The Celts

The Celts were the first European people north of the Alps to rise from anonymity. This program looks at who the Celts were, where they came from and what made their culture so distinctive.

The heyday of the Celts was the La Tene era. It was tribal, and women were often the leaders: warriors, bards, druids, artists and craftsmen. Their little known settlements as well as their massive hill-torts tell of inhabitants who traded within and beyond Europe. But then the Celts clashed with the Romans and highly developed culture fell apart.

This program looks at the pagan religion, Druidism, which underpinned early Celtic society and is still practiced today.

The slow collapse of the Roman Empire saw the arrival of new cultures which threatened the Celts. The program claims that the British king, Vortigern, invited the Anglo Saxons into Britain to help fight the Picts but they betrayed his trust and gradually took over the island.

From the 8th century onwards the Celts were hammered by invasions by the Vikings and then the Normans. Following the Reformation in the 16th century, Celtic communities in Wales, Ireland and Brittany were marginalised in the push for political and religious unity in England and France.

This program examines the emergence, history, meaning and threats to the Celtic identity. Today the struggle to define an identity continues.