From around 1100 to the 1330s Cornwall’s population tripled, from under 30,000 to a peak of around 100,000. After a few decades of stability, the Black Death in the middle of the 1300s turned population growth into fall. In fact numbers in Cornwall steadily declined to a low of around 60,000 by the beginning of … Continue reading Where was Cornish spoken in the middle ages?
Category: medieval history
Cornwall’s top surnames: the list continues
We’ve seen a list of the 20 or so commonest surnames in the nineteenth century. But what about the others? Over the next few months when I have time I’ll post the top 200 names (combining spelling variants as far as possible) in batches of ten, with their supposed type and the number of households … Continue reading Cornwall’s top surnames: the list continues
The lost kings of Cornwall
One of the genealogies of the kings of Glamorgan includes a line of kings assumed to be Cornish/Dumnonian because of the inclusion in it of Custennin (Constantine) and Gereint (Gerent). We know that Constantine was a king in the south west of Britain around 530. We also know that Gerent was described as the ruler … Continue reading The lost kings of Cornwall
Who was St Piran?
Degol S.Peran da tha whye oll. You can find a brief account of the modern association of St Piran with Cornwall here and an introduction to the placenames associated with the saint here. Let’s add a few more details from the Life of St Piran. Written in the 1200s, 700 years after he was supposed … Continue reading Who was St Piran?
Dumnonia: Region? Kingdom? Or at times both?
In the new edition of Cornwall’s First Golden Age the most extensive changes occur when discussing the earliest period – the fifth and sixth centuries. The original chapter 2, with some material from later chapters and new content, has been restructured into three separate chapters focusing in turn on Tintagel, Dumnonia and the issue of … Continue reading Dumnonia: Region? Kingdom? Or at times both?
Cornwall’s First Golden Age – new edition out now
A new edition of Cornwall's First Golden Age - the critical synthesis of the history of Cornwall in its period of independence and initial colonisation from the 400s to the 1100s - is now available, back by overwhelming public demand (or at least a handful of requests). Revised, considerably restructured and updated to include the … Continue reading Cornwall’s First Golden Age – new edition out now
Population growth and gentrification, marine tourism and a 15th century social climber
Here's the final set of brief summaries providing links to recent reviews of academic literature on Cornwall. You're now (almost) up to speed. In an important article on contemporary Cornwall Joanie Willett shows how population growth and gentrification have failed to solve Cornwall's endemic socio-economic difficulties while exacerbating a growing housing crisis and fragmenting local … Continue reading Population growth and gentrification, marine tourism and a 15th century social climber
Heraldry and medieval identity, the 1549 rising and choughs
Save yourself all the bother of having to read them - here's the fifth instalment of very short summaries of some recent academic takes on Cornwall ... Nigel Saul ascribes the Carminow family's myth about their coat of arms to the family's sixteenth century decline while going on to claim the Cornish identity was by … Continue reading Heraldry and medieval identity, the 1549 rising and choughs
Week St Mary: old crafts and new
The parish of Week St Mary was a typical north Cornish farming parish in the mid-1800s. Yet it had known better days. The village which shared its name with the parish was the site of a medieval castle and market. Although the medieval borough never grew into a modern town, it was the site of … Continue reading Week St Mary: old crafts and new
St Winnow: the saints come marching in
There are 212 ancient parishes in Cornwall and another six on Scilly. Of these, 60 or so are routinely identified as a saint’s name by the addition of the word Saint. In some places, saint is usually omitted by the natives in speech, as in Buryan. In others, such as Endellion, the word is sometimes … Continue reading St Winnow: the saints come marching in
Cornish studies resources 