place names

[Piechster]

Where does the plave name 'Paris' come from?

[Hippy]

The main island in the River Seine, Ile de la Cit�, formed a natural citadel and easily defended settlement and was the earliest part of the now grand city of Paris. The Celtic tribe of Parisi or Parigii settled here taking advantage of the natural moat formed by the branches of the Seine. Nevertheless, the river did not stop the Romans who conquered the town in 52 BC and named it Lutecia. Clovis, King of the Franks drove away the Romans in 486 and made the newly renamed Paris the capital of his kingdom. Brough on the River Humber in Yorkshire was known to the Romans as Petuaria and was probably the tribal capital of the Parisi. The Parisi were the great Celtic or ancient British tribe of east Yorkshire. They were culturally more sophisticated than the Brigantes tribe who inhabited the rest of Yorkshire. The name "Paris" has spanned millennia, is found in multiple ethnic groups, city and personal names. It must date back to very prehistoric times at least into the Late Bronze Age, if not to a time before the Kurgan tribal migrations. In Greek mythology and ancient lexicon the name of Paris is difficult to identify except for the Trojan prince who abducted Helen (source of the name Greece in its original language) and brought about the Trojan War.