Cornwall

There will be many occasions, during the reading of the various bits of argument, comment and legal evidence, which will give some succour to those whose 'denial of the truth' see the Cornish people as dispensable to English Imperial interests.  These notes will identify some of these and add a comment which, hopefully, will allow the reader, the ones with integrity and an open mind, at least, to distinguish between Imperial retrospective misrepresentation and to view a particular comment from a 'Cornish' context.

Among the opening remarks of the Officers of the Duchy, in their "Preliminary Statement" was the following comment:

"That, at the time of the Conquest, and subsequently, it was still treated in many respects as distinct from England; and when it afterwards became an English county it still retained many, if not all the rights of a county palatine, and was granted, sometimes with more, sometimes with fewer, Jura Regalia to the successive Earls of Cornwall, and was ultimately granted as a Duchy, when, for the first time, a Dukedom was created in England in favour of the eldest son of the King,..."

How, then, does all this fit in with the subsequent Duchy argument which clearly shows that Cornwall is a territorial possession which is distinct both from England and the Crown?  There is also the Act of the Council of the first Duke in 1351 that sought property clarification of persons in "Cornwall and England".  Other references, such as that of Polydore Vergil (Cornish Milestone for 1485), more than confirm this historical truth.

If we revisit the recited Act of Parliament which created the Dukedom, or the Duchy Charters, we see that it refers there to the 'Realm of England', or the Kingdom of England and this definitely does not coincide with the territory of 'England' but covers the whole territories under the Dominion of the English king.   This link shows that kingdom can be, inter alia, "A political or territorial unit ruled by a sovereign", whereas, shows, inter alia, that country refers to "the territory of a nation or state". England (the country - where the English live!) would be classified as a territorial unit but the inclusion of Cornwall and Wales makes it a political unit (the kingdom - where the English, Welsh and Cornish live!). Parliament was, in theory at least, for the kingdom (as a political unit) and not solely England (as a territorial unit).

England on its own - with its own government - would constitute a nation-state. With the addition of Cornwall and Wales it is simply a multi-national state. For the record, and advancing a few hundred years, Britain is simply a multi-national state and is neither a nation nor a nation-state as some would encourage us to believe. Considering that Cornwall was, possibly, England's first colony, England has never been a nation-state! Had Cornwall been an off-shore island, it would, most probably, have been a Crown Dependency. As it stands, however, the Duchy of Cornwall should be considered as a Protectorate!

The political evolution(?) of the Kingdom of England to the United Kingdom has probably been a significant factor in confusing the distinctions, as also, the periods when the Cornish territorial possession was held 'in trust' by the Crown.   All this has done, however, is facilitated the fabrication of yet more Imperial English half-truths with which to beat the Cornish into obscurity in much the same way that the ambiguity of translations of Earldom, comitatus and vicecomitatus to 'county' have done.

Cornwall may well be seen as the first Dukedom within the 'Realm of England' but it certainly was not 'in England' nor English. Most of the English kings of that period were also Dukes of various areas of France - which Dukedoms where no more 'in England' (the country) than was the Cornish Dukedom. The same argument also is true for the Earldom, or County.

There is undoubtedly a civil administration within Cornwall and always has been. Historically referred to as the vicecomitatus, or shrievalty.  What should not be forgotten is that this civil administration "with the appurtenances" exists within, and is annexed to, our Cornish Dukedom.

None of the above are 'in England' except by expressions of Imperial prescriptive arrogance, tutored ignorance, or superficial indifference!.

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