Dumnonia: Map & History
Dumnonia, a Latinised name, was a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the 6th century CE and the 7th century CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England.
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Historiographical synthesis & structured realm registry
Dumnonia, a Latinised name, was a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the 6th century CE and the 7th century CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England.
Modern Countries Once Part of Dumnonia
At its mapped extent, Dumnonia covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Dumnonia's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Dumnonia in Depth
Culture and industries
The cultural connections of the pre-Roman Dumnonii, as expressed in their ceramics, are thought to have been with the peninsula of Armorica across the Channel, and with Wales and Ireland, rather than with the south-east of Britain. The people of Dumnonia would have spoken a Brythonic dialect, the ancestor of modern Cornish and Breton. Irish immigrants, the Déisi, are evidenced by the inscribed stones they have left behind—sometimes written in Ogham, sometimes in Latin, sometimes in both, confirmed and supplemented by place-name studies.
Apart from fishing and agriculture, the main economic resource of the Dumnonii was tin mining, the tin having been exported since ancient times from the port of Ictis (St Michael's Mount or Mount Batten).
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Dumnonia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Dumnonia Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 14,349 km² in 707 CE.
Dumnonia: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Dumnonia exist?
Dumnonia is dated to 602 CE – 709 CE, in the Early Middle Ages era.
What was the capital of Dumnonia?
The capital of Dumnonia was Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) (before c. 400), Tintagel.
How large was Dumnonia at its peak?
At its peak in 707 AD Dumnonia covered about 14,349 km².
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