Legendary Dukes of Cornwall
Encyclopedia
"Duke of Cornwall
" appears as a title in pseudo-historical authors as Nennius
and Geoffrey of Monmouth
. The list is extremely patchy, and not every succession was unbroken. Indeed, Geoffrey repeatedly introduces Dukes of Cornwall only to promote them to the Kingship of the Britons and thus put an end to their line as (merely) dukes. As adjuncts or supporting roles to the kings of the Britons, the legendary dukes of Cornwall are considered part of the vast Matter of Britain
.
The list is more often thought of as a conglomeration of various Celtic rulers, Celtic warlords, and mythical heroes. If the lists of kings of Britain are legendary, then the list of dukes must be considered still more a genealogical and historical legend with no solid basis in the view of most historians. (Even within Geoffrey's History, the title of these rulers fluctuates between "duke" (dux Cornubiae) and "king" (rex Cornubiae).)
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
" appears as a title in pseudo-historical authors as Nennius
Nennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
and Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
. The list is extremely patchy, and not every succession was unbroken. Indeed, Geoffrey repeatedly introduces Dukes of Cornwall only to promote them to the Kingship of the Britons and thus put an end to their line as (merely) dukes. As adjuncts or supporting roles to the kings of the Britons, the legendary dukes of Cornwall are considered part of the vast Matter of Britain
Matter of Britain
The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the body of literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and its legendary kings, particularly King Arthur...
.
The list is more often thought of as a conglomeration of various Celtic rulers, Celtic warlords, and mythical heroes. If the lists of kings of Britain are legendary, then the list of dukes must be considered still more a genealogical and historical legend with no solid basis in the view of most historians. (Even within Geoffrey's History, the title of these rulers fluctuates between "duke" (dux Cornubiae) and "king" (rex Cornubiae).)
Table of dukes
king or duke | title | notes | approximate time frame |
---|---|---|---|
Corineus Corineus Corineus, in medieval British legend, was a prodigious warrior, a fighter of giants, and the eponymous founder of Cornwall.According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain , he led the descendants of the Trojans who fled with Antenor after the Trojan War and settled on the coasts... |
in the time of Brutus | c. 1100 BCE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
|
Henwinus | duke | in the time of Leir Leir of Britain Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. His story is told in a modified form by William Shakespeare in the play King Lear. In the drama, some names are identical to those of the legend Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by... |
c. 750 BCE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Cunedagius Cunedagius Cunedagius was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Henwinus, Duke of Cornwall, and Regan, the daughter of King Leir.... |
duke | in the time of Queen Cordelia Queen Cordelia Queen Cordelia was a legendary Queen of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. She was the youngest daughter of Leir and the second ruling queen of pre-Roman Britain. There is no independent historical evidence for her existence.... |
c. 715 BCE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Cloten | king | during pentarchy after Ferrex Ferrex Ferrex was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Gorboduc and Judon.When his father had become old, he waged war on his brother, Porrex, for who would succeed to the kingship. He fled to Gaul and enlisted the help of Suhard, the king of the... and Porrex Porrex I Porrex I was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Gorboduc and his death began a dynastic civil war.... |
c. 450 BCE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Dunvallo Molmutius Dunvallo Molmutius Dunvallo Molmutius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Cloten, the King of Cornwall, and he restored order after the "Civil War of the Five Kings"... |
king | then king of Britain | c. 420 BCE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Belinus Belinus Belinus the Great was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus.- Earning the crown :... |
simultaneously king of Britain | c. 390 BCE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
|
Tenvantius | duke | in time of Cassibelanus | c. 55 BCE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Asclepiodotus | duke | becomes king of Britain | c. 295 CE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Caradocus Caradocus In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae, a fictional account of the kings of the Britons, Caradocus was titular king of the Britons in the absence of Emperor Magnus Maximus, who had left to campaign in Gaul.... |
duke | becomes king of Britain | c. 380 CE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Dionotus Dionotus In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae, whose account of the rulers of Britain is based on ancient Welsh sources disputed by many historians, Dionotus was a "legendary" King of the Britons during the campaigns in Gaul led by Emperor Magnus Maximus... |
duke | simultaneously king of Britain | c. 390 CE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Gorlois Gorlois Gorlois was a Duke of Cornwall and Igraine's first husband before her marriage to Uther Pendragon, according to the Arthurian legend... |
duke | first husband of Igraine Igraine Igraine , in Arthurian legend, is the mother of King Arthur. She is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigyr, in French as Igerne, in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Ygrayne— often modernized as Igraine—and in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival as Arnive... , Arthur King Arthur King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and... 's mother |
c. 510 CE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Mark of Cornwall Mark of Cornwall Mark of Cornwall was a king of Kernow in the early 6th century. He is most famous for his appearance in Arthurian legend as the uncle of Tristan and husband of Iseult, who engage in a secret affair.-The legend:Mark sent Tristan as his proxy to fetch his young bride, the Princess Iseult, from... |
king | uncle of Tristan Tristan Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain... |
c. early 6th century |
Cador Cador Cador was a legendary Duke 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... |
duke, then king | relative of Arthur | c. 530 CE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Constantine Constantine III of Britain Constantine was a minor king in 6th-century sub-Roman Britain, who was remembered in later British tradition as a legendary King of Britain. The only contemporary information about him comes from Gildas, who calls him king of Damnonia and castigates him for his various sins, including the murder... |
duke | subsequently king of Britain | 542 CE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
Blederic Bledric ap Custennin Bledric ap Custennin was a 6th and 7th century ruler of Dumnonia .-Life and rule:... |
duke | at the time Augustine Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597... arrives |
597 CE Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... |
See also
For a list of Dukes of Cornwall from 1337 to the present, see Duke of Cornwall.- Kingdom of CornwallKingdom of CornwallThe Kingdom of Cornwall was an independent polity in southwest Britain during the Early Middle Ages, roughly coterminous with the modern English county of Cornwall. During the sub-Roman and early medieval periods Cornwall was evidently part of the kingdom of Dumnonia, which included most of the...
- Cornovii (Cornish)Cornovii (Cornish)The Cornovii were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the far South West peninsula of Great Britain, during the Iron Age, Roman and post-Roman periods and gave their name to Cornwall or Kernow....
- DumnoniaDumnoniaDumnonia is the Latinised name for the Brythonic kingdom in sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries, located in the farther parts of the south-west peninsula of Great Britain...