Holiday Cottages Cornwall | |
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORNWALL |
The
history oif ancient Cornwall before the Romans arrived is
difficult to determine because of the scarcity of
written
sources and the difficulties analysing the other evidences of the past. Cornwall is a land of legend and is of course associated with the legend of King Arthur. In pre Roman days Cornwall was for a time a Celtic lspeaking region and Cornish derived from this Celtic language and flourished until comparatively recently. In the times of Queen Elizabeth 1 around 1590 Cornish was very widely spoken and the last native speaker probably died in Queen Victorias reign. Cornish may also have been spoken in parts of Devon. Roman remains have been found in a few places in Cornwall. Before the Romans came, the tribe named the Dumnoni ruled Cornwall and Devon but as time went by the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of England gradually took over Devon and Cornwall and back in these days many kings woiuld claim to rule in different parts of England when in fact for all practical purposes their were local leaders in power who wielded the real power. It is hard to determine how much influence was exercised by the Romans in Cornwall and how much of a presence they had and it is still unknown why the Romans had such large military forces permanently stationed in Great Britain which was large when you consider the relative unimportance of the islands.
Before Roman times Cornwall was important as a tin producer with large reserves and was mined during the Bronze Age. During the Iron Age the ancient Britons with their celtic culture lived in Cornwall and the first recorded mention of the county in history was made by an historian named Diodonus Siculus around the first century BC who mentioned the production and exporting of tin. After the Romans left the Dumnoni tribe ruled Devon and Cornwall and the part of the tribe that lived in Cornwall were called the Cornovi and the Anglo Saxon name for this area was Cornweal from which the county name is derived. Around the time of King Harold Cornwall had in theory been taken over by the English Kingdom but it is not known how direct the rule was and what the true political position was at the time. Cornwall was a Kingdom in the 6 th century AD. The Britons managed to defeat the Saxons in 721 AD but were defeated in 838 AD. In 1336 the Black Prince was given the title The Duke Of Cornwall and much later during the English Civil War Launceston town was a base for troops being very near to Devon and there was a battle at Launceston in 1643. Of course Cornwall is a part of England and has developed a tourist industry and the county of cornwall has holiday cottage accommodation in the 21 st century. |