Kings and Lords in Tenth‐Century Cornwall

The cementing of English political control over C ornwall and the British of the south‐west in the tenth century falls between the creation of the A nglo‐ S axon kingdoms between the sixth and seventh centuries, and the burst of E nglish expansionism at the expense of the W elsh, S cots and I rish that occupied the two centuries following the N orman C onquest of E ngland. Consequently, the absorption of C ornwall into the E nglish state tends to be a rather neglected subject. This article provides some redress of this neglect and examines, through a consideration of not just the historical narratives but also charters and manumissions, the way in which the kings of the E nglish and their agents extended royal control over C ornwall between the late ninth century and the mid‐eleventh. These processes, while making C ornwall part of the new kingdom of the E nglish, also allowed the maintenance of a highly distinctive local identity well into the later medieval period and beyond.