TheCarnutes orCarnuti (Gaulish: 'the horned ones'), were aGallic tribe dwelling in an extensive territory between the Sequana (Seine) and the Liger (Loire) rivers during theIron Age and theRoman period.
They are mentioned asCarnutes byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC) andLivy (late-1st c. BC),[1]Carnūti byTibullus (late-1st c. BC),[2]Karnoútōn (Καρνούτων) andKarnoúntōn (Καρνούντων) byStrabo (early 1st c. AD),[3]Karnoũtai (Καρνοῦται) byPtolemy (2nd c. AD),[4] and asCarnunta in theNotitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).[5][6]
TheGaulishethnonymCarnutes literally means 'the horned ones', probably in reference to their combat helmets.[7][8] It stems from theGaulish rootcarno- ('horn'), itself fromProto-Celtic *karno- ('horn, hoof'; cf.Middle Welshcarn 'hoof').[9] The nameCarnutes is linguistically related to theBrittonic*Kornouii and theWelshKernyw, designating theCornwall region.[7]
The city ofChartres, attested ca. 400 asCarnotum (Carnotis ca. 650,Cartis in 930), is named after the Gallic tribe.[10]
Their lands were later organized as the Catholic dioceses ofChartres,Orléans andBlois,[11] that is, the greater part of the moderndepartments ofEure-et-Loir,Loiret andLoir-et-Cher. The territory of the Carnutes had the reputation amongRoman observers of being the political and religious center of the Gaulish nations. The chief fortified towns wereCenabum (mistakenly labeled "Genabum"), the modernOrléans, where a bridge crossed the Loire, andAutricum (orCarnutes, thus Chartres). The great annualdruidic assembly mentioned byCaesar took place in one or the other of these towns.Livy's history records the legendary tradition that the Carnutes had been one of the tribes that accompaniedBellovesus in his invasion of Italy during the reign ofTarquinius Priscus.
In the 1st century BC, the Carnutes minted coins, usually struck with dies, but sometimes cast in an alloy of hightin content calledpotin. Their coinage turns up in hoards well outside their home territories, in some cases so widely distributed in the finds that the place of coinage is not secure. Theiconography of theirnumismatics includes the motifs of heads with traditional Celtictorcs; a wolf with a star; a galloping horse; and thetriskelion. Many coins show an eagle with the lunar crescent, with aserpent, or with a wheel with six or four spokes, or apentagrammatic star, or beneath a hand holding a branch with berries,holly perhaps. The wheel with four spokes forms a cross within a circle, an almost universal image since Neolithic times. Sometimes the circle is a ring of granules. Among theCelts, the ring and spokes may represent the cycle of the year divided in its four seasons, rather than the sun, which is a common meaning among cultures.[12] SeeCross.
In the time of Caesar, the Carnutes were dependents of theRemi, who on one occasion interceded for them. In the winter of 58–57 BC, Caesar imposed a protectorate over the Carnutes and set upTasgetius as his choice of king, picked from the ruling clan. Within three years, the Carnutes assassinated the puppet king. On 13 February 53 BC, the Carnutes of Cenabum massacred all the Roman merchants stationed in the town as well as one of Caesar's commissariat officers. The uprising became a general one throughout Gaul, under the leadership ofVercingetorix. Caesar burned Cenabum, where he had the men killed and women and children sold as slaves. The booty was distributed among his soldiers, an effective way of financing the conquest of Gaul. During the war that followed, the Carnutes sent 12,000 fighting men to relieveAlesia, but shared in the defeat of the Gallic army. Having attacked theBituriges, who appealed to Caesar for assistance, they were forced to submit. Cenabum was left for years as a mass of ruins for example, with two Roman legions garrisoned there.
After they had been pacified, though not Romanized, under Augustus, the Carnutes, as one of the peoples ofGallia Lugdunensis, were raised to the rank ofcivitas socia orfoederati. They retained their self-governing institutions, and minted coins; their only obligation was for the men to render military service to the emperor. Up to the 3rd century, Autricum (later Carnutes, whence Chartres) was the capital. In 275Aurelian refoundedCenabum, ordaining it no longer avicus but acivitas; he named itAurelianum orAurelianensis urbs (which eventually becameOrléans).
| National | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
