Dumnonia is the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
ised name for a
Brythonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
kingdom that existed in
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the Anglo-Saxon settlement. The term was originally used to describe archaeological remains found in 5th- and 6th-century AD sites that hin ...
between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day
South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...
. It was centred in the area of modern
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, but also included modern
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...
and part of
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lor ...
, with its eastern boundary changing over time as the gradual westward expansion of the neighbouring
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
kingdom of
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
encroached on its territory. The spelling Damnonia is sometimes encountered, but that spelling is also used for the land of the
Damnonii
The Damnonii (also referred to as Damnii) were a Brittonic people of the late 2nd century who lived in what became the Kingdom of Strathclyde by the Early Middle Ages, and is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's ''Ge ...
, later part of the
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde (lit. " Strath of the River Clyde", and Strað-Clota in Old English), was a Brittonic successor state of the Roman Empire and one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Britons, located in the region the Welsh tribes referred to a ...
, in present-day southern
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
.
[
]
The form Domnonia also occurs and shares a linguistic relationship with the
Breton region of
Domnonée ( br, Domnonea).
Name
The kingdom is named after the
Dumnonii, a
British Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
ic tribe living in the south-west at the time of the
Roman invasion of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, according to
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...
's ''
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, a ...
''. Variants of the name ''Dumnonia'' include ''Domnonia'' and ''Damnonia'', the latter being used by
Gildas in the 6th century as a
pun on "damnation" to deprecate the area's contemporary ruler
Constantine.
The name has etymological origins in the proto-Celtic root word ''*dubno-'', meaning both "deep" and "world". Groups with similar names existed in Scotland (''
Damnonii
The Damnonii (also referred to as Damnii) were a Brittonic people of the late 2nd century who lived in what became the Kingdom of Strathclyde by the Early Middle Ages, and is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's ''Ge ...
'') and Ireland (''
Fir Domnann'').
[ Later, the area became known to the English of neighbouring ]Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
as the kingdom of West Wales
West Wales ( cy, Gorllewin Cymru) is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of '' Deheu ...
, and its inhabitants were also known to them as ''Defnas'' (i.e. men of Dumnonia). In Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
, and similarly in the Southwestern Brythonic languages
The Southwestern Brittonic languages ( kw, Brythonek Dyghowbarthgorlewin, br, Predeneg Kreisteizkornôg) are the Brittonic Celtic languages spoken in what is now South West England and Brittany since the Early Middle Ages. During the period of ...
, it was ''Dyfneint'' and this is the form which survives today in the name of the county of Devon (Modern cy, Dyfnaint, kw, Dewnans, br, Devnent).
There is evidence, based on an entry in the ''Ravenna Cosmography
The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' ( la, Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a list of place-names covering the world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. Tex ...
'', that there may have been a sub-tribe in the western part of the territory known as the Cornovii from whose name the first element of the present-day name of Cornwall is probably derived.
Following a period of emigration from south-western Britain to north-western Gaul (Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica ( Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Co ...
) in the 5th and 6th centuries, a sister kingdom ( Domnonée in modern French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
), was established on the north-facing Atlantic coast of the continent in the region that was to become known as Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...
. Historian Barbara Yorke has speculated that the Dumnonii may have seen the end of the Roman empire as an opportunity to establish control in new areas.
Extent
Before the arrival of the Romans, the Dumnonii seem to have inhabited the south-west peninsula of Britain as far east as the River Parrett
The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to i ...
in Somerset and the River Axe in Dorset, judging by the coin distributions of the Dobunni and Durotriges
The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon east of the River Axe and the discovery of an Iron Age hoard in 2009 at Shalf ...
. In the Roman period there was a provincial boundary between the area governed from Exeter and those governed from Dorchester and Ilchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish, situated on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the England, English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman Britain, Roman town, and ...
. Julius Caesar's ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico
''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it ...
'', Book III notes the close trading and military relationship between the continental Veneti of Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica ( Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Co ...
and the south-western insular British.
In the post Roman period the kingdom of Dumnonia covered Cornwall, Devon and parts of west Somerset. It had close cultural and religious links with Brittany, Wales and Ireland.[
]
Culture and industries
The cultural connections of the pre-Roman Dumnonii, as expressed in their ceramics, are thought to have been with the peninsula of Armorica across the Channel, and with Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and Ireland, rather than with the south-east of Britain. The people of Dumnonia would have spoken a Brythonic dialect, the ancestor of modern Cornish and Breton. Irish immigrants, the Déisi, are evidenced by the inscribed stones they have left behind—sometimes written in Ogham
Ogham (Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish langua ...
, sometimes in Latin, sometimes in both, confirmed and supplemented by place-name studies.
Apart from fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...
and agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...
, the main economic resource of the Dumnonii was tin mining, the tin having been exported since ancient times from the port of '' Ictis''[ ( St Michael's Mount or ]Mount Batten
Mount Batten is a 24-metre (80-ft) tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre (2000-ft) peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England, named after Sir William Batten (c.1600-1667), MP and Surveyor of the Navy; it was previously known as How Stert.
A ...
). Tin working continued throughout Roman occupation and appears to have reached a peak during the 3rd century CE.[A history of Cornish mining](_blank)
Trevithick Society
The Trevithick Society is a registered charity named for Richard Trevithick, a Cornish engineer who contributed to the use of high pressure steam engines for transportation and mining applications.
History
In 1935 the Cornish Engines Preservat ...
. The area maintained trade links with Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...
and the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...
after the Roman withdrawal, and it is likely that tin played an important part in this trade.[ Post-Roman imported pottery has been excavated from many sites across the region. An apparent surge in late-5th-century Mediterranean imports is thought to be related to the trade in metals from Cornwall and Wales to the ]Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
.
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
seems to have survived in Dumnonia after the Roman departure from Britain, with a number of late Roman Christian cemeteries extending into the post-Roman period. In the 5th and 6th centuries the area was allegedly evangelised by the children of Brychan
Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales.
Life
According to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and ...
and saints from Ireland, like Saint Piran; and Wales, like Saint Petroc or Saint Keyne
Keyne (; also referred to as Keane, KayaneJ. Meyrick ''A Pilgrim's Guide to the Holy Wells of Cornwall'', pp. 68–69 Keyna, Cenau, Cenedion, CeinwenRay Spencer ''A Guide to the Saints of Wales and the Westcountry'', pp. 51–52David Hugh Farme ...
. There were important monasteries at Bodmin
Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
and Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonb ...
; and also Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...
where 5th-century burials discovered near the cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
probably represent the cemetery of the foundation attended by Saint Boniface
Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations o ...
(although whether this was Saxon or Brythonic is somewhat controversial). Sporadically, Cornish bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
s are named in various records until they submitted to the See of Canterbury in the mid-9th century. Parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
organisation was a later development of fully Normanised times.
Settlements
Around 55 CE, the Romans established a legionary fortress at '' Isca Dumnoniorum'', modern Exeter, but west of Exeter the area remained largely un-Romanised. Most of Dumnonia is notable for its lack of a villa system, though there were substantial numbers south of Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
and around Ilchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish, situated on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the England, English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman Britain, Roman town, and ...
, and for its many settlements that have survived from the Romano-British period. As in other Brythonic areas, Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Rom ...
s, such as Hembury and Cadbury Castle, were refortified in post-Roman times for the use of chieftains or kings, and other high-status settlements such as Tintagel seem to have been reconstructed during the period. Local archaeology has revealed that the isolated enclosed farmsteads known locally as ''rounds'' seem to have survived the Roman departure from Britain; but they were subsequently replaced, in the 6th and 7th centuries, by unenclosed farms taking the Brythonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name o ...
ic ''tre(f)-''.
Exeter, called ''Caer Uisc'' in Brythonic, was later the site of an important Saxon minster, but was still partially inhabited by Dumnonian Britons until the 10th century when Æthelstan
Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was List of monarchs of Wessex, King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and List of English monarchs, King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. ...
expelled them. By the mid-9th century, the royal seat may have been relocated further west, during the West Saxon advance, to ''Lis-Cerruyt'' (modern Liskeard). Cornish earls in the 10th century were said to have moved to Lostwithiel after Liskeard was seized. It has been suggested that the rulers of Dumnonia were itinerant, stopping at various royal residences, such as Tintagel and Cadbury Castle, at different times of the year, and possibly simultaneously holding lands in Brittany across the Channel. There is textual and archaeological evidence that districts such as Trigg were used as marshalling points for "war hosts" from across the region.
History and rulers
Although subjugated by about 78 CE, the local population could have retained strong local control, and Dumnonia may have been self-governed under Roman rule.[ ]Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
stated that the ruler of Dumnonia, perhaps about the period 290 – 305, was Caradocus. If not an entirely legendary figure, Caradocus would not have been a king in the true sense but may have held a powerful office within the Roman administration.
The post-Roman history of Dumnonia comes from a variety of sources and is considered exceedingly difficult to interpret given that historical fact, legend and confused pseudo-history are compounded by a variety of sources in Middle Welsh
Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen ...
and Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
. The main sources available for discussion of this period include Gildas's '' De Excidio Britanniae'' and Nennius
Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the '' Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considere ...
's ''Historia Brittonum
''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia B ...
'', the ''Annales Cambriae
The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later e ...
'', ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...
'', William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a ...
's '' Gesta Regum Anglorum'' and ''De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae'', along with texts from the '' Black Book of Carmarthen'' and the ''Red Book of Hergest
The ''Red Book of Hergest'' ( cy, Llyfr Coch Hergest, Oxford, Jesus College, MS 111) is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preserv ...
'', and Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom ...
's ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict be ...
'' as well as "The Descent of the Men of the North" ('' Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd'', in Peniarth MS 45 and elsewhere) and the '' Book of Baglan''.
Conflict with the Saxons
In 577 Ceawlin of Wessex
Ceawlin (also spelled Ceaulin and Caelin, died ''ca.'' 593) was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' represents as the leader of the first gr ...
's victory at the Battle of Deorham caused the Britons of Dumnonia to be cut off by land from their Welsh allies, but since sea travel was not difficult this may not have been a severe loss. Clemen is thought to have been king when the Britons fought the Battle of Beandun in 614. This is most likely to have been at Bindon near Axmouth in Devon. Bampton, Oxfordshire has also been proposed as the site, but the claim lacks evidence.
According to the '' Flores Historiarum'', attributed incorrectly to Matthew of Westminster, the Britons were still in possession of Exeter in 632, when it was bravely defended against Penda
Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theo ...
of Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era= Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ...
until relieved by Cadwallon, who engaged and, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, defeated the Mercians with "great slaughter to their troops". However, since the late 19th century this siege has not been considered a historical fact.
Around 652 Cenwalh of Wessex made a breakthrough against the Dumnonian defensive lines at the battle of Bradford-upon-Avon. The West Saxon victory at the Battle of ''Peonnum'' (possibly modern Penselwood in east Somerset), around 658, resulted in the Saxons capturing "as far as the Parrett" and the eastern part of Dumnonia being permanently annexed by Wessex.
The entry for 661 in Æthelweard's translation of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' into Latin, known as the ''Chronicon Æthelweardi'', describes Cenwalh of Wessex fighting a battle at ''Posentesburh''. Though it appears from the context that this is a battle against Wulfhere of Mercia (which he may have lost), if ''Posentesburh'' is identified with Posbury, near Crediton, Devon, then some conflict with the Britons can be postulated. In Willibald
Willibald (; c. 700 – c.787) was an 8th-century bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria.
Information about his life is largely drawn from the Hodoeporicon (itinerary) of Willibald, a text written in the 8th century by Huneberc, an Anglo-Saxon nun ...
's ''Life of Saint Boniface
Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations o ...
'' the head of ''Examchester'' monastery, which can be identified with Exeter, Devon, has a Germanic name (Wulfhard) during the time Boniface studied there. Boniface self-identifies as Anglo-Saxon by birth (using ''Anglorum'' in his letter to the English people) and therefore Exeter may have been under West Saxon control at this time, that is, the late 7th century. At this time Dumnonia was sufficiently part of the known world for Aldhelm
Aldhelm ( ang, Ealdhelm, la, Aldhelmus Malmesberiensis) (c. 63925 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the ...
, later bishop of Sherborne, to address a letter around 705, to its king Geraint
Geraint () is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton h ...
regarding the date of Easter. In 682 Wessex forces "advanced as far as the sea", but it is unclear where this was. In 705 a bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
was set up in Sherborne for the Saxon area west of Selwood.
In 710 Geraint was defeated in battle by King Ine
Ine, also rendered Ini or Ina, ( la, Inus; c. AD 670 – after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor ...
of Wessex, but in 722 the ''Annales Cambriae'' claim a victory by the British in Cornwall at ''Hehil''. By about 755, the territory of the "''Defnas''" was coming under significant pressure from the Saxon army. The campaigns of Egbert of Wessex
Ecgberht (770/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlema ...
in Devon between 813 and 822 probably signalled the conquest of insular Dumnonia leaving a rump state
A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state, left with a reduced territory in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, or a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last cas ...
in what is today called Cornwall, known at the time as ''Cerniu'', ''Cernyw'', or ''Kernow'', and to the Anglo-Saxons as Cornwall or "''West Wales''".
In 825 a battle was fought between the "''Welsh''", presumably those of Dumnonia, and the Anglo-Saxons. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' states: "We fought the ''Wealas'' (Cornish) and the ''Defnas'' (Devonians) at ''Gafulforda''" (perhaps Galford in west Devon). However, there is no mention of who won or who lost. A further rebellion in 838, when the "''West Welsh''" were supported by Danish forces, was crushed by Egbert at the battle of Hingston Down
The Battle of Hingston Down took place in 838, probably at Hingston Down in Cornwall between a combined force of Cornish and Vikings on the one side, and West Saxons led by Ecgberht, King of Wessex on the other. The result was a West Sax ...
.
The Cornish bishop of Bodmin
The Bishop of Cornwall was the bishop of a diocese which existed between about 930 and 1050. Nothing is known about bishops in the post-Roman British Kingdom of Cornwall, but by the mid-ninth century Wessex was gaining control over the area, and ...
acknowledged the authority of Canterbury in 870 and the last-known Cornish king, Donyarth, died in 875. By the 880s Wessex had gained control of at least part of Cornwall, where Alfred the Great had estates. In about 936, according to William of Malmesbury writing around 1120, Athelstan evicted the Britons from Exeter and the rest of Devon, and set the east bank of the River Tamar
The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities.
T ...
as Cornwall's border.
Although the chronology of Wessex expansion into all of Dumnonia is unclear, Devon had long been absorbed into England by the reign of Edward the Confessor. The early-12th-century '' Gesta Herewardi'' gives the King of Cornwall just before the Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...
as a man named Alef.
Dumnonian continuity in Cornwall and Brittany
Two waves of migrations took place to Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica ( Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Co ...
(Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...
) from Dumnonia. Some histories propose the theory that this may have resulted in rulers who exercised kingship in both Brittany and Dumnonia, explaining those occurrences of the same names of rulers in both territories. There are also numerous correspondences of Insular Celtic
Insular Celtic languages are the group of Celtic languages of Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Brittany, ...
saints, and place names and a close linguistic relationship between Cornish (''Kernowek'') and Breton (''Brezhoneg''). However, the Breton regions of ''Kernev''/ Cornouaille (Cornwall) and Domnonée (Devon) have well-established histories including entirely separate rulers from Dumnonia in Britain (see Duchy of Brittany
The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean t ...
).
While Cornwall retained its language and culture, Devon's had significantly diminished by the arrival of the Saxon invaders in the 7th century, almost entirely due to the large-scale migration of Britons from greater Dumnonia to Armorica at the end of the Roman occupation. J.B. Gover wrote in 1931 thatby the middle of the seventh century Devon was a sparsely settled Celtic kingdom due to large-scale emigration to Armorica a century and more earlier, and that once the resistance of its kings had been broken down no considerable native population remained to complicate the life of the new settlers.[The Place-Names of Devon: J.E.B. Gover, A. Mawer & F.M. Stenton pub. 1931 Cambridge University Press]
The relationship between the new Saxon overlords and the remaining indigenous Britons appears to have been peaceable and many Celtic place-names survive in the county, although not to the extent of that of the neighbouring sub-tribe, the Cornovii, who became modern-day Cornwall.
The pre-medieval region of Cornouaille (Breton: ''Kernev'') in the Brittany region of the Armorican peninsula is assumed to owe its name to descendants originating in insular Cornwall. The territories of the ancient Cornouaille region coincide mostly with the southern part of the French '' departement'' of the Finistère
Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090. , and some of its territorial lands are included in the ''departements'' of Côtes d'Armor and Morbihan
Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coast ...
. At least part of the original territory associated with the pre-medieval Breton kingdom of '' Domnonea'', coincides with the modern French department of Côtes-d'Armor.
There is debate about the location of Arthur's supposed great victory at the Battle of Mount Badon, where the Britons
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs m ...
fought off Anglo-Saxons. Most historians believe this battle, if it was historical, was fought outside the territory, at Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
, for instance. Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed that Arthur's final Battle of Camlann was fought in Cornwall: tradition points to Slaughterbridge, near Camelford, which itself has been claimed, without foundation, to be the location of Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
.
See also
* List of legendary rulers of Cornwall, for the pseudo-historic kings and dukes of Cornwall mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth
*History of Devon
Devon is a county in south west England, bordering Cornwall to the west with Dorset and Somerset to the east. There is evidence of occupation in the county from Stone Age times onward. Its recorded history starts in the Roman period when it ...
* History of Cornwall
* History of Brittany
Footnotes
References
Sources
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{{Authority control
States and territories established in the 4th century
States and territories disestablished in the 8th century
Former countries in the British Isles
History of Cornwall
History of Devon
History of Somerset
South West England
Sub-Roman Britain
West Country
Barbarian kingdoms