The Celts

Discover where the Celts, the first European people north of the Alps to rise from anonymity and leave their mark on history, came from and how their culture developed and became distinct from the others around it.

The Celts' heyday was tribal and women took leadership roles, were warriors, bards and craftspeople. Little is known about their settlements or their hill torts, but they do provide evidence of a people who traded both across Europe and beyond.

Take a look at the pagan religion known as Druidism, which both underpinned early Celt society and is still practiced today, with vestiges of the theology surviving in Christian feast days and Western literature.

The Roman Empire's collapse saw the arrival of new cultures that threatened the Celts. Explore claims that King Vortigern invited the Anglo Saxons into Britain to help battle the Picts only to have them betray him and gradually take power.

From the 8th century the Celts were under siege from the Vikings and then the Normans. Their plight would only get worse following the 16th century Reformation which communities in Wales, Ireland and Brittany were marginalised.

The emergence, history, meaning and threats to Celtic identity are investigated. Even today, the struggle to define, embrace and celebrate a Celtic identity continues, with no clear path to a resolution.