BRITANNIA, IN 700 A.D.
BRITANNIA IN 700 A.D.: The following is a snapshot of the island of Britannia as it
exists in 700 A.D., providing some interesting facts about the various kingdoms which inhabit the island as of this date.
--POLITICAL STRUCTURE: The island of Britannia is currently divided into several
kingdoms. The largest of these, of course, is the realm of the British High King (or
“Brenin Mawr” in the Celtic tongue), called Britannia (or “Prydein” in the language of the
Celts). Britannia is itself divided between provinces ruled directly by the High King, and
sub-kingdoms ruled by local kings (called “Rhi” in the Celtic tongue). Over time, the
policy of various High Kings of using dynastic marriages to bind the kingdoms together
has meant that all of the dynasties of the various sub-kingdoms are related, to some
degree, by blood to the House of Ambrosius, as the dynasty of the High King is known.
In addition to the Kingdom of Britannia/Prydein, there are several kingdoms located on
the eastern and southern coasts of the island which were founded by the Anglish, Saxon,
and Jutish invaders who nearly conquered the island in the fifth and early sixth centuries,
A.D. The dynasties of some of these (East Anglia and Sussex in particular) are tied to
the House of Ambrosius through dynastic marriage. These kingdoms are firm allies of
the British High King. Others, such as Kent, Essex, and Wessex, have no blood relation
to the British High King, and their rulers, although they acknowledge the High King as
their overlord (in the Saxon tongue, “Bretwalda,” meaning “Lord of Britain”), they are by
no means allies and remain a potential source of trouble for the High King.
To the north are the Kingdoms of Dalriada and Pictland, which up until now have figured
but little in this history, and about which little are known.
GOVERNMENT: The government of Britannia/Prydein is, in essence, a federal system.
At the top level is the High King (“Brenin Mawr”). The High Kingship is hereditary in
the House of Ambrosius. The High King presides over the High Council (or Cyngor
Mawr in the Celtic tongue), which is composed of all the kings of the British
sub-kingdoms plus the High King, each of which have one vote. The High King holds a
veto power which can, however, be over-ridden by a three-fourths vote of the remaining
members of the Council. The Council, which meets twice a year at the city of Caer
Gloui, makes laws on issues which affect the entire kingdom as well as serving as a
forum for the arbitration of disputes between individual sub-kings.
In those territories which are directly controlled by the High King, local government is
provided by governors (“Llywodraethwr” in the Celtic tongue) appointed by the High
King. The governors of the provinces of the High King are normally related by blood to
the High King. Elsewhere, local government is provided by the sub-kings (“Rhi”), and
the sub-kingdoms have their own hereditary dynasties. In cases where there is a dispute
over the succession to the throne of a sub-kingdom, the High Council arbitrates, and the
High King is responsible for enforcing the decision of the Council. If the royal house of a
sub-kingdom is totally extinguished (as has happened, as a result of warfare with the
Anglo-Saxon invaders, on several occasions), the High King may either claim the
territory for himself, or divide it among the other sub-kingdoms in the same region of
Britannia/Prydein.
Sub-kingdoms are themselves divided into smaller units called Cantrefs, which usually
include a city or town and it’s surrounding area and which are normally ruled by a Prince
(“Tywysog” in the Celtic tongue). These Princes are normally related by blood, and are
often a son or other close relative, of the sub-king who rules the kingdom as a whole. In
former times (before the laws of High King Arthur I which forbade such practices), the
cantrefs quite often split off from the parent kingdom and their Princes ruled as kings in
their own right. But since the passage of the aforementioned laws, the High Kings have
dealt harshly with Princes who attempted to throw off the control of their overlords, and
such occurrences are, by now, quite rare.
The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms are also ruled by hereditary kings whose dynasties trace back
to the original chieftains who first lead their peoples to Britannia. These kings are usually
advised by a Council of Elders (called a “Witenagemot” in the Saxon tongue). As
mentioned previously, all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms recognize the British High King
as their overlord (“Bretwalda”), and since the time of High King Cadwaladyr, the British
High King has retained the right to approve or disapprove the succession of new kings to
the thrones of each kingdom.
MILITARY: The defense of the Kingdom of Britannia/Prydein is organized as follows.
Each sub-king (“Rhi”) maintains his own fortified stronghold, called a Caer. Often this
is a fortified city or town, in other cases it is a hill-fort. Based at this Caer is the
sub-king’s personal guard (“teulu” in the Celtic tongue), a small force (usually 100-200
men, or in the case of the largest kingdoms as many as 500 men) of well-armed and loyal
troops, usually consisting of lightly armored cavalrymen, which form the basis of the
sub-king’s armed forces. In addition, the sub-king can call up a levy of the men of the
kingdom, most of whom fight as light infantry (spearmen and archers). These forces of
the sub-kings form the first line of defense against invasion. If the sub-king is not
capable to repelling the invasion alone, the High King will call upon the sub-kings of the
surrounding regions to reinforce him while the High King assembles and moves his own
forces to the scene.
The High King maintains a fortified stronghold of his own, in the region of Caer Lerion at
a city called Caer Camulod, named by the founder of the city, High King Arthur I, in
honor of his queen (who came from the now extinct kingdom of Camulod on the eastern
coast of Britannia). Arthur had originally based himself at the fortress of Caer Guircon
(formerly, in Roman times, a city called Viroconium) in the Kingdom of Pengwern, but
following the re-conquest of Caer Lerion and Arthur’s claim upon it as his own personal
land, Arthur built a new stronghold to cement his claim on the region, and the High Kings
have made their home there ever since. The High King’s military force is built around
his mobile cavalry strike force, which, at the present time, consists of around 2,000
cavalrymen. These men are professional soldiers, well-armed and trained to a high
standard. About a third of the High King’s cavalry force, numbering about 700
cavalrymen, is based at Caer Camulod. The remainder of the force is based, in companies
of between 100 and 400 men each, at various fortified towns and hill-forts in the High
King’s other provinces. In time of war, the High King musters his mobile force and
moves rapidly to the threatened point, where they join the forces of the local sub-kings in
repelling the invasion, or in mounting whatever offensive action is planned. The High
King can also call up a levy of the male population of his provinces if necessary. Like
those of the sub-kingdoms, these levies will fight mostly as light infantry spearmen and
archers.
The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms each maintain an army based on a warband loyal to the King
(the thegns) and a general levy (the Fyrd) of the male population. The Thegns are
generally better trained and armed than the Fyrd, but all fight as infantry, with the
exception of a few elite cavalrymen who form the king’s personal bodyguard. The
Anglo-Saxon cavalry has never been a match for the cavalry of Prydein, especially the
High King’s professional troops, in either numbers or quality, and the invaders continue
to rely principally on their tough, steady infantry to win the day.
ECONOMY: The economy of Britannia has made a great recovery since the dark days of
the fifth century, when the economy virtually collapsed and many vital industries went
defunct in the chaos following the withdrawal of Rome from Britannia. Under the wise
rule of High King Arthur I and his successors, large areas which had been abandoned and
whose land had fallen out of cultivation are now again bearing fruit. Large grain harvests
are being routinely brought in, enabling Britannia to export grain to the continent for the
first time since the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. A thriving woolens
industry has been revived, and strong metal-working, pottery, mining, and forestry
industries have been re-established. Cities which had been abandoned have been
reoccupied in many areas, and many new towns have sprung up in reconquered regions.
Trade with the Continent is thriving, with luxury goods coming in from as far away as
Constantinople and Alexandria.
POPULATION: The population of Britannia/Prydein at the time the Romans withdrew
(410 A.D.) stood at somewhere between 3 and 3.5 million. During the chaos of the next
century, that population plummeted by almost half, to around 2 million. Over the
succeeding two centuries, under the rule of the House of Ambrosius, the population has
made a remarkable recovery, but has still not yet reached the level it attained under the
Romans. As of 700 A.D., the combined populations of the kingdom of
Britannia/Prydein, along with the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, is now approaching 3 million
souls. The vast majority are in Britannia, whose population now outnumbers the
combined population of all the remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by almost three-to-one.
One factor in this disparity has been the fact that there has been considerable
inter-marriage between Celt and Anglo-Saxon in the border areas, and these mixed-blood
people tend to be loyal to, and make their homes in, Britannia/Prydein.
LANGUAGE: The people of the Kingdom of Britannia/Prydein, for the most part, speak
Gymraeg, the native Celtic tongue of Prydein. Of course there are several dialects of this.
There are also still some Latin-speakers in some of the towns, primarily among the upper
class, but the numbers of these are rapidly declining and by now, the vast majority of
these are bi-lingual and speak Gymraeg as well. In the far north one encounters speakers
of Gaelic and Pictish where populations merge along the borders with Dalriada and
Pictland, and likewise, in the borderlands between Britannia and the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms, one encounters speakers of the invaders’ Germanic tongues. There has been
some trading of words between all of these languages, but for the most part, each remains
true to it’s roots.
