Jump to content

Dumnonia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the kingdom in south-western Britain. For the Brythonic colony of the same name in Brittany, seeDomnonée.For the kingdom in northern Britain, seeDamnonii.

Dumnonia
Geography
CapitalIsca Dumnoniorum(Exeter) (beforec.400)
Tintagel
LocationDevonandCornwall,and parts ofSomersetandDorset
RulersKings of Dumnonia

Dumnoniais theLatinisedname for aBrythonickingdom that existed inSub-Roman Britainbetween 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 modernCornwalland part ofSomerset,[1]with its eastern boundary changing over time as the gradual westward expansion of the neighbouringAnglo-Saxonkingdom ofWessexencroached on its territory. The spellingDamnoniais 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 formDomnoniaalso occurs. The name of the kingdom shares a linguistic relationship with theBretonregion ofDomnonée(Breton:Domnonea).

Name[edit]

Part ofa serieson the
History ofCornwall

History
Medieval kingdom
Rulers (or titles)
Law
Modern governance
Local history
Topics
flagCornwall portal

The kingdom is named after theDumnonii,aBritishCeltictribe living in the south-west at the time of theRomaninvasion ofBritain,according toPtolemy'sGeography.Variants of the nameDumnoniaincludeDomnoniaandDamnonia,the latter being used byGildasin the 6th century as apunon "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 neighbouringWessexas 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 wasDyfneintand 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 theCornoviifrom whose name the first element of the present-dayname of Cornwallis 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 (Domnonéein modernFrench), was established on the north-facing Atlantic coast of the continent in the region that was to become known asBrittany.HistorianBarbara Yorkehas 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 Parrettin Somerset and theRiver Axein Dorset, judging by the coin distributions of theDobunniandDurotriges.[6]In the Roman period there was a provincial boundary between the area governed from Exeter and those governed fromDorchesterandIlchester.[fact or opinion?]Julius Caesar'sCommentarii de Bello Gallico,Book III notes the close trading and military relationship between the continentalVenetiofArmoricaand 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]

Culture and industries[edit]

Map of inscription stones in Devon and Cornwall

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 withWalesand Ireland, rather than with the south-east of Britain.[8][9]The people of Dumnonia would have spoken aBrythonic dialect,the ancestor of modernCornishandBreton.[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 fromfishingandagriculture,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 MountorMount 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 withGauland theMediterraneanafter 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]

Christianityseems 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 ofBrychanandsaintsfrom Ireland, likeSaint Piran;and Wales, likeSaint PetrocorSaint Keyne.There were important monasteries atBodminandGlastonbury;and alsoExeterwhere 5th-century burials discovered near thecathedralprobably represent the cemetery of the foundation attended bySaint Boniface(although whether this was Saxon or Brythonic is somewhat controversial). Sporadically, Cornishbishopsare named in various records until they submitted to theSee of Canterburyin the mid-9th century.Parishorganisation was a later development offully Normanised times.[18]

Settlements[edit]

Cadbury Castle, Somerset,a possible early Dumnonian defensive site

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 ofBathand aroundIlchester–, and for its many settlements that have survived from theRomano-Britishperiod. As in other Brythonic areas,Iron Agehillforts,such asHemburyandCadbury Castle,were refortified in post-Roman times for the use of chieftains or kings, and other high-status settlements such asTintagelseem to have been reconstructed during the period. Local archaeology has revealed that the isolated enclosed farmsteads known locally asroundsseem 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 Uiscin Brythonic, was later the site of an important Saxonminster,but was still partially inhabited by Dumnonian Britons until the 10th century whenÆthelstanexpelled them.[22]By the mid-9th century, the royal seat may have been relocated further west, during theWest Saxonadvance, toLis-Cerruyt(modernLiskeard). Cornish earls in the 10th century were said to have moved toLostwithielafter 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 asTriggwere used as marshalling points for "war hosts" from across the region.[24]

History and rulers[edit]

See also:List of kings of Dumnonia

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 Monmouthstated 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 WelshandLatin.The main sources available for discussion of this period includeGildas'sDe Excidio BritanniaeandNennius'sHistoria Brittonum,theAnnales Cambriae,Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,William of Malmesbury'sGesta Regum AnglorumandDe AntiquitateGlastoniensisEcclesiae,along with texts from theBlack Book of Carmarthenand theRed Book of Hergest,andBede'sHistoria ecclesiastica gentis Anglorumas well as "The Descent of the Men of the North" (Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd,in Peniarth MS 45 and elsewhere) and theBook of Baglan.

Conflict with the Saxons[edit]

In 577Ceawlin of Wessex's victory at theBattle of Deorhamcaused 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]Clemenis thought to have been king when the Britons fought the Battle of Beandun in 614. This is most likely to have been atBindonnearAxmouthin Devon.[26]Bampton, Oxfordshirehas 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 againstPendaofMerciauntil 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 siegehas not been considered a historical fact.[30]

Around 652Cenwalh of Wessexmade a breakthrough against the Dumnonian defensive lines at the battle ofBradford-upon-Avon.TheWest Saxonvictory at theBattle ofPeonnum(possibly modernPenselwoodin 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 Chronicleinto Latin, known as theChronicon Æthelweardi,describesCenwalh of Wessexfighting a battle atPosentesburh.Though it appears from the context that this is a battle againstWulfhere of Mercia(which he may have lost), ifPosentesburhis identified withPosbury,nearCrediton,Devon, then some conflict with the Britons can be postulated.[31]InWillibald'sLife ofSaint Bonifacethe head ofExamchestermonastery, 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 (usingAnglorumin 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 kingGeraintregarding the date of Easter.[33]In 682 Wessex forces "advanced as far as the sea", but it is unclear where this was. In 705 abishopricwas set up in Sherborne for the Saxon area west ofSelwood.

In 710 Geraint was defeated in battle byKing Ineof Wessex, but in 722 theAnnales Cambriaeclaim 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 Wessexin Devon between 813 and 822 probably signalled the conquest of insular Dumnonia leaving arump statein what is today called Cornwall,[34]known at the time asCerniu,Cernyw,orKernow,and to the Anglo-Saxons as Cornwall or "West Wales".

King Doniert's Stonein Cornwall, believed to commemorate Donyarth, the last recorded king of the rump state of Dumnonia[35]

In 825 a battle was fought between the "Welsh",presumably those of Dumnonia, and the Anglo-Saxons. TheAnglo-Saxon Chroniclestates: "We fought theWealas(Cornish) and theDefnas(Devonians) atGafulforda"(perhapsGalfordin west Devon). However, there is no mention of who won or who lost. A further rebellion in 838, when the "West Welsh"were supported byDanishforces, was crushed by Egbert at thebattle of Hingston Down.[36]

The Cornishbishop of Bodminacknowledged 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 Greathad estates.[37]In about 936, according to William of Malmesbury writing around 1120,Athelstanevicted the Britons from Exeter and the rest of Devon, and set the east bank of theRiver Tamaras 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 Herewardigives the King of Cornwall just before theNorman Conquestas a man named Alef.[41]

Dumnonian continuity in Cornwall and Brittany[edit]

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 Celticsaints, 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 Frenchdepartementof theFinistère,[d]and some of its territorial lands are included in thedepartementsofCôtes d'ArmorandMorbihan.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 theBritonsfought 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 Camlannwas fought in Cornwall: tradition points toSlaughterbridge,nearCamelford,which itself has been claimed, without foundation, to be the location ofCamelot.

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^There are just four known villas west of the Parrett–Axe boundary, three in East Devon and an isolated and atypical one atMagorin the far west of Cornwall.[19]
  2. ^John Eric Bruce Gover (1894–1984), English scholar.
  3. ^The folklore of the association between the regions, kingdoms, and duchies of Cornwall and Brittany includes the figure Mark of Cornwall, whose territory included lands in both this region of the British Isles and Brittany on the continent, as portrayed in the 12th-century romanceTristan and Iseult.
  4. ^Finisterreis French for "Land's End."
  5. ^It is unlikely that the British realms of Cornwall and the continental realms in the Brittany region were continuous in government. In the post-Roman period, tribes from Britain migrated to Brittany and mixed with tribes already in the Armorican peninsula. As a result of these migrations, the Brittany region contained two separate geographic areas known as Dumnonée and Cornouaille. By the early 10th century these Breton regions were consolidated into theDuchy of Brittanyand the continuity with Dumnonia at the governmental level ended, while the historical and cultural continuity remains through modern times.

References[edit]

  1. ^Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006).Encyclopedia of European Peoples.Infobase Publishing.ISBN9781438129181.
  2. ^ Mackay, Ian (1999–2017)."Geraint, Son of Erbin".History of Drumchapel.
  3. ^abcKoch, John T, ed. (2006).Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopaedia.Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA:ABC-CLIO.pp. 619–621.ISBN9781851094400.
  4. ^Payton (2004), pp. 50–51
  5. ^Yorke (1995), pp. 18–19
  6. ^Jones, Barri;Mattingly, David(2007) [1990]. "Britain Before the Conquest: Urbanization".An Atlas of Roman Britain.Cambridge:Blackwell Publishers.pp. 47–55.ISBN978-1-84217-067-0.
  7. ^abCannon, J. A. (2015). "Kingdom of Dumnonia".The Oxford Companion to British History(2nd ed.). p. 301.ISBN978-0-19-967783-2.
  8. ^Yorke (1995), p. 18
  9. ^Cunliffe, Barry(2005).Iron Age Communities in Britain: an Account of England, Scotland and Wales from the Seventh Century BC Until the Roman Conquest(4th ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 201–206.ISBN0-415-34779-3.
  10. ^Koch, John T. (2006).Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. Vol. 1-.ABC-CLIO.ISBN9781851094400.
  11. ^Thomas (1994), p. 6.
  12. ^ab"The Dumnonii".British Tribes.Roman-Britain.org. 2011.Retrieved25 November2007.
  13. ^A history of Cornish miningArchived12 August 2009 at theWayback MachineTrevithick Society.
  14. ^Thomas, Charles(1981). "Review of Pearce," The Kingdom of Dumnonia ", 1978".Britannia.12:417.doi:10.2307/526281.JSTOR526281.S2CID163860852.– viaJSTOR(subscription required)
  15. ^Bonifay, Michel."Review Article Post-Roman imports in the British Isles: material and place".Antiquity.Retrieved3 December2015.
  16. ^Fulford, Michael."Byzantium and Britain: a Mediterranean perspective on Post-Roman Mediterranean Imports in Western Britain and Ireland"(PDF).Archaeology Service.Retrieved3 December2015.
  17. ^Yorke (1995), p. 17
  18. ^Pearce (1978), chapter 3 "The Establishment of the Church".
  19. ^Pearce (1978), p. 51.
  20. ^Pearce (1978), pp. 49–50.
  21. ^Padel, O. J.(1999). Kain, Roger; Ravenhill, William (eds.).Historical Atlas of South-West England.University of Exeter Press. pp. 88–90.ISBN0-85989-434-7.
  22. ^abSnyder, Christopher A.(2003).The Britons.Blackwell.ISBN0-631-22260-X.
  23. ^Whitaker, John(1804).The Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall, Historically Surveyed.London. p. 48.
  24. ^Thomas (1994), p. 216.
  25. ^"Caradoc, 'King' of Dumnonia".Britannia. 2005. Archived fromthe originalon 31 January 2010.
  26. ^Pearce (1978), p. 57
  27. ^Crossley, Alan; Currie, C. R. J. (eds.); Baggs, A. P.; Chance, Eleanor; Colvin, Christina; Day, C. J.; Selwyn, Nesta; Townley, Simon C. (1996). "Bampton and Weald".A History of the County of Oxford, Volume 13: Bampton Hundred (Part One).Victoria County History.pp. 8–17.ISBN978-0-19722-790-9.{{cite book}}:|first2=has generic name (help)
  28. ^Jenkins, Alexander (1806).The History and Description of the City of Exeter.Exeter: P. Hedgeland. p. 11.
  29. ^Giles, J.A.(1848).Six Old English Chronicles.London:Henry G. Bohn.p. 284.
  30. ^See, for example:Freeman, Edward. A.(1887).Historic Towns: Exeter.London: Longmans, Green, and Co. p. 15.
  31. ^The PASE index:Chronicle textArchived4 May 2013 atarchive.today– search Posentesburh
  32. ^"Medieval Sourcebook: The Correspondence of St. Boniface".Fordham University.
  33. ^Todd, Malcolm(1987).The South West to AD 1000.A Regional History of England. Longman. p. 287.ISBN0-582-49274-2.
  34. ^Major, Albany (1913).Early Wars of Wessex.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.pp. 92–98.(reissued by Blandford Press,ISBN0-7137-2068-9)
  35. ^"King Doniert's Stone".English Heritage.Retrieved5 September2016.
  36. ^Higham, Robert (2008).Making Anglo-Saxon Devon.Exeter: The Mint Press. p. 64.ISBN978-1-903356-57-9.
  37. ^Asser(1983).Alfred the Great – Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources.translated by Simon Keynes & Michael Lapidge. London:Penguin Books.p. 175.;cf.ibid,p. 89.
  38. ^Payton (2004), p. 69.
  39. ^Domesday Book – a complete translation.translated byAnn Williamsand G.H. Martin. London:Penguin Books.2002. pp. 341–357.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
  40. ^The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.translated byMichael Swanton(2nd ed.). London:Phoenix Press.2000. p. 177.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
  41. ^Angevin Britain and Scandinavia, Volume 6,Henry Goddard Leach,Harvard University Press, 1921
  42. ^Payton, Philip John(1989)."Chapter three: The Celtic Duchy"(PDF).Modern Cornwall: The changing nature of peripherality(Thesis).University of Plymouth.p. 119. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 6 October 2014.Retrieved27 February2013.
  43. ^Thomas, Charles(1986).Celtic Britain.London:Thames & Hudson.p. 66.ISBN0-500-02107-4.
  44. ^The Place-Names of Devon: J.E.B. Gover, A. Mawer & F.M. Stenton pub. 1931 Cambridge University Press

Sources[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dumnonia&oldid=1228972422"