Most diverse Britain pre-immigration era
- Thread starter Zuvarq
- Start date
The native Britons don't assimilate. The Picts and some of the other Gaelic kingdoms stay and keep fighting each other.
That would be less diverse I'd think, seeing as the remaining Brythonic tongues would probably be mutually intelligible with each other and all the peoples in 'England' would have a similar culture.
Also it's impossible for mainland Germanic peoples to not raid and settle Britain with a POD of 400 or later.
Scotland might have Dalriada, Pictland, and Strathclyde. There could be a Danish-influenced culture in northeast England, an Anglian culture south of that, a Saxon culture in the far south, a roughly Jutish, outward-looking culture in Kent, and then two Briton cultures in the west - One around Wales and one within the peninsula where Cornwall and Devon are. Perhaps some Saxon or Jutish isolate on the Isle of Wight as well?
Perhaps Normans or northern French conquer southern England, Vikings conquer Northern England, and somehow Muslims invade and conquer France (causing some refugees to go to Britain), then seize Cornwall for a few decades.
The languages would then be:
And that would just be at the end of the Middle Ages. In the latter half of the second millenium, the Dutch, Germans, French (who would have a quick reconquista against the Muslims), or others could invade Britain. While peoples in Britain could enforce their rule on others.
And if an alt-Reformation happens, different regions could have different religious denominations (the Muslims, of course, would be gone by this point).
In the nineteenth century, perhaps if there is a liberal king or queen that controls much of Britain, some oppressed groups could settle the island. Jews for example.
The languages would then be:
- Irish Gaelic in Ireland. Some French, Breton, or Norman influenced dialects. As well as Norse influenced dialects, especially on the Isle of Man.
- Scots Gaelic in the Highlands.
- Anglo-Saxon Scots in the Lowlands
- Welsh in Wales
- Norse Saxon in Northern England
- English in Central-Southern England
- Norman and French in Wessex, Sussex, and Kent
- Andalusian in Cornwall
And that would just be at the end of the Middle Ages. In the latter half of the second millenium, the Dutch, Germans, French (who would have a quick reconquista against the Muslims), or others could invade Britain. While peoples in Britain could enforce their rule on others.
And if an alt-Reformation happens, different regions could have different religious denominations (the Muslims, of course, would be gone by this point).
In the nineteenth century, perhaps if there is a liberal king or queen that controls much of Britain, some oppressed groups could settle the island. Jews for example.
you do realise most of these groups are immigrants.
Also - A far as London is concerned ( i think it applies to all the major port cities) its only by the 1980/90 that we approached the level of ethnic diversity that existed in the late 18th early 19th century.
Also - A far as London is concerned ( i think it applies to all the major port cities) its only by the 1980/90 that we approached the level of ethnic diversity that existed in the late 18th early 19th century.
I'd question this. The late 18th Century had very low immigration relative to 20th Century trends. And in terms of the 20th Century, it happened mostly in the 50s and 60s, and then again in the 2000s. The years leading up to 1980 and 1990 saw lower immigration.
Still not sure what you mean by the immigration era when referring to England. Do you mean before 1890's when significant number of Italians and Chinese joined the Irish and Jews that had lived in England for a couple of centruies.
Or do you mean the various invasions of people from the continant from 49AD to 1066AD?
post-WWII, when it became possible for Bangladeshis, Indians, Turks, Poles, etc. to settle in Britain. Obviously, getting a diverse Britain is too easy then.
Well, otl, we had three gaelics, irish, scots and manx, three brythonics, welsh, cornish and breton. Of course, to count breton, britanny would have to count as ,,british,,.
So. We want cornish to survive, which is fairly easy. Then have the strathclyde brythonic survive, and pictish. Lallans, of some sort, is ccounted separately from ,,english,, a danish flavored danelaw, a southern ,,english,, a norse gaelic hybrid around dublin, a purer norse in the isles. Can we count a separate norsish langage in the faroes?
So. We want cornish to survive, which is fairly easy. Then have the strathclyde brythonic survive, and pictish. Lallans, of some sort, is ccounted separately from ,,english,, a danish flavored danelaw, a southern ,,english,, a norse gaelic hybrid around dublin, a purer norse in the isles. Can we count a separate norsish langage in the faroes?