Cornovii (Cornwall)

Not to be confused with Cornovii (Caithness) or Cornovii (Midlands).

The coast at Tintagel, a possible location of a settlement of the Cornovii

The Cornovii is a name for a tribe presumed to have been part of the Dumnonii,[1][2] a Celtic tribe inhabiting the south-west peninsula of Great Britain, during some part of the Iron Age, Roman and post-Roman periods.[3] The Cornovii are supposed to have lived at the western end of the peninsula, in the area now known as Cornwall, and if the tribal name were correct it would be the ultimate source of the name of that present-day county.[1][4][5]

The existence of this sub-tribe, clan or sept, is not mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd-century Geography, as are many of the other Iron Age tribes in Britain. It has been inferred on the basis of a place-name listed in the Ravenna Cosmography of c. 700 CE as purocoronavis, which is considered to be a scribal error for durocornavis (or durocornovium[6]), interpreted as meaning "the fortress of the Cornovii".[7] The British tribal name Cornovii is also implied by its reflexes in Welsh Cernyw, Breton Kernev, and Cornish Kernow, (all meaning 'Cornwall') which Peter Schrijver argues probably derive from Common Brittonic *kornou̯(i̯)ī.[8]

  1. ^ a b Payton, Philip (2004). Cornwall: a history (revised ed.). Fowey: Cornwall Editions Ltd. ISBN 1-904880-00-2.
  2. ^ Rippon, Stephen; Gould, David; Müldner, Gundula; Frémondeau, Delphine; Allan, John; Bidwell, Paul; Frémondeau, Delphine; Gould, David; Higham, Robert (2021), Rippon, Stephen; Holbrook, Neil (eds.), "Regional Identities in the Roman Period: Dumnonia and the Wider South-West of Britain", Roman and Medieval Exeter and their Hinterlands, From Isca to Escanceaster: Exeter, A Place in Time Volume I, Oxbow Books, pp. 45–102, doi:10.2307/j.ctv2npq99t.15, ISBN 978-1-78925-615-4, JSTOR j.ctv2npq99t.15, retrieved 4 February 2024
  3. ^ "Celtic Kingdoms of the British Isles Celts of Britain". 2014. The History Files. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  4. ^ Charles Thomas. (1986). Celtic Britain. (Ancient Peoples & Places Series.) London: Thames & Hudson
  5. ^ Morris, John (1973) The Age of Arthur
  6. ^ Todd (1987), p. 203.
  7. ^ Webster, Graham (1991). The Cornovii; rev. ed. (Peoples of Roman Britain.) Alan Sutton. pp. 19, 21. ISBN 0-86299-877-8.
  8. ^ Schrijver, Peter (1995). Studies in British Celtic historical phonology. Leiden studies in Indo-european. Amsterdam Atlanta (Ga.): Rodopi. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-90-5183-820-6.