7:11 · how do they know that just from a paragraph let's have a look in this hill Fort it looks
7:15 · great 584 ad just 7 years after the battle and we have note in the chronicle of the uh West
7:28 · Saxons marching North through Hwicce well that indicates to us that they didn't actually hold
7:35 · this territory in full and they were perhaps some way in Allegiance with it or allied with it in a
7:40 · peaceful way now it would take a little while but the tide would turn for the West Saxons 44
7:48 · years in fact 628 a now we read of a battle in the chronicle and you normally read the words
7:56 · like well they defeated them here they won they claim this area but we don't hear that in fact
8:03 · pendra the king from what would be Mercia anglian King well we hear that the West Saxons and pendra
8:11 · "came to an agreement" now not only does that sound like a loss especially worded for the person
8:16 · that wrote it but it's clear from the subsequent history that pendra was in fact Victorious Hwicce
8:21 · now becomes a client Kingdom of Mercier but once again hwicce survives in fact much of its cultural
8:29 · identity does too I love this hill for it's really curious It's not curious it's clearly
8:35 · been modified by the Romans and it does look very neat and tidy for the next 150 years we
8:43 · have relative peace in the area it would take 25 years but 650 ad we have our first known
8:50 · Christian king of Hwicce perhaps in fact we have a mix of Heritage anglian in the
8:54 · north and Saxons in the South and this gave reason for this period of seemingly no rule
8:59 · Mercier may not have been too fussed it had Hwicce as a sub Kingdom but now "Eanfirth" may have been
9:06 · head of a noble house that had Saxon and British Heritage uniting this curious Kingdom we now
9:13 · continue to have a succession of Kings marriages into mercian families, Kings claiming to be Kings
9:18 · without any Authority it's all really rather messy but the point is continually made that they are
9:24 · all very much sub Kings of which all that would change though come 777ad with a man named offer.
9:35 · Uthred Erbert and elred are Kings joint Kings of which 757 ad and one of these refers to himself
9:45 · as "under king of Hwicce by the dispensation of the Lord" now in the very same Charter that we
9:51 · read those words from one of the kings of Hwicce we also read similar words from King offer almost
9:57 · putting him in his place "my undertaking elder man that is of his people of the Hwicce" and
10:06 · that's exactly how offa now saw which long had gone the time when it's geographical its history
10:12 · its Heritage well all those aspects played an important part in the politics they no
10:17 · longer did an offer now saw that which was firmly absorbed into Mercia which now became one and all
10:25 · the grand delusions of the kings and queens from before they were now just referred ref to as the
10:30 · elderman from 805 ad well which loses all control and Independence of its own lands
10:40 · the mercian king ceonwulf saw the end of this time of Kings to earldormen and 65 years on
10:46 · Hwicce titles pass to the Royal House of Wessex which now rules the surviving free half of Mercia
10:56 · and of course the Hwicce Heritage now falls out of use completely well if you've enjoyed
11:01 · this video as much as I've enjoyed this really quirky Roman Hill fort it's very neat and tidy
11:06 · I love it then you're going to love some of the videos just up here and of course
11:10 · if you did like this I'd love you to click subscribe we'll see you this time next week

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--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
0:07	·	in 577 ad a battle would take place here Dyrham Camp gorgeous view across to our West towards the
0:15	·	severn Estuary is a battle that would change the face of this landscape forever and its territories
0:21	·	because the occupation here would change from the British to the English now we only have one
0:28	·	very short record of this battle taken place and coincidentally that was written by the
0:32	·	people that were victorious that is in the form of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and that paragraph
0:38	·	reads thus here caewlin and coelin fought against the Britains and they killed three kings coinmail
0:45	·	Condidon and farenmail in a place which is called deham and they took three cities Gloucester,
0:52	·	Cirencester and Bath so then the question becomes did this battle actually take place up here on
0:58	·	Dyrham camp because this wouldn't have been built for the battle this is an Iron Age Hill
1:03	·	for so built around about a thousand years prior to that by the dobunni tribe and like today they'
1:09	·	have had a beautiful view from here all the way across the Severn estuary towards Wales and you
1:14	·	can even see some of the Welsh mountains in the distance there and then of course
1:17	·	we have the name well this is now Dyrham Camp it didn't used to be this used to be burh Hill,
1:24	·	Burill but the village just down in the valley there well that does retain the name
1:30	·	well maybe the battle took place either in the valley just below there or down towards
1:34	·	the village don't really know for sure but more importantly this is a document written long after
1:40	·	this battle so is this an attempt by the West Saxons to later legitimize their politics of
1:46	·	that time and circulating stories of battles that never were either way that battle well whether it
1:51	·	took place or not that gave us the formation of a long lost kingdom here in the United Kingdom
2:01	·	this battle would have marked the fourth recorded for caewlin of wessex potentially
2:05	·	the grandson of cerdic who essentially founded wesex it's possible to map the
2:09	·	progress he made through wessex via these battles and his name being related within
2:14	·	various places I always think if you sort of go down the side of a hill for get to the bottom as
2:20	·	far as you can get a real good sense of how formidable that Hill for would have been and
2:25	·	maybe a reason of why they would have built it this one seems to stand on a Ridgeway looking
2:29	·	over what would have been the Dobunni territory really good position importantly for the West
2:34	·	Saxons this is regarded as one of the single most important battles you see we've had three kings
2:39	·	we've never heard of before and we will never hear from ever again we've captured the cities of bath,
2:45	·	cirencester and Gloucester all in one foul swoop but most importantly of all is the territory you
2:52	·	seeing capturing here capturing this Valley across us now looking towards South Wales why you've
2:57	·	split the Britains because you've reached the severn estuary and you now have to the South what
3:02	·	was the Devon and cornwall pennisula and of course to the north and you split that in half in terms
3:07	·	of advancements for the West Saxons well that was considered hugely important and with that we
3:14	·	have the start of Hwicce so how exactly did we get which and more importantly Why didn't it last that
3:22	·	long the area that we know Caelwin to have conquered in 577 ad well that area thereafter
3:33	·	known as Hwicce well if we compare this to pre-roman area of Iron age Britain and their
3:38	·	tribes then there is a remarkable similarity between Hwicce and the Iron age tribe of the
3:44	·	dobunni, now one of many ways in which we know these areas of the iron age tribes to
3:49	·	have existed is the coinage found from those tribes the Dobunni were no exception in fact
3:55	·	they seem to have coins that separated the North and the South of their territory
4:00	·	and on some occasions it indicated a ruler of all of their land either way we have a
4:05	·	do bunny map and we have a witch map and the similarities are there for all to see exactly
4:10	·	how does that happen never ceases to amaze me how territories and boundaries and borders shape
4:17	·	the landscape today from hundreds of years ago and give us what we still see today hedge rows
4:23	·	which could be hundreds of years old and I don't think that was any different 1500 years ago you
4:29	·	see when when the Romans came here where they made civiates out of the areas by and large
4:35	·	that were represented by the Iron Age tribes that came before them and why would they not in fact
4:40	·	this continuity this Hwicce territory gives us real sense of how a Roman unit transferred
4:47	·	into the Anglo-Saxon era in fact you could almost suggest that the Iron Age territory
4:53	·	went all the way into this early Anglo-Saxon era that's absolutely fascinating and here we are now
4:59	·	in Hwicce and we have this Long Lost Kingdom that once was the battle at 577 which basically
5:06	·	started this territory and uh well we have peace from 577 onwards but it wouldn't last
5:13	·	long so my journey now is going to head north to another equally
5:21	·	fascinating Hill fort to continue the story of this long lost kingdom of witch
5:32	·	one of the benefits of making these films and of learning and telling you the stories as I
5:37	·	go as well well the places we get to go and see up ahead is little sodbury Hill Fort never been
5:43	·	there before but on the map it look like an absolutely gorgeous area many little quirks
5:47	·	that are worth exploring even from here it looks quite spectacular up ahead sure if I'm walking
5:53	·	up sort of a ditch and a rampart there or if this is just an old holay too cold to look at
5:59	·	the map now despite which being overrun by the West Saxons despite the West Saxons taking bath
6:07	·	cirencester and Gloucester despite all of that which still seems to remain its own province
6:14	·	in fact "Sims Williams" writes that we have the angles coming from the Northeast now if as we're
6:20	·	led to believe the angles are mercenaries or at least collecting taxes for safety from the dough
6:25	·	bunny then they are probably are not best pleased with the advances of the Saxons okay have a look
6:31	·	at this this is a hill fort Iron Age presumably in construction when you look on a map it looks
6:37	·	very squared or rectangular and when you look at it here well it doesn't look like it's using the
6:41	·	Contours of the land at all in fact all around me is a bit of a plateau and it's just plunked
6:47	·	in the middle no Contour usage whatsoever and then you look at the sign back there cuz the
6:51	·	sign tells us where the Romans used this and they reified it that makes much more sense owing to
6:58	·	its shape and potentially size so that's good the other thing the sign tells us is in 577 ad
7:05	·	the West Saxons used this fort to overthrow the territory of htch that's really curious because
7:11	·	how do they know that just from a paragraph let's have a look in this hill Fort it looks
7:15	·	great 584 ad just 7 years after the battle and we have note in the chronicle of the uh West
7:28	·	Saxons marching North through Hwicce well that indicates to us that they didn't actually hold
7:35	·	this territory in full and they were perhaps some way in Allegiance with it or allied with it in a
7:40	·	peaceful way now it would take a little while but the tide would turn for the West Saxons 44
7:48	·	years in fact 628 a now we read of a battle in the chronicle and you normally read the words
7:56	·	like well they defeated them here they won they claim this area but we don't hear that in fact
8:03	·	pendra the king from what would be Mercia anglian King well we hear that the West Saxons and pendra
8:11	·	"came to an agreement" now not only does that sound like a loss especially worded for the person
8:16	·	that wrote it but it's clear from the subsequent history that pendra was in fact Victorious Hwicce
8:21	·	now becomes a client Kingdom of Mercier but once again hwicce survives in fact much of its cultural
8:29	·	identity does too I love this hill for it's really curious It's not curious it's clearly
8:35	·	been modified by the Romans and it does look very neat and tidy for the next 150 years we
8:43	·	have relative peace in the area it would take 25 years but 650 ad we have our first known
8:50	·	Christian king of Hwicce perhaps in fact we have a mix of Heritage anglian in the
8:54	·	north and Saxons in the South and this gave reason for this period of seemingly no rule
8:59	·	Mercier may not have been too fussed it had Hwicce as a sub Kingdom but now "Eanfirth" may have been
9:06	·	head of a noble house that had Saxon and British Heritage uniting this curious Kingdom we now
9:13	·	continue to have a succession of Kings marriages into mercian families, Kings claiming to be Kings
9:18	·	without any Authority it's all really rather messy but the point is continually made that they are
9:24	·	all very much sub Kings of which all that would change though come 777ad with a man named offer.
9:35	·	Uthred Erbert and elred are Kings joint Kings of which 757 ad and one of these refers to himself
9:45	·	as "under king of Hwicce by the dispensation of the Lord" now in the very same Charter that we
9:51	·	read those words from one of the kings of Hwicce we also read similar words from King offer almost
9:57	·	putting him in his place "my undertaking elder man that is of his people of the Hwicce" and
10:06	·	that's exactly how offa now saw which long had gone the time when it's geographical its history
10:12	·	its Heritage well all those aspects played an important part in the politics they no
10:17	·	longer did an offer now saw that which was firmly absorbed into Mercia which now became one and all
10:25	·	the grand delusions of the kings and queens from before they were now just referred ref to as the
10:30	·	elderman from 805 ad well which loses all control and Independence of its own lands
10:40	·	the mercian king ceonwulf saw the end of this time of Kings to earldormen and 65 years on
10:46	·	Hwicce titles pass to the Royal House of Wessex which now rules the surviving free half of Mercia
10:56	·	and of course the Hwicce Heritage now falls out of use completely well if you've enjoyed
11:01	·	this video as much as I've enjoyed this really quirky Roman Hill fort it's very neat and tidy
11:06	·	I love it then you're going to love some of the videos just up here and of course
11:10	·	if you did like this I'd love you to click subscribe we'll see you this time next week