The Great Transition

      The 300 years after the Roman Empire dissolved, my Celtic ancestors faced a number of challenges. "Who's on first?" would be one of those questions that would need to be solved. For hundreds of years the Roman military had kept things in check. Roman administration maintained all the social considerations. Roman life gave all a new way to experience this culture from all sorts of ways. The line of authority was straight forward. As long as you went along with most things, they were settled long before some event started.  The power to influence or command thought, opinion, and behavior was always clear to those who might question such authority. Wow, the rug had been pulled out from under my kindred and they would have to figure out this new set of circumstances. It was not long before the Roman empire fell apart that this new religion [Christianity] had become the state religion. It seems this new group had taken over the authority in all the previous Roman 28 Provinces. I think these are called diocese now, and there was a person in charge of each. Latin still seemed their language, and education was encouraged and supported. Maybe we should check into this new authority my ancestors might think. It would certainly change things around here. 

      The following text discusses this transition period beginning on page 269 through page 286 for those who might be interested in knowing more about this history.  The cover of my copy is shown.

       It was first published 1953 and again in 1975 by HarperCollins Publishers, N.Y.

Common Lives

       After some 400 years of Roman military occupation, administration, and social control, my Celtic ancestors found that they were to look to their own defense.  Other folks around the Empire faced the same collapse of authority, and new aggressive tribes coming down from the northeast.  These tribes wanted to take away everything. Speaking of taking everything, the center of the world, the city Rome, was sacked not once but three times. Can you believe it? What is one to do and survive? Let's see, here is a plan. First, give everything you have to the needy folks around you.  Nothing to take from you if you have given it all away. Second, isolation seems a good idea since fewer angry folks would be around. Third, find a unique place to live such that no one would think to look for you there. Maybe one or two individuals could join you or at least live close by. Martin of Tours (d. 397) has given us a good example. Maybe we could wear the same type of cloths and cut our hair the same way. It would be hard to tell us apart. What about the women among us?  What could we call ourselves? Monks for the men, and Nuns for the women might work? Hmm...common lives together.

      The following map shows the when and where the monasteries had their beginning.

      Starting near the coastline; Marseille, Lerins, and way up north Whithon, were founded around the same time ca. 400 A.D. (marked orange on the map).  Marmouter was earlier (marked pink), and a large number marked green formed during the time 500 A.D. Note that most during this period were in Ireland. (St. Patrick had something to do with that). The following 100 years saw a cluster of places being founded in France and north Britain.

     

 Map is found p. 43 in Atlas of Medieval Europe Edited by Angus Mackay with David Ditchburn, Routledge, London, 1997.

Light In The Darkness

       Growing up in the heart of the Bluegrass during the 1950's had many adventures. One was to visit that great hole in the ground called Mammoth Cave, the world's longest known cave system. Mom, Dad, and my older brother made such a trip spelunking to the very bottom. Here our guide asked all to put out their lights and experience total darkness.  Sure, I thought, "no such a thing exists." Boy was I wrong! Out goes all the lights and total darkness there was. Poking myself in the eye trying to see my hand was certainly an adventure. Then, the glow of a cigarette tip came to be seen somewhere out into the darkness. Man did it seem to light things up. Never such a sight it was which still appears in my memory bank.

      Some years later, my college text A History of Civilization, Volume One, Third Edition, begins chapter 5, p. 173:

        "The period from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West down to about 1000 A.D. provides an outstanding example of the breakdown of a whole civilization. Historians used to call these early medieval centuries from 500 to 1000 the Dark Ages."

      Certainly, I did not question such statements until my genealogy tree climbing brought me to my Celtic ancestors. What did happen after the breakdown of the Roman Empire for my Jones family ancestors? Humm...foundations for new generations became apparent. Gallic monasticism must be one of those lights in the darkness.

religio legitima

      It was before the withdrawal of the Roman Legions and their administration that Christianity found its way onto the Island. Some believe it was advanced by persecution under Decius (249A.D.-251 A.D.) and later by Diocletian (248 A.D.-305 A.D.). By 314 A.D. three church leaders are recorded among those who participate in the Council of Arles [text by Peter Blair, p.146]. From this unpleasant beginning, Christianity founded a number of communities leading to its gradual growth. How and when this development took place is uncertain, but one aspect was the monks of various rules of order. This discovery was a significant part of understanding the survival of my Celtic ancestors and played a significant role in finding my own Jones surname family.  A series of texts can be found where this monostatic system is discussed.  However, the following texts discuss broadly the onset as the Romans finally called religio legitima. 

      Salway, P., The Oxford Illustrated History Of Roman Britain , pp. 235-242. [see post of May 7]

      Blair, P.H., Roman Britian and Early England, pp.145-148. [see post of May 28]

      Jones, B.,Mattingly, An Atlas Of Roman Britain, pp.294-305. [see post June 3]

      The following shows the cover of Later Roman Britain, by Stephen Johnson. It has not been shown in previous posts (published by Paladin Grafton Books, London, 1982:

            The discussion can be found pp. 45-47, pp. 211-219. The plan of the church and cemetery at Icklingham, Suffolk is found on p. 167.

Pull The Wool

       Another important factor in the survival of my Celtic ancestors was wool. This item was woven into the fiber of their existence for generations. After bread and meat, it was perhaps the most time-consuming activity. From the pasture lands in the hills, to be driven down to get a haircut, giving the haircut, and then going into winter quarters in the flat lands; it would have taken the Deceangli and the Cornovii figuring out this endeavor in a cooperative manner. For hundreds of years they had a summer home and a winter home which were necessary to maintain this activity on a seasonal basis. Weaving all this wool during the winter months gave them something to put on their bodies. Now just imagine having to clothe 6,000 men at any one time.

      Peter Salway in his book The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain (a must read for those with an interest) gives a comprehensive account of this period, and on page 459 gives a picture (mental) of this activity. Speaking of picture, the following is certainly symbolic of wool:

      Here stands sheep grazing upon one of the oldest monuments of the human experiment. Standing on the very top of this Bronze-Age cairn in NW Wales (Bryn-celli-ddu, Menai Bridge. Anglesey) is the wool carrying sheep saying, still here after all this time, guess we pulled the wool over your eyes.

                       [picture taken from The Shell Guide to Wales, p. 260, published 1969]

      It is also of interest that the word Briton means a "cloth clad" person. [Celtic Britain (4th edition), p. 212.]

Sow, Grow, and Harvest

       My Cornovii family ancestors needed a few things on the side of their continual existence. They must have had a significant number of these factors since the Roman military administration built them a capital called Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum). A chief factor must have been the feeding of 12,000 men and their empty stomachs after a hard days march. Barley wheat was one aspect, since the Cornovii had tended this staple for hundreds of years. Keeping all the herds of sheep and cattle out of the wheat fields was a joint effort with the Deceangli on the western side of the land bridge. [A detailed account of feeding the troops can be found in the book by John Peddle pp.30-32, Invasion The Roman Conquest Of Britain.] Needless to say, the Cornovii folks must have been one of the most "Romanized" of the Celtic tribes seeing all the new fangled baths, aqueducts, forums, and the like. Certainly you might want to check out this new type of living. In 212 A.D. you could actually become a Roman citizen and sign-up all your sons in that outstanding army. Wow, some exciting ways to "go along to get along".

      A detailed drawing of Wroxeter can be found on page 167, An Atlas Of Roman Britain by Jones and Mattingly.

      The concept of Romanization can be found The Oxford Illustrated History Of Roman Britain by Peter Salway, pp.337-348.

Factors Involved

      My Celtic y-DNA managed to make it through 400 years or so of Roman military occupation. The previous posts starting from Inigo Jones (1573-1625) on December 15, 2021, begins my JONES family's story. Each post tries to present the various factors involved leading to my Celtic origins. This post will try to begin summarizing the most important. If interested, you can scroll back to read the posts.

      The first factor is that of geography. My Deceangli folks maintained their family identity by mostly hiding out in the hills of the Vale of Clywd. Their tribal land was hidden behind the end of the world. [see post dated 24 May titled "World's End"] They also had the least contact with the Romanization of the rest of the occupied Island [see post dated July 2nd titled "The Villas"] Their main contact point was Deva (Chester) with more than 6,000 military residing there most of the days. They needed to keep my Celtic ancestors bringing their cattle to market which was necessary to feed all these empty stomachs. [see posts of 1 April titled "The Herds" and 5 June titled "Where's The Meat"] My Cornovii tribe had much more direct contact with the Roman occupation having a special settlement build by their occupiers called Wroxeter. Here the Romans would need all the wool crossing the land bridge [post 30 March titled "The Land Bridge"] to help keep them warm on those cold winter nights. [see posts 19 February "Shearing Sheep", 24 February "Sheep Breeds", 4 March "By The Numbers", and 10 March titled "Liver Rot"] Both Celtic tribal groups had maintained their existence by bringing their sheep and cattle together to this land bridge for a few years before these Roman folks showed their faces. [see post 12 March titled "Location, Location, Location"]