The history of Cornwall begins with the pre-Roman inhabitants, including speakers of a Celtic language that would develop into Brythonic and Cornish. Cornwall was part of the territory of the tribe of the Dumnonii which included Devon and parts of Somerset. After a period of Roman rule, Cornwall reverted to rule by independent Romano-British princes and continued to have a close relationship with Brittany, and Wales as well as southern Ireland which neighboured across the Celtic Sea. After a period of conflict with the Kingdom of Wessex, it became part of the Kingdom of England by the late 11th century and was eventually incorporated into the Great Britain and the United Kingdom, yet maintained an independent language and culture into the Early Modern period, demonstrated by the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 and Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549.
Cornwall's Early Medieval history, in particular the early Welsh and Breton references to a Cornish 'king' named Arthur, have featured in such legendary works as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, predating later Arthurian legend (see legendary Dukes of Cornwall).
Read more about History Of Cornwall: Roman Cornwall, Post-Roman and Medieval Periods, 20th and 21st Centuries
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