2
Territory
/ Administration
Cornwall was part of the Civitas
Dumnoniorum, the canton of Dumnonia, with its administrative centre in Exeter.
The Dumnonii themselves were a tribal grouping that had emerged during the Iron
Age, and their name may mean or be derived from their reputation as ‘Worshippers
of the God Dumnonos’.
Their territory included
modern Cornwall, Devon (which name comes from the work Dumnonia). The western
parts of Somerset and perhaps the fringes of Dorset.
The Romans formalised
this tribal territory into their administrative region of Civitas Dumnoniorum
although, as suggested above, there is evidence to indicate that Cornwall may
have been a pagus in its own right. Continued
Page 2 >>>
3 Sparse
Evidence Of Roman Activity in Cornwall
Common sense
(and classical allusion) tells us that the Romans would have been interested in
Cornwall for trading purposes, not least the traffic in tin and perhaps also silver
and gold. Near St Enodoc church in North Cornwall a wide range of late Roman metalwork
and pottery has been uncovered, suggesting that there may have been an important
harbour nearby on the Camel estuary. Continued
Page 3 >>>
4 Culture
- Identity - Experience
Cornwall emerges ever more clearly as a distinct
culture zone with an identity and experience that we can with increasing confidence
label as ‘Cornish’. Continued
Page 4 >>>
5 Cornish
Kings
Cornwall was already a separate kingdom in
the time of Gildas’ (Gildas was the author of the cAD 560 De Excidio et Conquestu
Britanniae – On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain). It is difficult to construct
king-lists for Dumnonia or the emerging Cornwall.
In
the fifth century there is the legendry Cynan (or Conan) Meriadoc, the supposed
leader of the first emigrations to Armorica. Three generations from Cynan is Tudwal.
Cynfawr son of Tudwal is Cunomorus (‘Hound of the Sea’) who may be the
Cunomorus identified on the so-called Tristan stone near Fowey. Continued
Page 5 >>>
6 Tristan
and Iseult
The tale of the tragic lovers, Tristan and Iseult. Is known
throughout European literature and in many guises but its Cornish credentials
are strong.
In its later versions it becomes entangled in the Arthurian
cycles and the Quest for the Holy Grail, but in its earlier forms its association
with Cornwall is clear. Continued
Page 6 >>>
7 King
Mark - Constantine - Geraint
King Mark may have received
lavish attention in the realms of literature but in history, he remains a shadowy
figure. The first Dumnonian king that we can name with confidence as an historical
character is Constantine, who was king in the mid-sixth century and who has been
identified as Custennin, son of our King Mark. Continued
Page 7 >>>
8 Later
Kings - Early territorial divisions
Nonetheless,
in the far west of Cornwall, then, less than a century before the Norman conquest,
there was perhaps a semblance, and echo, an assertion of Cornish kingly independence.
The Cornish world for Hundred is in fact keverang, cognate with Welsh cyfranc
(meeting, armed encounter) and Breton coufranc (muster, dispute).
In the far
west of Cornwall were the Hundreds of Penwith and Kerrier, names that survive
today as local government Districts. Continued
Page 8 >>>
9 Earthworks
& Castles
Even more intriguing, perhaps, are
the earthwork survivals that suggest territorial subdivision in the post-Roman
period.
Rather, the suggestion now is that Tintagel
in Dumnonian times was a cliff fortress, probably a major seat of royal power,
perhaps even the Durocornovium of the Ravenna Cosmography.
This, amongst other
things, would help to explain the persistent importance of Tintagel in Cornish
and wider European lore. Continued
Page 9 >>>
10 Stones,
Castles & Kings
But if we can look for a moment
behind the façade of modern commercialism, nineteen-century pre-raphaelitism
and high medieval European romance, we can see how the notion of Arthur could
be linked in the Celtic (Cornish, Welsh, Breton) imagination with a far-famed
seat of royal power at Tintagel. Continued
Page 10 >>>
11 Stones,
Castles, & Names
Charles Thomas has put this to the test in his impressive
study, And Shall These Mute Stones Speak? Post-Roman Inscriptions in Western Britain.
Continued
Page 11 >>>
Interesting Links - Cornish
History & Affairs
The
Real Duchy of Cornwall
Find out the truth about the Duchy Of Cornwall
This
website provides those who seek information on the duchy with an alternative history
of the Duchy of Cornwall. In fact, it is the only site offering a history of the
duchy supported by references to primary source material.
John
Angarrack LIVE!
John talks about his new book Scat T'Larups' with David
White BBC Cornwall
Learn more about how the Westminster Government denies the
constitutional rights of Cornwall.
John
Angarrack Bookshop
Scat t’Larrups? - Resist and Survive.
The
year is 2007 and Government react to what appears to be a co-ordinated threat
to national security. The Secretary of State sets normal affairs of Government
aside to hold two days of crisis talks with her advisors and the future king is
consulted. Dawn raids by dozens of armed police result in suspected terrorists
being rounded up at gunpoint. Enemy flags, instruction manuals and documents in
a foreign language are taken as evidence. High profile personalities are offered
special protection and the press hint of a plot to blow up the QE2. The tension
abates only after Government and judiciary conspire to intimidate the community
into compliance.
Cornwall,
not England
A great many arguments and counter-arguments have raged regarding
the true status of Cornwall. A status that is certainly unique within Great Britain.
Why is it unique?
Cornish World asks historian Craig Weatherhill what is the
real local ‘derby’ game to savour and verifiable truth that lies behind
Cornwall’s claims?
Conspiracy
of the Celtic Cornish cover up
Cornish people the world over share an ancient
Celtic ancestry, yet that ancestry never appears in modern history texts.
Craig
Weatherhill investigates the conspiracy of the Celtic Cornish cover up.
Cornwall
Erased From The Map
This process was never more in evidence than with
the state-funded 'Historical Atlas of South West England' distributed free to
all comprehensive school in Cornwall. Here, when genuine maps showing Cornwall
as one of the four nations of Britain were censored and replaced with fake ones
depicting early medieval Cornwall as a county of England
