Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Middle Ages
Following the Norman conquest of 1066, the region came under the sway of feudal lords,
who developed the area's potential for trade, agriculture and industry. Wool, tin and miner-
als became important exports, and a series of ports sprang up around the southwest coast-
line, notably at Fowey, Bristol, Looe, Saltash and Plymouth.
In 1305 Edward I recognised the importance of tin mining to the area by granting official
charters to the Stannaries (tin-mining districts) and establishing five stannary towns in
Cornwall (Truro, Lostwithiel, Launceston, Helston and Bodmin) and three more in Devon
(Chagford, Ashburton and Tavistock). Among other functions, these towns had the right to
assay tin to determine its quality before export. Cornwall also had its own Stannary Parlia-
ment, governed by its own system of taxes and laws; tin miners were effectively exempt
from civil jurisdiction, and had the right to be tried according to Stannary law. Half a cen-
tury later in 1337, Edward III established the Duchy of Cornwall for his son Edward, the
'Black Prince', a title that is still traditionally inherited by the heir to the throne.
The long-held rights of the Stannaries were a major factor in the 1497 'An Gof' rebelli-
on, a popular uprising against taxes levied by Henry VII to fund a war against the Scots,
which many believed eroded the Stannaries' right to govern their own affairs. Under lead-
ers Thomas Flamank, a Bodmin lawyer, and Michael Joseph, a blacksmith (
an gof
in
Cornish) from St Keverne, an army of 15,000 Cornishmen marched on London. Despite a
series of battles, it was outclassed by the king's forces, and Flamank and Joseph were
hanged, drawn and quartered before having their heads impaled on pikes outside London
Bridge.
A similarly brutal end awaited the region's ecclesiastical institutions during Henry VIII's
Dissolution. Nearly all of the region's abbeys, including Buckfast, Bodmin and Glasney
College in Penryn, were abolished. Assets were stripped, buildings dismantled and most of
the monks were forcibly retired or, in many cases, put to death. In the absence of the ab-
beys, the cathedral of Exeter flourished alongside smaller chapels and churches.
The Reformation also abolished the use of Latin in church services and introduced a new
all-English Book of Common Prayer. This was the final straw for many devout worshippers
in Cornwall and Devon, but the so-called Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 was put down in
similarly bloody fashion to the 'An Gof' rebellion 50 years before; the West Country
armies were summarily crushed outside Exeter, and the leaders executed.
