Much of the history of pre-modern European society was shaped by the migration of various groups of peoples into and across the European landscape. The Celts moved from their homeland in Central Europe and settled throughout much of Western Europe, bringing their language and culture with them. The Romans were yet another migrant group, and undoubtedly one of the most culturally impactful groups because they enforced their political, legal, and religious customs in the territories they settled. Similarly, the German-speaking tribes who moved into Roman territory as the Roman Empire fell; the Vikings, who emerged from Scandinavia in the late 8th century CE and settled throughout much of Western Europe; and Muslim peoples, who emerged from the Arabian Peninsula in the mid-7th century CE and settled in Spain and Sicily, had a significant influence on the formation of early European culture. We'll examine all of these groups and their impact on the history and culture of Western Europe in the pre-modern period.

1. The Dying Gaul, 3rd century BC. Capitoline Museum, Rome.

2. Celtic warrior and wife, 3rd century BC.
Museo Nazionale delle Terme, Rome.

3. Pre-modern European Migrations:
Celtic Migrations
• Evidence of Celtic migration
• Languages and place names
• Material culture
• Religion and mythology
• Social organization

4. Pre-modern European Migrations:
Celtic Migrations
• Linguistic evidence of migration
• Indo-European
• Common Celtic developed circa 1000 BC
• Spoken in Hallstatt and early La Tene areas
• Gaulish in France, Lepontic in northern Italy, Celtiberian and Lusitanian
in Spain
• P and Q Celtic (Brythonic and Goidelic respectively) developed c. 500 BC
• P Celtic spoken in France (extinct), Wales, Brittany, and Cornwall
• Q Celtic spoken in Spain and northeastern Italy (extinct), Ireland,
Scotland, and the Isle of Man

5. Indo-European
Germanic
English and modern
Germanic languages
Romance/Latinate
French, Spanish,
Portuguese, Italian
Common Celtic
(all Continental Celtic
dialects now extinct)
Q Celtic/Goidelic
Irish, Scottish, Manx
Son of = mac
Head = ceann
P Celtic/Brythonic
Welsh, Cornish,
Breton, Cumbric
(Cumbric extinct)
Son of= map, ap
Head = pen

6. Pre-modern European Migration:
Celtic Migrations
• Druidic place names
• Drunemeton (Galatia)
• Nemetobriga (northern Spain)
• Medionemeton (southern Scotland)
• Nemed in Irish = sacred place
• Place names associated with Lugh, god of the sun and crafts
• Lugdunum (Lyon, France)
• Lugdunum Batavorum (Leiden, Netherlands)
• Luguvallium (Carlisle, England)
• Celtic terms associated with ruling
• King = Gaulish rix, Irish, ri, Welsh rhi.
• Gaulish personal name Toutierix = tribal king
• Irish ri tuaithe=tribal king
• Welsh personal name Tudor