King of the who?

[Knight of Ni]

King of the who?

Quest for historical info

I have *finally* succeeded in modding a new faction into VI, replacing the Strathclyde rebels with the Britons. (Pats self on back with a herring.) Many thanks to all of the Dungeon denizens for making their collective wisdom available to the masses http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

My question to the forum, then, is not 'how', but 'who?' I am planning to add more factions - Cornish, Manx, Danes, and several Irish and small Saxon kingdoms. Now that I have the process down, I would like to add some real historical flavor to my new factions. So far, I have found one really good Web site that lists the kings and kingdoms of the British Isles from the pre-Roman Celts to the Windsors:

http://www.kessler-web.co.uk/History/MainBritainIndex.htm

This has been a great start, but I need more depth. Does anyone know of any good resources, web or print, for the following?

- Names, useful for unit leaders and princesses
- Banners or coats-of-arms from the Dark Ages
- Biographical data for famous kings and heroes

For now, I'm using Welsh names and heroes, which aren't too far from the mark, and Burgundian shields, which are way off, though I'll have to keep the latter until I get the hang of the .bif editor. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif

[Axeknight]

Okay, a (very) short lecture on Manx history. The Isle of Man was originally a Celtic settlement, and was never conquered by Rome. Therefore, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Roman Empire, The Isle of Man was not taken over by the Saxons, as England was. instead, the Celts remained here, as they had done for centuries.

The Vikings arrived sometime in the 9th century (800-899AD), first raiding, then settling. The Isle of Man was actually one of the first Viking settlements.

So The Manx as a people did not exist until the high medieval period, as the Vikings were slow to leave here. At different points of history we've been under the control of English, Scots and Irish, before becoming a nation in the 17th (I think) century.

The language of the island from the early Celtic settlements through to 1834ish (when the English took the island for their own, later giving government to the Manx, but keeping the island a Crown Dependancy and part of the commonwealth), when the national language became English. Manx is still taught as a voluntary subject in Manx schools, and you can get a GCSE in Manx in Manx schools. It is a form of Gaelic, rather like Irish or Scots Gaelic.

Probably not much help, and I'd double-check this info in case I've made a mistake http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Hope it helps, anyway http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif

[Accounting Troll]

Get hold of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Bede's Ecclesiastical History. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in particular has a lot of information on the smaller Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the battles that various kings won and lost.

[the Black Prince]

in terms of banners, you're way off

saxons usually had plain shields, or a creature, like a bulls head etc. ther standards were more likley to be skulls and plants designed to bring luck or inspire dread than actual flags.
welsh names are Ok for briton and irish names, but not for saxon ones.

we don't really have much biographical info though - it being the dark ages and all.

try geoffrey of monmouths historica regum britannia though...