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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Celts
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The Greek name for a barbarian people occupying central Europe in the 6th century BC. The following centuries saw their energetic expansion; they sacked Rome in about 390 BC, and spread west through France and Britain to Ireland. They were the dominant group in both France and England (where they were the original *Britons with *druids as their priests) before the extension of the *Roman empire northwest during and after the 1st century BC.
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After the Romans came the *Anglo-Saxons, and the result of these pressures was that the Celts retreated to the western extremities of France (Brittany) and of Britain (Cornwall, Wales, the west of Scotland and Ireland). These have remained the only strong areas of Celtic influence, a fact reflected in the survival there of the *Celtic languages. The vigorous art of the Celts, characterized by intricate patterns of interlacing lines, is evident in *Celtic crosses and in the manuscripts illustrated in Irish monasteries. It was Celtic missionaries, following the lead of St *Patrick, who brought Christianity to northern Britain and much of continental Europe.
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