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Dumnonia was a Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
ic kingdom of sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists' label for the material culture of Great Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the pottery sherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher standard under the Roman Empire....
, located in the south-west peninsula
West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
 of modern England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 and covering Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, most of Somerset
Somerset

Somerset is a Counties of England in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west....
 and possibly part of Dorset
Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
, its eastern boundary being uncertain. Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 may or may not have been part of Dumnonia. Following Sub-Roman
Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists' label for the material culture of Great Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the pottery sherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher standard under the Roman Empire....
 emigration from southwestern Britain to northern Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
, a sister kingdom also called Domnonia
Domnonia

Domnon?e is the modern French version of the Latin name Dumnonia , which denoted a kingdom in northern Brittany founded by migrants from Dumnonia in Great Britain....
 was established on the continental north Atlantic coast which apparently shared close ties and possibly political leadership with its insular counterpart [ see Domnonée and Armorica
Armorica

Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire River rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast....
 ].

kingdom is named after the Dumnonii
Dumnonii

The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the farther parts of the West Country peninsula of Britain, during the British Iron Age and the early Roman Britain....
, a Celt
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic tribe living in the area when the Romans
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 arrived in Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
.






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Britain 500 Ce
Dumnonia was a Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
ic kingdom of sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists' label for the material culture of Great Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the pottery sherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher standard under the Roman Empire....
, located in the south-west peninsula
West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
 of modern England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 and covering Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, most of Somerset
Somerset

Somerset is a Counties of England in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west....
 and possibly part of Dorset
Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
, its eastern boundary being uncertain. Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 may or may not have been part of Dumnonia. Following Sub-Roman
Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists' label for the material culture of Great Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the pottery sherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher standard under the Roman Empire....
 emigration from southwestern Britain to northern Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
, a sister kingdom also called Domnonia
Domnonia

Domnon?e is the modern French version of the Latin name Dumnonia , which denoted a kingdom in northern Brittany founded by migrants from Dumnonia in Great Britain....
 was established on the continental north Atlantic coast which apparently shared close ties and possibly political leadership with its insular counterpart [ see Domnonée and Armorica
Armorica

Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire River rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast....
 ].

Name

The kingdom is named after the Dumnonii
Dumnonii

The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the farther parts of the West Country peninsula of Britain, during the British Iron Age and the early Roman Britain....
, a Celt
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic tribe living in the area when the Romans
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 arrived in Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
. It is unclear whether it was a single united kingdom or simply a series of sub-kingdoms. Certainly the kingdom of Cornwall
Kingdom of Cornwall

The Kingdom of Dumnonia somes retroactively dubbed the Kingdom of Cornwall, was a petty kingdom that existed during the sub-Roman Britain and Early Middle Ages in Great Britain's West Country peninsula; it was roughly in the area of what is today called Cornwall and Devon....
 appears to have been at least semi-independent at times, possibly because it was based on the territory of a sub-tribe, the Cornovii
Cornovii (Cornish)

The Cornovii were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the far South West peninsula of Great Britain, during the Iron Age, Roman Britain and sub-Roman Britain periods and gave their name to Cornwall or Kernow....
.

Dumnonia is the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 form of the name. Variants include Damnonia and Domnonia. It was known to the English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 of neighbouring Wessex
Wessex

West Saxon redirects here. For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex .Wessex , from the Old English Westseaxe , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of the English state in the 9th century, under the Wessex dynasty....
 as the kingdom of West Wales: the inhabitants were also known to them as 'Defnas' (i.e. men of Dumnonia). In Welsh, and similarly in the native Brythonic language, it was Dyfneint and this is the form which survives today in the name of the county of Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
 (Modern Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
: Dyfnaint, Cornish
Cornish language

The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....
: Dewnans).

Character

Dumnonia is as noteworthy for its many settlements which have survived from Romano-British
Romano-British

Romano-British culture is that of the Romanised Britons under the Roman Empire and later the Western Roman Empire, and of those exposed to Roman culture in the years after the Roman departure from Britain....
 times as for the complete lack of the villa-system
Roman villa

A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Rome country house built for the upper class....
; instead the isolated enclosed farmsteads locally called rounds survived the Roman evacuation, to be replaced in the sixth to seventh centuries by the unenclosed farms that later took the toponymic tre-. As in other Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
ic areas, Iron Age
Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
 hillforts, such as Cadbury Castle
Cadbury Castle, Somerset

Cadbury Castle is an Iron Age hill fort in the civil parish of South Cadbury in the England county of Somerset. It is famously associated with King Arthur....
, were refortified for the use of lords or kings. Other high-status settlements like Tintagel
Tintagel Castle

Tintagel Castle is a castle currently in ruins found on Tintagel, located near the village of Tintagel in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The site was perhaps originally a Ancient Rome settlement, though the remains of the castle that stand today date from the 13th century....
 were built anew. Post-Roman imported pottery has been excavated from many sites across the region; a surge in late fifth-century Mediterranean imports has not been explained.

The people of Dumnonia would have spoken a Brythonic dialect similar to the ancestor of modern Cornish
Cornish language

The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....
 and Breton
Breton

Breton, or its feminine form Bretonne, usually refers to:*Breton people of Brittany*The Breton language, a Celtic language spoken in Brittany and Loire-Atlantique...
. Irish
Irish people

The Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha D? Danann and the Milesians ?the last group supposedly representing the "pure" Gaelic a...
 immigrants, the Déisi, are evidenced by the Ogham
Ogham

Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to represent the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic languages ancestor of Welsh language....
-inscribed stones they have left behind, confirmed and supplemented by place-name studies.

Christianity

Christianity also seems to have survived in Dumnonia from the Romano-British
Romano-British

Romano-British culture is that of the Romanised Britons under the Roman Empire and later the Western Roman Empire, and of those exposed to Roman culture in the years after the Roman departure from Britain....
 era, with a number of late Roman Christian cemeteries extending into the sub-Roman period. Parish
Parish

A parish is a local church; it is an administrative unit typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, United Methodist, and Presbyterianism churches....
 organisation was a later development of fully Normanised times. The religion was boosted by evangelists from Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, like Saint Piran
Saint Piran

Saint Piran or Perran is an early 6th century Cornish people abbot and saint, supposedly of Irish people origin.He is the patron saint of tin-mining, and is also generally regarded as the patron saint of Cornwall, although Saint Michael and Saint Petroc also have some claim to this title....
, and Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, like Saint Petroc
Saint Petroc

Saint Petroc is a 6th century Celtic Christianity saint. He was born in Wales but primarily ministered to the Brython of Dumnonia which included the modern counties of Devon , Cornwall , and parts of Somerset and Dorset....
 or Saint Keyne
Saint Keyne

Saint Keyne or Cain was a late 5th century holy woman in the England West Country.Keyne was a pious virgin, one of the many daughters of King Brychan of Brycheiniog....
. There were important monasteries at Bodmin
Bodmin

Bodmin is a town in Cornwall, United Kingdom, with a population of 12,778 . It was the county town of Cornwall, until the Crown Courts moved to Truro, which is also the administrative centre....
 and Glastonbury
Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Abbey, founded in the seventh century, was a rich and powerful monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. It became associated with the legends of the Holy Grail and King Arthur in the tenth century....
; and also Exeter
Isca Dumnoniorum

Isca Dumnoniorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Exeter, located in the England county of Devon....
 where 5th century burials discovered near the cathedral
Exeter Cathedral

Exeter Cathedral, full name Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in the city status in the United Kingdom of Exeter, Devon, in the South West England of England and the seat of the bishop of Exeter....
 probably represent the cemetery of the foundation attended by St. Boniface (although whether this was West-Saxon
Wessex

West Saxon redirects here. For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex .Wessex , from the Old English Westseaxe , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of the English state in the 9th century, under the Wessex dynasty....
 or Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
ic is somewhat controversial).

Kings of Dumnonia

There are disconnected records of several apparent kings of Dumnonia of which some appear in a pedigree of the monarchs recorded in Old Welsh sources, which may be reconstructed thus:
  • Cynfawr – whose name occurs on the famous Drustanus stone
    Mark of Cornwall

    Mark of Cornwall was a king of Kingdom of Cornwall in the early 6th century. He is most famous for his appearance in King Arthur legend as the uncle of Tristan and husband of Iseult, who engage in a secret affair behind his back....
     near Fowey
    Fowey

    Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, UK. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273....
     in Cornwall
    Cornwall

    Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
    .
  • Custennyn Gorneu – supposed grandfather of Arthur (see below)
  • Erbin
    Erbin of Dumnonia

    Erbin of Dumnonia was a 5th century King of Dumnonia and saint of Wales....
     – father of Geraint (see below)
  • Geraint
    Geraint

    Geraint is a character from Wales folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the Historical basis for King Arthur, but some scholars doubt he ever existed....
     – probably the leader at the Battle of Llongborth
    Battle of Llongborth

    The Battle of Llongborth was an ancient battle in Great Britain mentioned in a poem of the same name, traditionally attributed to Llywarch Hen. The poem in question, also known as Elegy for Geraint, celebrates Geraint ab Erbin from Dumnonia, who died in the battle....
  • Cado
    Cador

    Cador was a Legendary Dukes of Cornwall of Cornwall, known chiefly through Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo-historical History of the Kings of Britain and previous manuscript sources such as Vita Sanctus Carantoci circa 1100 from Cotton Vespasian xiv....
     – who appears in the Life of St Carannog


Traditionally, Cado’s son was Constantine of Dumnonia, the man reproached by the contemporary writer, Gildas
Gildas

Saint Gildas was a 6th century Britons cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christianity church in the British Isles during the 6th century....
, in the early 6th century. He may be the same as St. Constantine of Cornwall
Constantine of Cornwall

Constantine was an early 6th century king of Dumnonia in West Country Great Britain, sometimes identified with a saint of the same name.All that is known for certain about Constantine comes from the writings of Gildas, who calls him "the tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia"....
. A later King Geraint appears in the Life of St Teilo
Teilo

Saint Teilo was a leader of the Celtic Christianity church in Wales during the 6th century. His exact dates of birth and death are unknown but Penally in Pembrokeshire is considered his birthplace....
 and may be the same man mentioned in the poem Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin

Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh language poem consisting of a series of elegy to the men of the Britons kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth....
 at the Battle of Catraeth (Catterick
Catterick

Catterick could be*Catterick, North Yorkshire, England, commonly known as Catterick Village**Catterick Bridge, a hamlet near Catterick Village...
) around 600. A third King Geraint
Geraint of Dumnonia

Geraint was a King of Dumnonia who ruled in the early 8th century. During his reign, it is believed that Dumnonia came repeatedly into conflict with neighbouring Anglo-Saxon Wessex....
 corresponded with Saint Aldhelm and fought King Ine of Wessex
Ine of Wessex

Ine was List of monarchs of Wessex of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, C?dwalla of Wessex, who had brought much of southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory substantially....
 in 710.

Arthurian connection

The renowned King Arthur
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
 is often said to have been a member of the royal house of Dumnonia, his traditional grandfather, Constantine, being identified with Custennyn Gorneu above. Erbin and his son, Geraint
Geraint

Geraint is a character from Wales folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the Historical basis for King Arthur, but some scholars doubt he ever existed....
, appear in the Arthurian tale of Geraint and Enid as ruling "on the far side of Severn" (from Caerleon
Caerleon

Caerleon is a suburban village and Community , situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales.It is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman Empire legionary Castra and an Iron Age hill fort....
). Gildas
Gildas

Saint Gildas was a 6th century Britons cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christianity church in the British Isles during the 6th century....
’ Constantine of Dumnonia appears in Arthurian legend as the great king’s successor, Constantine III of Britain
Constantine III of Britain

Constantine III was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Cador, Duke of Cornwall, a relative of King Arthur....
.

It is claimed by some that Arthur's great victory at the Battle of Mount Badon
Battle of Mons Badonicus

In the Battle of Mons Badonicus Romano-British Celts defeated an invading Anglo-Saxons army some time in the decade before or after Anno Domini 500....
, took place in Devon where the Brythonic Dumnonians fought off Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
. Most historians, however, believe this battle was fought elsewhere, near Bath for example. His final Battle of Camlann
Battle of Camlann

The Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded fighting his enemy and relative Mordred....
, is also said to have been fought at Slaughter Bridge
Slaughterbridge

Slaughterbridge, Treague and Camelford Station are three adjoining settlements in North Cornwall, United Kingdom. They straddle the boundary of Forrabury and Minster and Lanteglos by Camelford civil parishes just over a mile north-west of the market town of Camelford...
 near Camelford
Camelford

Camelford is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.The town lies on the River Camel, and a few miles north-west of the highest part of Bodmin Moor....
 (this is only based on a misunderstanding of the origins of the two place-names).

Territorial reduction

Conflict between Dumnonia and the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 of Wessex
Wessex

West Saxon redirects here. For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex .Wessex , from the Old English Westseaxe , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of the English state in the 9th century, under the Wessex dynasty....
 began to increase in the 7th century. By 658, it lost the part of Somerset east and north of the River Parrett
River Parrett

The River Parrett is a river flowing through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England. It has its source in the Thorney Mills spring s in the hills around Chedington in Dorset, and flows north west through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea where it flows into the Bridgwater Bay National Nature R...
 and the rest of the modern county fell in 710. Almost the whoel of Devon was overrun by the end of the century. The medieval Breton
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
 toponyms of Domnonée
Domnonia

Domnon?e is the modern French version of the Latin name Dumnonia , which denoted a kingdom in northern Brittany founded by migrants from Dumnonia in Great Britain....
 and Cornouaille
Cornouaille

Cornwall, in French Cornouaille, is an historic region in Brittany, in northwest France. The name is the same as that of Cornwall in south-west England, perhaps because many of the Brythons who settled there may have been from Cornwall....
/Kernev probably reflect emigration from Cornwall and Devon during this period.

William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury

William of Malmesbury , English historians in the Middle Ages, was born about the year 1080/1095, in Wiltshire. His father was Normans and his mother English....
 (Gesta regum Anglorum) reported that Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
s were living alongside Saxon people as equals in Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
 during the 10th century, but that King Athelstan sharply attacked the Cornish in Exeter, drove them from the city over the River Tamar
River Tamar

The Tamar is a river in south western England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . At its mouth, the Tamar flows into the Hamoaze where it joins with the River Lynher before entering Plymouth Sound....
, fixing that as the eastern boundary of their territory, in 927. The boundary remains the modern one; however a part of Exeter retained the title 'Little Britain' until the 18th century. The Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
s of the far west survived with at least some degree of independence as the Kingdom of Cornwall
Kingdom of Cornwall

The Kingdom of Dumnonia somes retroactively dubbed the Kingdom of Cornwall, was a petty kingdom that existed during the sub-Roman Britain and Early Middle Ages in Great Britain's West Country peninsula; it was roughly in the area of what is today called Cornwall and Devon....
.

See also

  • Dumnonii
    Dumnonii

    The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the farther parts of the West Country peninsula of Britain, during the British Iron Age and the early Roman Britain....
  • Kingdom of Cornwall
    Kingdom of Cornwall

    The Kingdom of Dumnonia somes retroactively dubbed the Kingdom of Cornwall, was a petty kingdom that existed during the sub-Roman Britain and Early Middle Ages in Great Britain's West Country peninsula; it was roughly in the area of what is today called Cornwall and Devon....
  • List of legendary kings of Britain
    List of legendary kings of Britain

    The following list of legendary kings of Britain derives predominantly from Geoffrey of Monmouth's circa 1136 work Historia Regum Britanniae ....
  • Domnonia
    Domnonia

    Domnon?e is the modern French version of the Latin name Dumnonia , which denoted a kingdom in northern Brittany founded by migrants from Dumnonia in Great Britain....