Cilternsæte
The Cilternsæte (or Ciltern Sætna) were a tribe that occupied the Chilterns, probably in the 6th century AD.[1]
It is unclear whether they were native Britons, Anglians, or West Saxons. Mortimer Wheeler noted the absence of Anglo-Saxon evidence from the Chilterns and suggested the area was a British enclave into the 6th Century, possibly the remnants of a Sub-Roman polity encompassing an area that included London, Colchester, and St. Albans.[2] Earlier, J. Brownbill had suggested they were one branch of the West Saxons.[3]
The Tribal Hidage valued their territory at 4,000 hides. This assessment is relatively large compared with those of some other tribes of central England. Although the Tribal Hidage suggests[clarification needed] the tribe gave its name to the hills, the truth must be the reverse since the toponym is of Brittonic origin[citation needed]. Eilert Ekwall suggested that "Chiltern" is possibly related to the ethnic name "Celt" ("Celtæ" in early Celtic). An adjective celto- ="high" with suffix -erno- could be the origin of Chiltern.[4]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ cited in Ken Dark, 2000, Britain and the End of the Roman Empire, p. 97.
- ↑ J. Brownbill, 1912, "The Tribal Hidage," in The English Historical Review, vol. 27, p. 640.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Ekwall cites the forms Cilternsætna (Birch's Cartularium Saxonicum; 297); Cilternes efes (Kemble's Codex diplomaticus aevi Saxonici; 715) and Ciltern (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; text E)
