Kingdom of Strathclyde

Kingdom of Strathclyde
Teyrnas Ystrad Clud
Cumbria
5th century–c. 1030
The core of Strathclyde is the strath of the River Clyde. The major sites associated with the kingdom are shown, as is the marker Clach nam Breatann (English: Rock of the Britons), the probable northern extent of the kingdom at an early time. Other areas were added to or subtracted from the kingdom at different times.
The core of Strathclyde is the strath of the River Clyde. The major sites associated with the kingdom are shown, as is the marker Clach nam Breatann (English: Rock of the Britons), the probable northern extent of the kingdom at an early time. Other areas were added to or subtracted from the kingdom at different times.
CapitalDumbarton and Govan
Common languagesCumbric
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
5th century
• Incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotland
c. 1030
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Sub-Roman Britain
Kingdom of Scotland
Today part ofScotland
  Dumfries and Galloway
  East Ayrshire

  North Ayrshire
  South Ayrshire
  South Lanarkshire
  North Lanarkshire
  East Renfrewshire
  Renfrewshire
  Glasgow City
  Inverclyde
  East Dunbartonshire
  West Dunbartonshire
  Argyll and Bute
  Stirling

Strathclyde (lit. "broad valley of the Clyde", Welsh: Ystrad Clud, Latin: Cumbria)[1] was a Brittonic kingdom in northern Britain during the Middle Ages. It comprised parts of what is now southern Scotland and North West England, a region the Welsh tribes referred to as Yr Hen Ogledd (“the Old North"). At its greatest extent in the 10th century, it stretched from Loch Lomond to the River Eamont at Penrith.[1] Strathclyde seems to have been annexed by the Goidelic -speaking Kingdom of Alba in the 11th century, becoming part of the emerging Kingdom of Scotland.

In its early days it was called the kingdom of Alt Clud; the Brittonic name of its capital, and it controlled the region around Dumbarton Rock.[2] This kingdom emerged during Britain's post-Roman period and may have been founded by the Damnonii people. After the sack of Dumbarton by a Viking army from Dublin in 870, the capital seems to have moved to Govan and the kingdom became known as Strathclyde. It expanded south to the Cumbrian Mountains, into the former lands of Rheged. The neighbouring Anglo-Saxons called this enlarged kingdom Cumbraland.[1]

The language of Strathclyde is known as Cumbric, which was closely related to Old Welsh. Its inhabitants were referred to as Cumbrians. There was some later settlement by Vikings or Norse–Gaels (see Scandinavian Scotland), although to a lesser degree than in neighbouring Galloway. A small number of Anglian place-names show some settlement by Anglo-Saxons from Northumbria. Owing to the series of language changes in the area, it is unclear whether any Gaelic settlement took place before the 11th century.

  1. ^ a b c Koch, John T (2012). The Celts: History, Life, and Culture. Bloomsbury. pp. 808–809.
  2. ^ Clarkson, Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons, p. 27

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