Welcome to the homepage of the Deisi
Why reenact the Deisi
I've been involved with historical reenactment most of my adult life, i've tried many periods of history ranging from Romans through to the English Civil War but the period that has always intrigued me the most is the 5th & 6th century following the province of Britannia becoming independent from the Roman Empire.
My particular interest is the Deisi, an Irish people who settled in Dyfed, South Wales during the 4th century AD. Please note, I do not run my own reenactment group, I am a member of Britannia (the premier UK based post Roman group). This website exists to spread and share information. If you're interested in reenactment please do get in touch with me or Britanna directly through the groups website.
Who were the Deisi
The Deisi were first recorded in Ireland where they led an unsuccessful attempt at a coup over there social superiors. This failure turned them into a people on the run. The exact nature of how they came to be in Dyfed will probably never be known, but in all likelihood they were invited to settle by the Roman government of the time. The west coast of Britain had for some time been subject to raiding by Irish warbands (known as Scotti) and the garrison of South Wales had gradually been reduced by troop withdrawals to the continent. The Romans had a policy of settling barbarian warriors (Foederati) within Roman territory in exchange for military service. Were the Deisi settled in Dyfed to counter the treat from the Scotti raiders?
Interestingly, numerous memorial stones are found in the area with inscriptions in both Ogham (Irish script) and Latin and some refer to Roman style military titles, do these back up the theory of the Deisi were settled as foederati.
Dyfed in the 5th century AD
Dyfed would have been an interesting mix of Romano British people attempting to live as they had done for the last few hundred years and a newly settled Deisi people with a distinct Irish culture. Both these cultures lived side by side within the ruins of the former Roman province of Britannia as it broke down into smaller petty kingdoms.
Sub Roman Britain
Following massive troop withdrawals in the late 4th century Britannia was largely left without an army. There is some evidence that lower status Roman limitatei troops where probably still in Britannia in the early 5th century but most of the Roman towns had to "look to their own defences." Former Roman magistrates would have employed fighting men when they were available and towns probably formed their own militias. Former leaders became Kings of their territories and kept warbands or Comitatus of professional warriors within fortifications. Tne Germanics in the east had expanded from their initial territories and the Anglo Saxon chronicle tells of many battles that they fought as they continued to conquer what would later become England. The western side of Britannia was raided and settled by Irish warbands with settlements being established in Argyll, Cornwall and Wales. The North was beset with Pictish raiders arriving by sea and through the remains of Hadrians wall.
I've been involved with historical reenactment most of my adult life, i've tried many periods of history ranging from Romans through to the English Civil War but the period that has always intrigued me the most is the 5th & 6th century following the province of Britannia becoming independent from the Roman Empire.
My particular interest is the Deisi, an Irish people who settled in Dyfed, South Wales during the 4th century AD. Please note, I do not run my own reenactment group, I am a member of Britannia (the premier UK based post Roman group). This website exists to spread and share information. If you're interested in reenactment please do get in touch with me or Britanna directly through the groups website.
Who were the Deisi
The Deisi were first recorded in Ireland where they led an unsuccessful attempt at a coup over there social superiors. This failure turned them into a people on the run. The exact nature of how they came to be in Dyfed will probably never be known, but in all likelihood they were invited to settle by the Roman government of the time. The west coast of Britain had for some time been subject to raiding by Irish warbands (known as Scotti) and the garrison of South Wales had gradually been reduced by troop withdrawals to the continent. The Romans had a policy of settling barbarian warriors (Foederati) within Roman territory in exchange for military service. Were the Deisi settled in Dyfed to counter the treat from the Scotti raiders?
Interestingly, numerous memorial stones are found in the area with inscriptions in both Ogham (Irish script) and Latin and some refer to Roman style military titles, do these back up the theory of the Deisi were settled as foederati.
Dyfed in the 5th century AD
Dyfed would have been an interesting mix of Romano British people attempting to live as they had done for the last few hundred years and a newly settled Deisi people with a distinct Irish culture. Both these cultures lived side by side within the ruins of the former Roman province of Britannia as it broke down into smaller petty kingdoms.
Sub Roman Britain
Following massive troop withdrawals in the late 4th century Britannia was largely left without an army. There is some evidence that lower status Roman limitatei troops where probably still in Britannia in the early 5th century but most of the Roman towns had to "look to their own defences." Former Roman magistrates would have employed fighting men when they were available and towns probably formed their own militias. Former leaders became Kings of their territories and kept warbands or Comitatus of professional warriors within fortifications. Tne Germanics in the east had expanded from their initial territories and the Anglo Saxon chronicle tells of many battles that they fought as they continued to conquer what would later become England. The western side of Britannia was raided and settled by Irish warbands with settlements being established in Argyll, Cornwall and Wales. The North was beset with Pictish raiders arriving by sea and through the remains of Hadrians wall.