Following the Early Medieval period and Anglo-Norman period the existential threat to the Cornish identity, which the invasions of Wessex once represented, was no more. The Cornish were recognised as a separate entity within England. Not their own country, perhaps, but also not wholly in line with the crown.
The rebellions in 1497 and 1549 would damage this identity, both through the deaths of native Cornish speakers and due to an increased hostility from the English state towards Cornish matters. The failure of a Cornish-language version of the Bible to be printed, for example, is often cited as one of the key factors in the decline of the language.
However, while pleasant stories about Molly Pentreath and the ‘last speakers’ of Cornish make for excellent tales, the reality seems much different. The Cornish language lasts into the eighteenth century and, by the time it is starting to fade out of use, there is a revivalist antiquarian movement ready to record it and preserve its usage into the modern day.
Away from language, the culture of Cornwall continued to be noticeably different from that of England, even into the present day. Traditional sports like wrestling and hurling still have modern adherents, while the bardic movement of the nineteenth century would one day herald the Gorsedd Kernow, or Bards of Cornwall, who are enthusiastic advocates and shepherds of Cornwall’s cultural heritage.
Overall, the twenty-first century seems to be a time of revival for all things Cornish, as local people once more take pride and comfort in a heritage that, for a short time at least, seemed to be disappearing.
It is unlikely any of this could have been the case were it not for the actions of the Cornish, noble and commoner, during the vital years of the Early Medieval period. From preserving their trade routes, and thus their stability, during the chaotic years following Roman withdrawal, through to achieving military victories like the key Battle of Hehil, the ancestors of the Cornish took decisive action in the time between the fifth and eleventh centuries to ensure that their descendants would have a culture, a language and a land that they still recognised.
Crucially, of course, they also knew when to stop fighting and adapt. When the wars of the eighth and ninth centuries raged towards their end and it became clear that military defeat of Wessex would not be possible, they negotiated a peace that saw local power secured, albeit underneath the throne of the Saxon.
As the Great Heathen Army invaded they took care to make peace with both Vikings and Saxons, perhaps biding their time to see which way the conflict eventually would turn. We will never know for sure if there were voices urging a new attack on Wessex, but history would prove cooler heads correct. It is unlikely the eventual peace and integration that Athelstan secured in the tenth century would have ever been achieved had Cornwall attacked the English in earnest.
The peace that Athelstan worked with the Cornish, and the border now officially set with the Tamar, would last into the modern day. Where aggression and conquest had failed, fairly simple acts of concession and compromise brought Cornwall into the English fold.
Throughout all of this, the mining of tin provided not only economic boons, but also an invaluable and highly specialised skill that would become inseparably linked with Cornish identity and, one day, would be hugely significant around the world. This was recognised by UNESCO in its designation of Cornish mining as a World Heritage Site.
When the Anglo-Saxon period ended, despite the best efforts of the marauding Godwinsons, the Norman invasion saw a cultural revival in Cornwall led by its own distant relations, the Bretons, which would one day see great works of Cornish literature produced, although many others may well have been lost in the destruction of Glasney College.
Finally, these latter two facets would combine to form the Stannary and its attendant parliament, perhaps the strongest symbol of Cornish self-determination since the time of the kingdom of Kernow itself.
So it is that, if we look for the foundation of Kernow, of the Western Kingdom, we have to look at the Early Medieval period and the tangled network of events, alliances and battles that brought the country into being.
The survival of the Cornish identity does not, of course, mean it is now without threats. There are still many issues facing young Cornish people, and other natives of the south-west, largely linked to economic difficulties and the problems of second home ownership and unsustainable cost of living increases. These problems deserve urgent attention and improvement; the irony of economic realities succeeding where conquest and invasion failed would be extremely bitter to swallow.
However, it is also important to understand the history, the shared heritage, which helps to make the south-west in general, and Cornwall in particular, such a special and unique place.
In some small way, I hope this work adds to that.