The Parisi were a

British Celtic Insular Celtic languages are the group of Celtic languages of Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Britta ...

tribe located somewhere within the present-day

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, known from a single brief reference by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

in his ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman ...

'' of about AD 150. Many writers have connected them with the archaeological

Arras culture The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras, at Arras Farm, near Market Weighton, which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans th ...

and some with the more widely known Parisii of Gaul.

Historical sources and archaeology

The Parisi are known from a description in

's ''

'' (''Geographica'' II, 3, 10) which locates them to near ''Opportunum Sinus'' ("Good harbour"). Ptolemy is presumed never to have visited

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

, compiling his work from existing sources, probably in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. The tribe is inferred to have been surrounded by the

Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geog ...

, and with the Coritani south of them across the Humber. Ptolemy mentions the Parisi in association with '' Petvaria'', a town thought to be located close to

Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire Brough ( , locally ) is a town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Elloughton-cum-Brough with the neighbouring village of Elloughton. Brough is situated on the northern bank of the Humber Estuary, appro ...

. Ptolemy also mentions a promontory ''Promontarium Ocellum'', which may be either

Spurn Head Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit with a semi-permanent con ...

Flamborough Head Flamborough Head () is a promontory, long on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, with sheer white cliffs. The cliff top has two standing lighthouse towers, the ol ...

. The translation and interpretation of Ptolemy's work has not been consistent over time, with differing interpretations creating potential contradictions in the spatial relationship between ''Opportunum Sinus'' and ''Petuaria''. A more recent interpretation (2005) places both the ''Parisi'' and ''Petuaria'' on the ''Opportunum Sinus'' which leads to the common interpretation of ''Opportunum Sinus'' to be impossible geographically – an alternative feature – the inlet near Brough to

Walling Fen Walling is a method of torture used by the CIA in which a person's neck is encircled by a collar, and is then used to slam the person against a wall. According to information gathered by the International Committee of the Red Cross from six de ...

has been suggested. Brough/Petuaria also had a harbour in Roman times (further inland than the current Brough Haven) which has long since silted up, further supporting this interpretation. The Parisi are also mentioned in the forgery ''

De Situ Britanniae ''The Description of Britain'', also known by its Latin name ' ("On the Situation of Britain"), was a literary forgery perpetrated by Charles Bertram on the historians of England. It purported to be a 15th-century manuscript by the English monk ...

'' originally credited to

Richard of Cirencester Richard of Cirencester ( la, Ricardus de Cirencestria; before 1340–1400) was a cleric and minor historian of the Benedictine abbey at Westminster. He was highly famed in the 18th and 19th century as the author of '' The Description of Britain'' b ...

(14th century AD): the Parisi's towns supposedly included ''Petuaria'' and a place ''

Portus Felix Portus Felix (or ''Sinus Salutaris'' meaning good harbour) was a small coastal town in the Roman province of Britannia, in the area that became the East Riding of Yorkshire. Filey is considered to be the probable location of the port settlement. ...

'', the locations of which were uncertain, and subject to speculation in the 19th century.

Evidence for link with continental tribes

Burials in East Yorkshire dating from the pre-Roman Iron Age are distinguished as those of the

Arras Culture The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras, at Arras Farm, near Market Weighton, which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans th ...

, and show differences from surrounding areas, generally lacking grave goods, but

chariot burial Chariot burials are tombs in which the deceased was buried together with their chariot, usually including their horses and other possessions. An instance of a person being buried with their horse (without the chariot) is called horse burial. Fin ...

s and burials with swords are known, but are similar (chariot burials) to those ascribed to the

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...

of areas of western and central Europe, giving a potential link to the similarly named Parisii of Gaul.

Etymology

The origin of the name is uncertain; Celticists

John T. Koch John T. Koch is an American academic, historian and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopedia'' (2006, ABC Clio). He ...

and Raimund Karl propose a Celtic linguistic origin, meaning "the commanders", similar to the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

verb ''peri'' (to cause, command or have done, from Proto-Celtic ''*k^wer-''). Linguist Eric Hamp also links the name to this verb and suggests a meaning of "fighters".

Xavier Delamarre Xavier Delamarre (; born 5 June 1954) is a French linguist, lexicographer, and diplomat. He is regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on the Gaulish language. Since 2019, he has been an associate researcher for the CNRS- PSL AOrOc ...

prefers to link the ethnic name to the P-Celtic root ''*pario-'' "cauldron" and translates ''Parisi'' as "they of the cauldrons" (taking their name after a distinctive type of vessel used by the Iron Age Celts).Delamarre, Xavier, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', 2nd ed., Editions Errance, Paris, 2003, p. 247.

Notes

References

Sources

* *

External links

{{Yorkshire Ancient peoples Celtic Britons History of the East Riding of Yorkshire Archaeology of the East Riding of Yorkshire Historical Celtic peoples