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| Queen Cartimandua of Brigantes |
Ancient Britons fought the Romans for a
number of decades from 44 AD to 120 AD. There continued to be tribal unrest in
Caledonia (Scotland) but much of the rest of Britain gradually became Romanised.
For 300 more years Britain became a
settled area of the world and when it finally fell apart due to Eastern
European migration from today's Russia area; the Roman administration packed up
and abandoned the Isle in about 408 AD.
The Isle witnessed a kind of dystopia for some years. The Dark Ages came and
there followed many centuries of uncertainty.
It is so strange because the Britons were
not the most welcoming of people towards the Romans at first. There were a
number of wars in the beginning, but the might of Rome prevailed and Britain
prospered under her rule.
In the early decades of Roman rule,
Britain was known to have 2 queens. Boudicca of the Iceni (The Warrior Queen)
is known for her bloody rebellion. The Warrior Queen’s rampage burnt her name
into the history books and she echoes through eternity. She lasted but a year,
yet her legacy lingers to this day.
The other queen is Cartimandua of the
Brigantes. She is less well known, yet she was more successful in ruling her
rebellious Brigante and got on well with Rome.
Historians say that Boudicca fell out with
Rome because the Roman Empire would not recognise a woman’s rule. I think this
is hogwash because Queen Cartimandua was recognised and supported against her
divorced and exiled husband Venutius. Also Cleopatra - Queen of Egypt was
another who enjoyed Roman support until she challenged it.
Cartimandua ruled from the year the Romans
invaded Briton in 44 AD or close to this time. Her rule ended in 69 AD during
the year of the Four Emperors. Her divorced husband came back and usurped her
from the Brigante throne, though Cartimandua managed to escape and went into
exile and vanished from historical records. No one knows when she died.
Although she ruled for around twenty five years, virtually nothing is known of
her, save that she got on well with the Roman Empire. This is a great shame
because to last so long under such dire conditions says something about this
queen.
Many regard her as a traitor because of
her friendship with Rome. But some people believe there was more to Cartimandua
then this. She must have had some ability and somehow she contained her
Brigante from joining Boudicca’s rebellion.
When Boudicca of Iceni lost her final
battle against the Roman army, her forces were in the midland area of today’s
England. Cartimandua’s boarders would have been close to where Manchester is.
Suppose when Boudicca fled the battle
field, after defeat, as some historians believe, she went north to commit
suicide. Even if Rome had her rotting corpse they would have displayed it and
recorded such an event. It is safe to say the Romans did not find the corpse of
the warrior queen. Suppose Boudicca took a poison elixir and was buried in a
sacred place? Suppose Cartimandua had some reason to meet the warrior queen in secret?
Could the British queens have met?
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