Cé (Pictish territory) facts for kids
Imagine a long time ago, in a part of Scotland we now call Aberdeenshire, there was a land known as Cé. It was a territory of the Picts, an ancient people who lived in Scotland during the Early Middle Ages. Cé was one of several areas where Pictish groups lived and ruled.
Where Was Cé?
We know about Cé because its name lives on in a famous mountain called Bennachie in modern-day Aberdeenshire. "Bennachie" actually means "Mountain of the people of Cé"! This suggests that a strong fort on Bennachie's highest point, called the Mither Tap, might have been the most important place in Cé.
The flat lands around Bennachie, which would have been the "Plain of Cé," likely included areas like Garioch, the land along the River Don, and the coastal areas of Aberdeenshire. It might have been centered around the River Ury.
Cé covered a large area, including places like Banff, Buchan, and the region known today as Mar, all within Aberdeenshire.
Neighboring Pictish Lands
After the Roman Empire left Britain, many small Pictish kingdoms formed in eastern Scotland. To the south of Cé was the kingdom of Circind. This kingdom was even split into smaller parts: Fotla (which is now Atholl), Fib (now Fife), and Circind (now the county of Angus).
To the west of Cé, near modern Inverness, there might have been another kingdom called Fidach. Far to the north, including the Northern Isles, was the kingdom of Cat. This kingdom later gave its name to the county of Caithness.
By the 500s, the Pictish people were generally divided into two main groups: the Northern Picts and the Southern Picts. Cé was probably a border area, where the influences of both northern and southern Pictish groups met.
Important Places in Cé
Cé might also have included a place called Mortlach, which is near modern Dufftown. This area was once the original center for what later became the Diocese of Aberdeen, a very old church region. It's thought that this church area might have started around 700 AD as the main church for the district of Cé.
We don't know much about how Cé was governed or if it had its own kings. It might have been part of a larger Pictish kingdom, or perhaps it was a territory without a single ruler.
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