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A little bit of history
Invicta
The "Invicta" motto is associated with the story of the Treaty of
Swanscombe of 1067.
According to local legend, William the Bastard, (later known as William the
Conqueror), having seized the English throne was traveling to Dover.
William was met by the Cantware (the People of Kent), they demanded from him
their ancient laws and rights. These stated that he would have their loyalty,
or else "battle most deadly".
William granted the request, and Kent acceded to his reign by treaty, hence
getting the motto "Invicta" (unconquered).
Hengest
and Horsa
After the Romans left, Britain became a very fragmented country with
many small Kingdoms and fiefdoms. During this time England was being constantly
invaded by Vikings and other European races.
In an attempt to stabilise the situation King Vortigern who controlled most of
the South of England invited the Jutes (Saxons) led by Hengest & Horsa to
come to England as mercenary soldiers to defend England from these invaders.
There was a great deal of treachery which resulted in the Britons going back on
the agreement with Hengest & Horsa and a major battle was fought in 457 AD
at or close to Crayford in Kent where history records that some 4000 Britons
were killed.
Kent was then divided between the Jutes who settled east of the Medway who were
called Men of Kent and the Britons who settled west of the Medway and were
called Kentish Men. To this day the division of the county still exists.
The people of Kent are now united under the banner of the White Horse. The
Horse was the emblem of Hengest & Horsa.
In modern German and Dutch 'Hengst' is still the word for a stallion, and in
Scandinavian languages 'Hingst' and 'Horsa' the Horse.
Cantium
We had a competition to name two frames and Cantium was named by one competition winner.
The Cantiaci tribe occupied the ancient land of Cantium which comprised the whole of modern Kent, with the eastern parts of Surrey, East Sussex and Greater London. Caesar thought them the most civilized tribe in Britain. The Capitol of the Cantiaci was Durovernum Cantiacorum which is now known as Canterbury
Vortigern
Our second competition winner chose Vortigern (Welsh: Gwrtheyrn; Old English: Wyrtgeorn; Breton: Guorthigern; Irish: Foirtchern), also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He may have been the "superbus tyrannus" said to have invited Hengest and Horsa to aid him in fighting the Picts and the Scots. But they revolted, killing his son in the process and adding Sussex and Essex to their own kingdom. It is said that he took refuge in north Wales, and that his grave is in Dyfed or the Llŷn Peninsula. He is cited at the head of the genealogy of the early Kings of Powys.
Rowena
Rowena is first mentioned in the 9th-century Latin Historia Brittonum (traditionally attributed to Nennius) as the lovely unnamed daughter of the Saxon Hengist. Following his and his brother Horsa's arrival at Ynys Ruym (modern Thanet), Hengist negotiates with the British High King Vortigern for more land. At her father's orders, Rowena gets Vortigern drunk at a feast, and he is so enchanted by her that he agrees to give her father whatever he wants in exchange for permission to marry her (the fate of Vortigern's first wife, Sevira, daughter of Magnus Maximus, is not specified). The text makes clear that the British king's lust for a pagan woman is a prompting by the Devil. Hengist demands the Kingdom of Kent, which Vortigern foolishly grants him. This agreement proves disastrous for the Britons and allows the Saxons to strengthen their foothold in Britain considerably.