| Dumnonia | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Capital | Isca Dumnoniorum(Exeter) (beforec. 400) Tintagel |
| Location | Devon andCornwall, and parts ofSomerset andDorset |
| Rulers | Kings of Dumnonia |
Dumnonia is theLatinised name for aBrythonic kingdom that existed inSub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-daySouth West England. It was centred in the area of modernDevon, but also included modernCornwall and part ofSomerset,[1] with its eastern boundary changing over time as the gradual westward expansion of the neighbouringAnglo-Saxon kingdom ofWessex encroached on its territory. The spellingDamnonia is sometimes encountered, but that spelling is also used for the land of theDamnonii, later part of theKingdom of Strathclyde, in present-day southernScotland.[2]The formDomnonia also occurs. The name of the kingdom shares a linguistic relationship with theBreton region ofDomnonée (Breton:Domnonea).
Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History ofCornwall |
  |
Rulers (or titles) |
Modern governance |
Local history |
 Cornwall portal |
The kingdom is named after theDumnonii, aBritishCeltic tribe living in the south-west at the time of theRoman invasion ofBritain, according toPtolemy'sGeography. Variants of the nameDumnonia includeDomnonia andDamnonia, the latter being used byGildas in the 6th century as apun on "damnation" to deprecate the area's contemporary rulerConstantine.[3] The name etymologically originates fromProto-Celtic*dubno- '(adjective) deep; (noun) world'. Groups with similar names existed in Scotland (Damnonii) and Ireland (Fir Domnann).[3] Later, the area became known to the English of neighbouringWessex as the kingdom ofWest Wales, and its inhabitants were also known to them asDefnas (i.e. men of Dumnonia). InWelsh, and similarly in theSouthwestern Brythonic languages, it wasDyfneint and this is the form which survives today in the name of the county of Devon (ModernWelsh:Dyfnaint,Cornish:Dewnans,Breton:Devnent).
There is evidence, based on an entry in theRavenna Cosmography, that there may have been a sub-tribe in the western part of the territory known as theCornovii from whose name the first element of the present-dayname of Cornwall is probably derived.[4]
Following a period of emigration from south-western Britain to north-western Gaul (Armorica) in the 5th and 6th centuries, a sister kingdom (Domnonée in modernFrench), was established on the north-facing Atlantic coast of the continent in the region that was to become known asBrittany. HistorianBarbara Yorke has speculated that the Dumnonii may have seen the end of the Roman empire as an opportunity to establish control in new areas.[5]Before the arrival of the Romans, the Dumnonii seem to have inhabited the south-west peninsula of Britain as far east as theRiver Parrett in Somerset and theRiver Axe in Dorset, judging by the coin distributions of theDobunni andDurotriges.[6] In the Roman period there was a provincial boundary between the area governed from Exeter and those governed fromDorchester andIlchester.[fact or opinion?]Julius Caesar'sCommentarii de Bello Gallico, Book III notes the close trading and military relationship between the continentalVeneti ofArmorica 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.[7]
The cultural connections of the pre-Roman Dumnonii, as expressed in their ceramics, are thought to have been with the peninsula of Armorica across theChannel, and withWales and Ireland, rather than with the south-east of Britain.[8][9] The people of Dumnonia would have spoken aBrythonic dialect, the ancestor of modernCornish andBreton.[10] Irish immigrants, theDéisi, are evidenced by the inscribed stones they have left behind—sometimes written inOgham, sometimes in Latin, sometimes in both,[11] confirmed and supplemented byplace-name studies.
Apart fromfishing andagriculture, the main economic resource of the Dumnonii wastin mining, the tin having been exported since ancient times from the port ofIctis[12] (St Michael's Mount orMount Batten). Tin working continued throughout Roman occupation and appears to have reached a peak during the 3rd century CE.[13] The area maintained trade links withGaul and theMediterranean after the Roman withdrawal, and it is likely that tin played an important part in this trade.[3] 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 theByzantine Empire.[14][15][16]
Christianity seems to have survived in Dumnonia after theRoman departure from Britain, with a number of late Roman Christian cemeteries extending into the post-Roman period.[17] In the 5th and 6th centuries the area was allegedly evangelised by the children ofBrychan andsaints from Ireland, likeSaint Piran; and Wales, likeSaint Petroc orSaint Keyne. There were important monasteries atBodmin andGlastonbury; and alsoExeter where 5th-century burials discovered near thecathedral probably represent the cemetery of the foundation attended bySaint Boniface (although whether this was Saxon or Brythonic is somewhat controversial). Sporadically, Cornishbishops are named in various records until they submitted to theSee of Canterbury in the mid-9th century.Parish organisation was a later development offully Normanised times.[18]
Around 55 CE, the Romans established a legionary fortress atIsca Dumnoniorum, modern Exeter, but west of Exeter the area remained largely un-Romanised.[12] Most of Dumnonia is notable for its lack of avilla system[a] – though there were substantial numbers south ofBath and aroundIlchester –, and for its many settlements that have survived from theRomano-British period. As in other Brythonic areas,Iron Agehillforts, such asHembury andCadbury Castle, were refortified in post-Roman times for the use of chieftains or kings, and other high-status settlements such asTintagel seem to have been reconstructed during the period. Local archaeology has revealed that the isolated enclosed farmsteads known locally asrounds seem to have survived the Roman departure from Britain; but they were subsequently replaced, in the 6th and 7th centuries, by unenclosed farms taking theBrythonictoponymictre(f)-.[20][21]
Exeter, calledCaer Uisc in Brythonic, was later the site of an important Saxonminster, but was still partially inhabited by Dumnonian Britons until the 10th century whenÆthelstan expelled them.[22] By the mid-9th century, the royal seat may have been relocated further west, during theWest Saxon advance, toLis-Cerruyt (modernLiskeard). Cornish earls in the 10th century were said to have moved toLostwithiel after Liskeard was seized.[23] 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 theChannel. There is textual and archaeological evidence that districts such asTrigg were used as marshalling points for "war hosts" from across the region.[24]
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.[22]Geoffrey of Monmouth stated that the ruler of Dumnonia, perhaps about the periodc. 290 –c. 305, wasCaradocus. 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.[25]
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 inMiddle Welsh andLatin. The main sources available for discussion of this period includeGildas'sDe Excidio Britanniae andNennius'sHistoria Brittonum, theAnnales Cambriae,Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,William of Malmesbury'sGesta Regum Anglorum andDe AntiquitateGlastoniensis Ecclesiae, along with texts from theBlack Book of Carmarthen and theRed Book of Hergest, andBede'sHistoria ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum as well as "The Descent of the Men of the North" (Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd, in Peniarth MS 45 and elsewhere) and theBook of Baglan.
In 577Ceawlin of Wessex's victory at theBattle 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.[7]Clemen is thought to have been king when the Britons fought theBattle of Beandun in 614. This is most likely to have been atBindon nearAxmouth in Devon.[26]Bampton, Oxfordshire has also been proposed as the site, but the claim lacks evidence.[27]
According to theFlores Historiarum, attributed incorrectly toMatthew of Westminster, the Britons were still in possession of Exeter in 632, when it was bravely defended againstPenda ofMercia until relieved byCadwallon, who engaged and, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, defeated the Mercians with "great slaughter to their troops".[28][29] However, since the late 19th centurythis siege has not been considered a historical fact.[30]
Around 652Cenwalh of Wessex made a breakthrough against the Dumnonian defensive lines at the battle ofBradford-upon-Avon. TheWest Saxon victory at theBattle ofPeonnum (possibly modernPenselwood 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 inÆthelweard's translation of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle into Latin, known as theChronicon Æthelweardi, describesCenwalh of Wessex fighting a battle atPosentesburh. Though it appears from the context that this is a battle againstWulfhere of Mercia (which he may have lost), ifPosentesburh is identified withPosbury, nearCrediton, Devon, then some conflict with the Britons can be postulated.[31] InWillibald'sLife ofSaint Boniface the head ofExamchester 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 (usingAnglorum in his letter to the English people)[32] 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 forAldhelm, later bishop ofSherborne, to address a letter around 705, to its kingGeraint regarding the date of Easter.[33] In 682 Wessex forces "advanced as far as the sea", but it is unclear where this was. In 705 abishopric was set up in Sherborne for the Saxon area west ofSelwood.
In 710 Geraint was defeated in battle byKing Ine of Wessex, but in 722 theAnnales Cambriae claim a victory by the British in Cornwall atHehil. By about 755, the territory of the "Defnas" was coming under significant pressure from the Saxon army. The campaigns ofEgbert of Wessex in Devon between 813 and 822 probably signalled the conquest of insular Dumnonia leaving arump state in what is today called Cornwall,[34] known at the time asCerniu,Cernyw, orKernow, 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. TheAnglo-Saxon Chronicle states: "We fought theWealas (Cornish) and theDefnas (Devonians) atGafulforda" (perhapsGalford 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 byDanish forces, was crushed by Egbert at thebattle of Hingston Down.[36]
The Cornishbishop of Bodmin 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, whereAlfred the Great had estates.[37] 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 theRiver Tamar as Cornwall's border.[38]
Although the chronology of Wessex expansion into all of Dumnonia is unclear, Devon had long been absorbed into England by the reign ofEdward the Confessor.[39][40] The early-12th-centuryGesta Herewardi gives the King of Cornwall just before theNorman Conquest as a man named Alef.[41]
Two waves of migrations took place toArmorica (Brittany) from Dumnonia. Some histories[which?] propose the theory that this may have resulted in rulers who exercised kingship in both Brittany and Dumnonia,[42] explaining those occurrences of the same names of rulers in both territories.[43] There are also numerous correspondences ofInsular Celtic saints, and place names and a close linguistic relationship betweenCornish (Kernowek) andBreton (Brezhoneg). However, the Breton regions ofKernev/Cornouaille (Cornwall) andDomnonée (Devon) have well-established histories including entirely separate rulers from Dumnonia in Britain (seeDuchy of Brittany).
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[b] wrote in 1931 that
by 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.[44]
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, theCornovii, who became modern-day Cornwall.
The pre-medieval region ofCornouaille (Breton:Kernev) in the Brittany region of the Armorican peninsula is assumed to owe its name to descendants originating in insular Cornwall.[c] The territories of the ancient Cornouaille region coincide mostly with the southern part of the Frenchdepartement of theFinistère,[d] and some of its territorial lands are included in thedepartements ofCôtes d'Armor andMorbihan. At least part of the original territory associated with the pre-medieval Breton kingdom ofDomnonea, coincides with the modern French department of Côtes-d'Armor.[e]
There is debate about the location of Arthur's supposed great victory at theBattle of Mount Badon, where theBritons fought off Anglo-Saxons. Most historians believe this battle, if it was historical, was fought outside the territory, atBath, for instance. Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed that Arthur's finalBattle of Camlann was fought in Cornwall: tradition points toSlaughterbridge, nearCamelford, which itself has been claimed, without foundation, to be the location ofCamelot.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
|  | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
