Vectis

Vectis (/ˈu̯ek.tis/), or the Isle of Wight (/waɪt/), is a county and the largest and second-most populous island of England.

Vectis
Isle of Wight
Provincia Britannia
Declension Female third-declension noun (i-stem), with locative Case Singluar Nominative Vēctis Genitive Vēctis Dative Vēctī Accusative Vēctem Ablative Vēcte Vocative Vēctis Locative Vēctī

The area had been continuously inhabited by people since before the bronze age, likely due to an abundance of vegetation. The amount of people inhabiting the area during the bronze age continued to grow due to an abundance of tin in the area, an important and vital metal in the smelting of bronze.

The Romans paid little interest to the area. C. Julius Caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC, and recognised the culture of this general region as "Belgic", but made no reference to Vectis. The Romans built no towns on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture.

Vectis - The Division

Etymology

In the 1st century BC, the Graeco-Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus (V. 22) refers to an unlocated Ίκτιν (Ictin), which is possibly a reference to the Isle of Wight. A century later, Pliny the Elder uses Vectis and in the mid 2nd century Ptolemy confirms the position of Vectis as "...below Magnus Portus." The form Vectis seems reasonably robust but Rivet and Smith were uncertain of its etymology. A gloss on an AD 1164 MS of Nennius that equates Old English wiht with Latin divorcium has encouraged many writers to think that the Isle of Wight sits like a lever (Latin vectis) between the two arms of the Solent. The word could be Brittonic, from a Celtic root akin to Irish fecht "journey" and Welsh gwaith "work". A 2010 detailed study of the etymology draws attention to the Proto-Germanic word *wextiz, which would have been written Vectis in Latin, and survives in various modern-language forms, including Modern English whit "something small" (English wight is considered a revival of the Middle English word), German wicht "dwarf, imp", Dutch wicht "little girl" and Norwegian vette "being, creature (especially supernatural)". This might suggest that the fundamental meaning is something like "daughter island" or "little companion"; however Germanic languages were not widely spoken in Britain at this time, and the name Vectis is attested before the large-scale migration of Germanic-speaking peoples to Britain (not before the late Roman period).

Rome

C. Julius Caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC, and recognised the culture of this general region as "Belgic". Later, Suetonius describes the first century Roman invasion of Vectis by the Second Legion Augusta, commanded by the Claudian legate and future emperor Vespasian, who "proceeded to Britain where he fought thirty battles, subjugated two warlike tribes, and captured more than twenty towns, besides the entire Isle of Vectis" and later became emperor. The powerful nations that are referred to are known to have been the durotriges of Somerset and Dorset, and potentially also the eastern Dumnonii of Devon. Of the 20 towns only a few have been identified with any certainty, these include: Hod Hill and South Cadbury.

The Isle of Wight became an agricultural centre in Roman times, and at least seven Roman villas are known on the island. The Roman villas at Newport and Brading have been excavated and are open to the public. When fully developed around 300 AD, Brading was probably the largest villa on the Island, being a courtyard villa with impressive mosaics. One has been found, submerged, near Gurnard. First century exports were principally hides, slaves, hunting dogs, grain, cattle, silver, gold, and iron. Ferriby Boats and later Blackfriars Ships likely were important to the local economy.

Below Magnus Portus is the island Vectis, the middle of which is in 19*20 52°20."

1. Magnus Portus was the Roman name for Bosham Harbour in Hampshire.
2. The island of Vectis is easily identified as the Isle of Wight.

Above quote from Ptolemy's Geography (final entry, Part.2 Chapter.2)

In the year 296, Constantius Caesar made preparations to take back the British provinces from the usurper Allectus. His fleet set out from Gaul and sailed along the south coast, expecting to meet the rebel British fleet somewhere along the way, however:

... As we learn by their own accounts, at the very moment such mist swirled over the surface of the sea that the hostile fleet, on station at the Isle of Vecta as look-out and in ambush, was bypassed with the enemy in total ignorance, and thus unable to delay our attack, still less resist it. ...

Panegyric on Constantius Caesar 15

Constantius landed all his troops somewhere on the south coast opposite Vectis, and immediately burned his ships, thus proving to his men that they would either succeed in taking back Britain for Rome, or else die in the attempt, for there would be no turning back.

Post-Rome

At the end of the Roman Empire, the island of Vectis became a Jutish kingdom ruled by King Stuf and his successors until AD 661 when it was invaded by Wulfhere of Mercia and forcibly converted to Christianity. When he left for Mercia the islanders reverted to paganism.

In AD 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla of Wessex and can be considered to have become part of Wessex. The resistance to the invasion was led by the local King Arwald and after he was defeated and slain, at Caedwalla's insistence, Wight became the last part of the English lands to convert to Christianity in AD 686. After Alfred the Great (who reigned 871 - 899) made the West Saxon kings the kings of all England, it then became administratively part of England. The island became part of the shire of Hampshire and was divided into hundreds as was the norm. From this time the island suffered especially from Viking predations. Alfred the Great's navy defeated the Danes in 871 after they had "ravaged Devon and the Isle of Wight."

Roman Villas on Vectis

There are five known Roman villas on the Isle of Wight; at Rock (SZ4284), Carisbrooke (SZ4888), Newport (SZ5088), Combley (SZ5387) and Brading (SZ5986). There are also substantial Roman buildings on the north coast at Gurnard (SZ4795).

• "Carisbrooke I. of Wight. Caresbroc 12th cent. Possibly 'the brook called Cary'. Lost river-name (Welsh/Gaelic) + OE broc." ...
• "Rock Probably 'the rock', from ME rokke or OFrench roche; or possibly '(place of) the rooks', from OE hroc." ...
• "Newport 'new market town', OE newe + port: ... Newport I. of Wight. Neweport 1202. ..." ...
• "Combley Probably 'the valley of the woodland clearing'; from OE cumb + leah." ...
• "Brading I. of Wight. Brerdinges 683, Berardinz 1086 (DB). '(Settlement of) the dwellers on the hill-side'. OE brerd + -ingas." ...
• "Gurnard Probably '(place belonging to) a man called Gurnard'; or possibly 'the grassy (place where) Valerian (grows)', from OE gærs + Medieval Latin nardi."

Possible Saxon Shore Fort

At Carisbrooke, in the Isle of Wight, the remains of a Saxon Shore fort have recently been discovered, consisting of walls 10 feet thick, with bastions, embedded in the Norman earth-works (J.R.S., xvi, 235 ; Antiquity, i, 476).

Collingwood, p.53