Cartimandua [key], fl. 1st cent. a.d., British queen of the Brigantes. Ruler of the largest and most powerful tribe in Roman Britain (inhabiting the area that is now Yorkshire), she surrendered Caractacus to the Romans (a.d. 51). The Romans supported her rule as a client-queen in order to stabilize the region and quell dynastic conflicts. She was overthrown in a.d. 69 when she repudiated her husband, Venutius, for his armor-bearer. The Brigantes were then subjugated under direct Roman rule.
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