Brahhingas facts for kids
The Brahhingas were an important group of people, like a tribe or a large family, who lived in Anglo-Saxon England. Their main area was around a place called Braughing in what is now Hertfordshire. The name Brahhingas means "the people of Brahha." Brahha was probably a leader or an ancestor of their group.
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Discovering the Brahhingas
The Brahhingas are first mentioned in old official papers called a charter. These papers date back to the 830s or 840s. This shows they were an organized group more than 1,100 years ago!
Where Did They Live?
The Brahhingas had their own special area, which was called a regio. This was like their administrative territory. It probably included many villages that you can still find on a map today. These villages were in the valleys of the River Rib and River Quin. Some of these places include:
- Reed
- Barkway
- Barley
- Nuthampstead
- Buckland
- Wyddial
- Anstey
- Throcking
- Aspenden
- Layston
- Great Hormead
- Little Hormead
- Westmill
- Standon
Who Ruled Them?
At first, the Brahhingas were part of the Middle Saxons. But quite early on, they came under the control of the East Saxons. Even after their land became part of Hertfordshire, it stayed connected to the Archdeaconry of Middlesex. This shows how old boundaries could last a very long time!
A Link to the Past
The land where the Brahhingas lived has a very long history. It seems like people have lived there for thousands of years!
Roman and Iron Age Connections
Right next to Braughing, where the Brahhingas had their main settlement, was the site of a big Roman town. This Roman town was the second largest in modern Hertfordshire. Even before the Romans, there was an Iron Age oppidum nearby. An oppidum was a large, fortified Iron Age settlement, often like an early town.
The Roman town's location is called Wickham Hill. The name "Wickham" comes from the Latin word vicus, which means a village or settlement. The "ham" part is an Old English ending that often means a settlement continued from Roman times. This suggests that the Brahhingas' territory might have slowly grown from an earlier area called a pagus. A pagus was a smaller district or community during the Romano-British period, perhaps belonging to the Catuvellauni tribe.
Why Were They Important?
The Brahhingas were one of the most important tribes in the area that later became Hertfordshire. Other important tribes were the Waeclingas and the Hicce. The main places and territories of these tribes became very important building blocks for how the county of Hertfordshire was organized later on. They helped shape the map and the way people lived for centuries.
