The making of Cornwall & Brittany

The Roman legions left Britain.

Anglo-Saxon mercenaries began to take territory from the Britons.

Lots of luxury Mediterranean goods, such as wine and oil, were imported at Tintagel. The historian Gildas mentioned King Constantine of Dumnonia. Dumnonia was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Britain, with its centre in Cornwall and wealth based on the tin trade.

Britons living in Dumnonia were emigrating (moving) to Armorica. Armorica’s name was changed to Brittany, meaning ‘land of the Britons’ because so many people settled there.

Luxury imports into Tintagel stopped arriving and the power of Dumnonian kings declined. Over the next 200 years, Britons living in the southwest began to be described as 'Cornish'.

Battle of Deorham (near Bristol). Victory for the Anglo-Saxons separated the Britons of the southwest from the Britons of Wales.

The Cornish King Geraint was at war with Anglo-Saxon King Ine of Wessex. Both were claiming rule over Devon.

A Cornish army defeated the Anglo-Saxons. The precise location of the battle is not certain but it took place ‘amongst the Cornish’.

Danish Vikings joined forces with the Cornish against the Anglo-Saxons.

Battle of Gafulford (possibly Galford in west Devon). The Anglo-Saxon King Egbert defeated a Cornish army.

Battle of Hingston Down (possibly near Callington). A combined army of Cornish and Danish Viking forces was defeated by the Anglo-Saxon King Egbert.

Around this time, the Cornish King Doniert was drowned. His memorial stone can be found near St Cleer on Bodmin Moor.

The English King Athelstan fixed the east bank of the River Tamar as the boundary between the Cornish and the English. This remains Cornwall’s boundary today.

The Norman Conquest of Britain. The Norman army included men from Brittany (Bretons), some speaking the Breton language, which was very similar to Cornish. Some land in Cornwall was granted to Bretons.