The families that make up our clan are from similar backgrounds. My clan and the my wife’s clan mostly came to New Zealand the nineteenth century. My father’s family arrived in the early twentieth century after a sojourn in Australia. The astounding thing is that as far as I am aware we all hail from Cornwall in England and we all appear to be of Celtic origin albeit by virtue of coming from Britain.
Bear in mind that the data I am using comes mainly from anecdotal conversations with our immediate forbears. However, for my clan there has been some fairly sound research performed and collated. I am also aware of research having been conducted by authoritative sources for the my wife’s clan as well. So there is reason for optimism in regard to our Cornish and Celtic origins being verifiable.
Added to this is my DNA test performed by that bastion of genetic and ancestral accuracy. Ancestry dot com. Which shows England, Wales & Northwestern Europe 78%; Ireland and Scotland 16% ; Germanic Europe 4%; Norway 2%. These areas are where the Celts largely hail from.
In the centuries immediately prior to fifth century BC the Celts had begun to migrate from Western Europe up the Danube River Valley toward the Black Sea. By the 500 BC there were settlements along the East Coast of the Black Sea from Crimea to Greece. 1. Archeologists have found evidence of Celtic occupation in the Ukraine, Poland and Russia. In 390 BC the Gauls attacked the Etruscan city of Clusium and faced the city state of Rome whom they defeated and then subsequently sacked Rome. 1a. By 350 BC Celts had established a state on the central plateau of Asia Minor which is in modern Turkey. These became known as the Commonwealth of Galatia, which set them apart from the Gauls and other Celts further to the west.
Alexander the Great signed a treaty with Celts on the Northern Border of Macedonia in 334 BC. In a battle at the famous Pass of Thermopylae in Greece, an army of Celtic invaders defeated an army of Greek defenders in 279 BC. Later in the same year they invaded Macedonia and conquered a number of the other Greek city states 2. By the start of the third century BC the Celts had reached the Carpathian Mountains, and Macedonia, Thrace, and Greece were subjected to Celtic raids, by 274 BC they were involved in the Athens - Sparta war. Celtic warriors even appeared in Egypt where they fought as mercenaries.
In 261 BC they defeated the Syrians at Ephesus securing a short period stability until they were defeated by Pergamon in 241BC. This defeat ended any dreams of empire as they continuously battled the Greeks and Syrians over the next century. 3. They allied with Syria and were defeated by Rome at the Battle of Magnesia in 191 BC. Then were briefly resurgent in 123 BC becoming the dominant power in Asia Minor until Pontus became the ascending power in the region. The Galatians allied with Rome against Pontus which was a decision that eventually cost them their freedom as they became a Roman province by about 50 BC.
The Celts of the Danube and Thrace were overcome by the Dacians and of these the Boils of Bohemia migrated to Helveti (Switzerland). 4. Which provided Julius Caesar the impetus he required to invade Gaul and ultimately to try for Britain somewhat unsuccessfully in 55 BC. However the Romans were never known for a lack of tenacity and they managed to secure Southern England in 43 AD.
The Celtic tribe known as the Iceni led by Queen Boadicea attempted to repulse the Romans from Britain with an army of one hundred thousand assembled from the Iceni and other disgruntled Celtic tribes. 5. They sacked Camulodunum (London), killing an estimated eighty thousand mainly Roman civilians. Unfortunately their success was short lived as Roman Governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, set a trap in a valley with forest on one side and the ability to cut off the enemies retreat. With only ten thousand legionnaires he routed the huge Celtic army literally cutting them to pieces.
So the Celts became integrated into the Roman Empire and to an extent became part of the multicultural Roman world. Over time the Celtic language became the Gaelic language as we know it today. In the modern world “The six territories widely considered Celtic nations are Brittany (Breizh), Cornwall (Kernow), Wales (Cymru), Scotland (Alba), Ireland (Éire) and the Isle of Man (Mannin).... Territories in north-western Iberia—particularly Galicia, northern Portugal and Asturias, historically referred to as Gallaecia and Astures, covering north-central Portugal and northern Spain—are considered Celtic nations due to their culture and history.” 6.
Another part of the Celtic history that piques my interest is based around the gospel of Jesus Christ. Firstly the apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Until recently I had not realised that Galatians was not written to a Church. Instead it was written to the Churches in the Roman province of Galatia on the Central Asian Plateau (Modern Turkey). The Galatians just happened to be Celts. The same tribe of Celts that took it to the Greeks and Syrians and allied with the Romans against Pontus. Then thanks to Paul became storied servants of Jesus Christ. Praise Lord Jehovah.
The other Celtic community that interests me are reputed in Christian legend to have been Guardians to the Gospel from the times of the early Church. They were known in France as the Vaudois and in Italy as the Vaudici although they are more commonly known as the Waldenses. There is reason to believe that they were of Celtic origin because their language contained words of ancient Celtic origin. 7. They also lived in the mountain valleys on the border of Italy, France and Switzerland which was populated by the Celts in Roman times.
From the eleventh century they were bible believing Christians in conflict with Rome. The Roman Catholic Church was secreting the word of God from the people and their religious hierarchy ran an integrated Church and State that enforced Catholic rules not Gods. The persecution that the Vaudois - Vaudici Church endured involved savagery and barbarism at the hands of the Catholic Church that was frankly horrific and that could only be a work of Satan. 8. They were pushed to the brink of extinction and in the end were forced to capitulate after centuries of protecting the scriptures and winning souls to Christ across Europe.
In my own case I must say that I thought the Celts a somewhat barbaric race of little significance who lived in Roman Britain. But as you can see from my preliminary investigation they were a bold and versatile nation who were as resourceful as they were storied. Populating an controlling vast regions in Ireland and Britain and across Europe and Asia Minor. Even able to take on the might of Greece, Syria and Rome. Then becoming leading proponents of the gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ and being appointed custodians of the written word of God and it’s oral tradition for centuries and even unto death.
My friends you can see the value that the Vaudois -Vaudici placed on getting the gospel of Jesus Christ out to the people of France, Italy and greater Europe. Long before the Reformation they toiled to preserve the word and to share the truth with the people that they might have Salvation through Gods only Son, Jesus Christ; and that through faith alone that he bore their sin upon the cross, so they might have eternal life. The price was persecution and often death but these brave folk of Celtic descent held fast and ran the course until the last one.
II Corinthians: 4 “but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love...” NASB
Reference List
Celtic Nations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_nations 08/10/18
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT CHRISTIANS - HISTORY OF THE VAUDOIS - BOOK 1. Perrin J.P. http://www.godrules.net/library/perrin/92perrin12.htm 09/10/18
Italy and Celts: their legacy and cultural impact on Romans. Tony Ghezzo . 05/01/13. https://italoamericano.org/story/2013-1-5/Italy-Celts 08/10/18
Queen Boudica And Her Epic Revenge Against The Romans. Kara Goldfarb. 05/09/18 https://allthatsinteresting.com/queen-boudica 08/10/18
The Battle at the Allia River, 390 BCE ludwyg Heinrich Dyke. 07/08/18. https://www.ancient.eu/article/879/the-battle-at-the-allia-river-390-bce/ 09/10/18
The Galatians. https://www.celticcultureblog.tk/maps/the-galatians.html#download 08/10/18
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