Cornish History-Timeline
Please help us to improve
this site by taking part in the
Cornishworld Survey
CLICK HERE
It is quick, simple and NO PERSONAL INFORMATION IS GATHERED when you take part in the survey
Cornishworld Survey
CLICK HERE
It is quick, simple and NO PERSONAL INFORMATION IS GATHERED when you take part in the survey
8 B.C.-1599 •1600-
| B.C. | |
| 8 | Diodorus Siculus named Cornwall 'Belerion' (The Shining Land), the first recorded place named in the British Isles |
| A.D | |
| c.55-60 | The construction of the Roman fort at Nanstallion (near Bodmin) The fort was constructed to guard the main communication and trade route linking the south coast (Fowey) to the north coast (Camel) |
| 80 | The new Roman governor Agricola reformed the administration where each tribe became a self-governing region (cervitas).Cornwall was part of the southwest region with its headquarters at Exeter,Isca Dumnoniorum (possibly based on 'Worshippers of the God Dumnonos') |
| c.250 | Romans start to exploit the Cornish tin |
| King Mark's (Marcus Cunomorus) region who's base was possibly Castle Dore | |
| Irish raids | |
| Saints arrive in Cornwall | |
| 682 | The Cornish under their chieftain, Centwine,'drove the Britons as far as the sea' probably this was to the north-eastern part of Cornwall.This established the frontier around the Ottery-Tamar line |
| c.700 | Cornwall had began to be recorded as Cornubia by the Romans, and its people as Cornovii or Cornavii |
| 710 | Saxons take Exeter under Ine of Wessex, defeating Geraint of Dumnonia, and advance across the River Tamar to the River Lynher. Subsequently the lands between the to rivers were granted to Glastonbury by royal charter |
| 722 | The Cornish with their Danish allies defeat the 'english' at 'Hehil' possibly at the key area surrounding the Camel estuary |
| 814 | Egbert invades Cornwall and is said to have harried Cornwall from east to west |
| 838 | The Cornish join forces with the Vikings and advance against King Egbert of Wessex but are defeated at the battle of Hingston Down,near Callington |
| 931 | Athelstan (king of Wessex) creates the diocese of Cornwall with the see at St. Germans, to further assimilate Cornwall into his kingdom |
| 936 | The county boundary is set at the River Tamar by Athelstan and the 'english' practice genocide against the Cornish at Exeter (William of Malmesbury 'cleansed of its defilement by wiping out that filthy race') |
| 944 | Edmund,successor to Athlestan, styles himself 'King of the English and ruler of this province of the Britons', referring to Cornwall, thus making it clear that Cornwall was not and never has been formally incorporated into the english state. |
| c.1050 | Diocese of Cornwall combine with Devon with see at Exeter for internal english political reasons |
| 1066 | Norman Conquest of England, however William's authority does not reach to the south-west |
| 1068 | A revolt based at Exeter forces William the Conqueror to march into Cornwall and he grants most of Cornwall to Count Brian of Brittany who was with him in this campaign and at Hastings |
| 1075 | Following a revolt by some of his barons, William makes Count Brian's lands forfeit and bestows them on Robert, Count of Mortain (Robert is supposed to have donated 120 ships to the invasion of england, he also fought at Hastings and is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry seated on the left of William with his sword half-drawn) |
| 1086 | The Domesday Book records that the cream of the Cornish estates,227 (of 350) in number valued at £424 were in the hands of Robert. Of the remainder 67 were held by Anglo-Saxons and the rest by Bretons and Fleming's. For the first time Cornwall was devided into 7 (subsequently 9) administrative arrears known as 'hundreds'. The original hundreds were Penwith, Kerrier, Pydar, Powder, East and West Wivel and Trigg. Trigg was tri-devided to produce an additional two hundreds of Lesnewth and Stratton. Bodmin was recorded as the largest town in Cornwall with 68 houses |
| 1090 | Robert,Count of Mortain dies and his lands pass to his son William |
| c.1100 | 'rugby' evolved from hurling in Penzance |
| 1106 | William, son of Robert, Count of Mortain, revolts against Henry I and his lands become forfeit and are redistributed. |
| 1135 | King Stephen appoints Count Allan of Brittany to administer Cornwall |
| 1141 | Reginald de Dunstanville becomes Earl of Cornwall (1141-1175) during this period it is possible that the wooden castle at Launceston was replaced with the imposing stone castle known as 'Castle Terrible' (Launceston is the only Cornish town to have been surround by a stone wall, up to 6 feet wide, and gates for defensive purposes) |
| 1154 | Henry of Anjou (Henry II) succeeds King Stephen and bestows the Earldom of Cornwall on his uncle Richard |
| c.1173 | a charter of privileges was granted by Earl Reginald 'to my free burgesses of Truro' and it was addressed ' to the barons of Cornwall, and all men both Cornish and English'. Thus demonstrating the unique relationship of Cornwall and the english crown, as an independent nation under the 'protection' of the english state |
| 1190/1225 | Prior Theobald of Tywardreath established a 'free borough' at Fowey which quickly became a major cornish port |
| 1201 | King John grants a charter for the Cornish Stannaries as '....the desire of the Cornish tinners to be separated from those of Devon...' The Charter established four mining districts, or Stannaries, in which Stannary Law would operate. They are Foweymoor (Bodmin Moor), Blackmoor (Hensbarrow downs near Saint Austell), Tywarnhaile (Truro to Saint Agnes) and Penwith-with-Kerrier. No fixed boundaries were set for the Stannaries so in effect they covered all of Cornwall and as each Stannary appointed 6 Stannators to the Stannary Parliament, the Parliament represents all of Cornwall. The Charter also exempted tinners from the normal laws and taxation, allowed tinners to search for tin on common land, provided for their own courts and goal at Launceston |
| 1225 | Henry III grants the Earldom of Cornwall to his younger brother (who 2 years previously had been granted the rights to the Cornish tin-works) He was henceforth known universally as Richard of Cornwall |
| 1264 | Bishop Bronescombe of Exeter begins the building of the Glasney colligate church at Penryn. On completion this fortified residence housed 26 clerics with its own church, domestic quarters, refectory, chapter house and cemetery. It was subsequently destroyed during the Reformation |
| 1272 | The title Earl of Cornwall passes to Edmund, who holds it until 1300 and on his death it then reverts to Edward I then to Edward II |
| c.1280 | Edmund ,Earl of Cornwall, makes Lostwithiel the county capital where he built the 'Duchy Palace'. This once extensive building incorporated the Shire Hall, the Exchequer of the Earldom (later Duchy), the Stannary Goal and the Coinage Hall. Edmund also modernized Restormel Castle at Launceston. He was the last Earl of Cornwall to reside in the county |
| 1295 | Truro, Bodmin, Tregony, Launceston and Liskeard are granted the right to send 2 representatives each to the Parliament of Edward I. This privilege continued until the Second Reform Act of 1867 |
| 1307 | Edward II gives the title, Earl of Cornwall, to his court favorite Piers Gaveston who holds it until his execution in 1312 |
| 1337 | The Duchy of Cornwall was created with Edward the Black Prince as the first Duke by his father Edward III at a full session of Parliament. The Dukedoms lands in Cornwall were made up of 17 manors and the boroughs of Camelford, Grampound, Helston, Launceston, Liskeard, Lostwithiel, Tintagel, Trematon and Saltash. Other benefits granted to the Dukedom include the profits from the county courts, control of wrecks and the right to collect a duty of £2 on each 1,000lbs. of tin |
| 1349 | The Black Death (or Great Pestilence) arrives in Cornwall (it started in Russia and was spread by rats). It reached its height in Cornwall in 1350/1 |
| 1360 | Second outbreak of The Black Death in Cornwall lasting to 1362 |
| 1387 | John Trevisa of Cornwall wrote the first book about England in the English language (previously latin was the language used by authors) |
| 1415 | Cornish archers fight under a banner depicting 2 Cornish wrestlers at the Battle of Agincourt. This was calibrated by Michael Drayton (1563-1631) in his narrative poem 'The Battaile of Agincourt' |
| 1457 | During the Wars of the Roses the Breton fleet attacks Fowey and this leads to the legend of Elisabeth, the wife of Thomas Treffrey of Fowey. With her husband absent, when the Bretons attack, she leads the defiant defense of the town by pouring molten lead over the invaders at Place. On his return, Thomas Treffry, who's forefather was knighted by the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy, undertakes further improvements to the fortification of Place and towers were built at each end of the harbor with a chain suspended between them. |
| 1497 | An Gof ( of Lizard village) and Thomas Flamank leads 40,000 Cornish in rebellion against King Henry VII more |
| 1514 | Marazion was attacked and burnt during a war with France that started in 1511 |
| c.1538 | Leland's tour of Cornwall |
| 1539 | Henry VIII orders the building of castles at Pendennis and Saint Mawes following raids by the Spanish and French up the Fal estuary. A year later in 1540 he added Saint Catherines castle at Fowey to the building programme. |
| 1545 | The captain of Henry VIII's ship the Mary Rose, Roger Grenville of Stowe (father of Sir Richard Grenville of the Revenge) dies in the sinking of the ship. Ths ship was acting as the flagship of vice-admiral Sir George Carew when the ship was struck by a squall and sank at Spithead (Portsmouth) on July 19th. |
| 1549 | Prayer Book Rebellion. Following the passing of the Act of Uniformity by Parliament, which replaced Latin with English as the language to be used in church services from the 9th. June, rebels attacked St. Michael's Mount and Marazion. The rebels caused 'great decay, ruin and desolution' to the town. Following this the rebels, under their leader Humphry Arundel of Helland, marched to Bodmin and where they were joined by the towns mayor Nicholas Boyer. They then drew a petition to the king stating 'we will not receyve the new servyce because it is but lyke a christmas game, but we wyll have our old service of matens, Masse, evensong and procession in Latten as it was before, and so we Cornysshe men, where of certen of us understand no English, utterly refuse thys newe Englysh'. Their petition was rejected and approximately 2,000 rebels marched to Exeter and surrounded the town on 2nd. July. Towards the end of the month a large number of the rebels left and marched to Honiton where they were defeated by the King's forces under Lord Grey. The rebels fought a rearguard action at Stampford Courtenay however this was the last fight. The ringleaders were captured, some were publicly executed others lost their property and lands. As a general punishment the bells(except the smallest bell) in church towers were ordered to be removed. However only the clappers were removed. |
| 1577 | Francis Tregian of Golden (near Probus) provided sanctuary for the seminary priest Cuthbert Mayne, who was holding 'illegal Catholic services'. They were arrested by the new Sheriff of Cornwall Sir Richard Grenville (later of 'The Revenge') who was searching for a fugitive from justice, called Bourne. Mayne was found to be wearing an Agnus Dei (a wax medallion of a lamb blessed by the Pope) with a Papal Bull of absolution. Mayne and Tregian were held at Launceston goal. Mayne was tried by a jury of 'Cornish gentry' including the young Richard Carew who later wrote the 'Survey of Cornwall'. Mayne was hung, drawn and quartered in the market place of Launceston with his 'quarters' subsequently being displayed at Bodmin, Wadebridge, Tregony (near Golden) and his home town of Barnstaple. His head was impaled on the gate of Launceston castle and later it was taken to Lanherne, the home of the staunchly Catholic Arundell's were it was preserved as a saintly relic. |
| 1578 | Peter Carder of Veryan was the first recorded european to travel the length of South America |
| 1588 | Spanish Armada of 130 ships was first sighted from Halzephron cliff, Lizard, on Jully 7th. |
| 1592 | Sir Richard Grenville, born 1542 (of the Revenge) dies .Grenville began as a student of the Inner Temple in 1559 where he killed a man in a street fight. This led him to change career and become a soldier. He fought in Hungry and Ireland from 1566-69. When he returned to England he became an M. P. and shared the privateer Castle of Comfort with William Hawkins. 1574 saw Grenville propose to the Queen an expedition to find the southern route around America to the Pacific and to establish new colonies, however this plan was rejected. He returned to Buckland Abbey and finished the rebuilding putting the date 1576 over the fireplace in the hall. The Abbey was sold to Drake on his return from his voyage around South America and the Pacific in 1580. In June 1577, as the new Sheriff of Cornwall he arrested Francis Tregian and Cuthbert Mayne (see 1577 above) this lead to Grenville being knighted for his services. In 1585 he commanded the expedition that founded Virginia USA, for his cousin Walter Raleigh. From 1586 to 1588 he organized the defense of England against the Spanish Armada under Drake. In 1591 he was second in command of a fleet (vice admiral) under Lord Thomas Howard that sailed to seize the Spanish treasure ships on route to Spain from South America. His ship became isolated from the fleet off the Azores and was attacked by a Spanish fleet. The ensuing action lasted 15 hours with Revenge holding of fifty-three opponents. The Revenge finally surrendered, as a helpless hulk with Grenville fatally wounded. Sir Richard was subsequently immortalized by Alfred Tennyson in the poem 'The Revenge' in 1880 |
| 1595 | On 23rd. July appearing to fulfil an old Cornish prophecy that strangers would 'burn Paul, Penzance and Newlyn'. 200 Spaniards land at Mousehole from 4 galleys. The Spaniard's set fire to Paul church and killed James Keigwin, John Pearce Peyton, James of Newlyn and Teck Cornall who were endevouring to organise a defence. On being informed of the presence of the Spanish Sir Francis Godolphin gathered a makeshift force and hurried to Mousehole. On arriving they found that the Spanish had re-embarked and had sailed to Newlyn were the full force of 400 landed and fired Newlyn and Penzance. Sir Francis were powerless to intervene and the Spanish eventually fled after sighting the men-of-war sent from Plymouth by Drake to deal with them. |
| 1599 | Francis Carew created a method of producing out of season fruit. |
