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What Is the History of the East Midlands in England?
Question by spanky: What is the history of the East Midlands in England?
It may sound kind of odd but i find that now that North America is becoming a lot more multicultural and the old predominant wasps in this continent are becoming outnumbered that I am becoming interested in my English ancestry. Was the East Midlands particularly germanic historically or celtic, or is it possible to paint it with that kind of brush? I have ancestry from both Yorkshire and the East Midlands and I am kind of curious as to the history of the East Midlands and if possible Leicester in particular, if anyone knows that is?
Best answer:
Answer by IA
Britain has lots of local history websites, here are a few for Leicester, and a family history site for the city if you want to explore your roots further.
Just do a Google or Yahoo search by Leicester or East Midlands.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
<BR%20/>Tags: England, History, Midlands, East <BR%20/>
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and most of Lincolnshire, although people often speak of the “East Midlands” with only Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in mind. The point where the three counties meet is known as Trent Lock.
History
A historical basis for such an area exists in the territory of the Corieltauvi tribe. When the Romans took control of the region, they made Leicester its capital, then named Ratae Corieltauvorum. The region also corresponds to the later Five Burghs of the Danelaw. The current government office region was created in 1994.
The Corieltauvi (formerly thought to be called the Coritani) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a civitas of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands, in the counties of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire. Their capital was called Ratae Corieltauvorum, known today as Leicester.
El’s good and interesting answer has touched upon the Roman and pre-Roman aspects of the East Midlands region, so I’ll go into the early Medieval period a bit.
East Midlands was in the ancient kingdom of Mercia. The modern border between Yorkshire and the Midlands was pretty much the border between the Dark Ages kingdoms of Northumbria and later Viking Jorvik (Yorkshire and the North East) and Mercia (the Midlands). Mercia means ‘boundary folk’ and, interestingly, the ancient Kingdom of Mercia was the basis for the Realm of the Riddermark (also known as ‘The Mark – a cognate of Mercia) in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
As it was a ‘border country, Mercia tended to be a mish-mash of cultures – Celtic and Germanic, with influences going back to Ancient British, Roman and newer influences from the eastern and southern invaders – the Angles and Saxons. Mercian dialect was a dialect of Anglo-Saxon and many Angles found their way into Mercia, so it can be inferred that, at its height, Mercia had predominantly Anglian culture.
The term ‘Midlands’ only became popular in the 16th Century. Before that, the region was still referred to as Mercia even though the ancient kingdom was long since gone.
If you’re interested in the Midlands and the North you’d do well to read Susanna Clarke’s book “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell”. The book gives a very good interpretation of the feel of folklore from the region. Basically, the book does for medieval Mercian folklore what J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings did for medieval Mercian culture and language – both books give an insight into what it was to be Mercian in the early medieval (or ‘dark age’) period. Another book to read would be Beowulf, which would have been recited in Mercia as well as in East Anglia where scholars think it was composed.
Good luck with your ancestry investigation. It’s a compelling subject that often leads in interesting and enlightening directions. My own ancestry is predominantly from Sheffield, which was right on the Mercian/Northumbrian border. There’s a lot of history and culture in the areas of our ancestors – enough in both your case and mine for a lifetime of study.