
The Abrincatui were a
Gallic tribe dwelling in the south of the
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its west lie the Gu ...
during the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Abrincatuos'' by
Pliny (1st c. AD), ''’Abrinkátouoi'' (’Aβρινκάτουοι) by
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
(2nd c. AD), and as ''Abrincatis'' and ''Abrincateni'' in the ''
Notitia Dignitatum
The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') is a document of the Late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very ...
'' (5th c. AD).
[, s.v. ''Abrincatui''.]
The city of
Avranches
Avranches (; ) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''.
History Middle Ages
By the end of the Roman period, th ...
, attested in the 6th c. AD as ''civitas'' ''Abrincatum'' ('
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...
of the Abrincatui', ''Abrincae'' ca. 550, ''de Avrenchis'' in 1055–66), and the region of
Avranchin
Avranchin is an area in Normandy, France corresponding to the territory of the Abrincatui, a tribe of Celts from whom the city of Avranches, the main town of the Avranchin, takes its name.
In 867, by the Treaty of Compiègne, Charles the Bald g ...
, are named after the Gallic tribe.
Geography
The territory of the Abrincatui mostly corresponded the later regions of
Avranchin
Avranchin is an area in Normandy, France corresponding to the territory of the Abrincatui, a tribe of Celts from whom the city of Avranches, the main town of the Avranchin, takes its name.
In 867, by the Treaty of Compiègne, Charles the Bald g ...
and
Mortainais. It was inherited with only slight border changes by the ''
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...
'' ''Abrincatum'' and, later, by the
diocese of Avranches. However, the area of Mortainais was mostly uninhabited until the Roman period, and remained sparsely populated at the turn of the first millennium AD.
Two pre-Roman
oppida
An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...
were located in
Le Petit-Celland and
Carolles, with other settlements in
Montanel and near
Mortain
Mortain () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Mortain-Bocage.
Geography
Mortain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of the ...
.
History
They were a client tribe of the
Venelli
The Venellī or Unellī (Gaulish: *''Uenellī/Wenellī'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling on the Cotentin peninsula, in the northwest of modern Normandy, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
In 57 BC, they capitulated to Caesar's legate Publiu ...
until the Roman occupation in 49 BC, when they were separated.
References
Bibliography
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{{Gallic peoples
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul