Editing Cornwall (section)

===Conflict with Wessex===
The [[Battle of Deorham]] in 577 saw the separation of [[Dumnonia]] (and therefore Cornwall) from Wales, following which the [[Dumnonii]] often came into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of [[Wessex]]. [[Centwine of Wessex|Centwine]] of Wessex "drove the Britons as far as the sea" in 682, and by 690 [[Saint Boniface|St Bonifice]], then a Saxon boy, was attending an abbey in Exeter, which was in turn ruled by a Saxon abbot.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Probert |first=Duncan |title=New light on Aldhelm's letter to King Gerent of Dumnonia. |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2010 |isbn=9781842173572 |pages=110–28}}</ref> The [[Carmen Rhythmicum]] written by [[Aldhelm]] contains the earliest literary reference to Cornwall as distinct from Devon. Religious tensions between the Dumnonians (who celebrated [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic Christian]] traditions) and Wessex (who were [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]) are described in [[Epistola ad Geruntium|Aldhelm's letter]] to [[Geraint of Dumnonia|King Geraint]]. The ''[[Annales Cambriae]]'' report that in AD 722 the Britons of Cornwall won a battle at [[Battle of Hehil|"Hehil"]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/annalescambriae.html |title=Medieval Sourcebook: The Annales Cambriae 447–954 (The Annals of Wales) |publisher=Fordham.edu |access-date=2 November 2015 |archive-date=4 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204110611/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/annalescambriae.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It seems likely that the enemy the Cornish fought was a West Saxon force, as evidenced by the naming of [[King Ine]] of Wessex and his kinsman Nonna in reference to an earlier Battle of Llongborth in 710.<ref>[[Weatherhill, Craig]] ''Cornovia''; p. 10</ref>

The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' stated in 815 (adjusted date) "and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from east to west." this has been interpreted to mean a raid from the Tamar to Land's End, and the end of Cornish independence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.third-millennium-library.com/MedievalHistory/Book/CHAPTERS/XIV.html |title=The Foundation of the Kingdom of England |publisher=Third-millennium-library.com |access-date=25 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005105356/http://www.third-millennium-library.com/MedievalHistory/Book/CHAPTERS/XIV.html |archive-date=5 October 2011 }}</ref> However, the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' states that in 825 (adjusted date) a battle took place between the Wealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon) at [[Gafulforda]]. The Cornish giving battle here, and the later battle at Hingston Down, casts doubt on any claims of control Wessex had at this stage.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Fletcher |first=John |title=The Western Kingdom: The Birth of Cornwall |publisher=The History Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1803990002}}</ref>

In 838, the Cornish and their Danish allies were defeated by Egbert in the [[Battle of Hingston Down]] at Hengestesdune. In 875, the last recorded king of Cornwall, [[Donyarth|Dumgarth]], is said to have drowned.<ref>[[wikisource:Welsh Annals|Annales Cambriae]]</ref> Around the 880s, Anglo-Saxons from Wessex had established modest land holdings in the north eastern part of Cornwall; notably [[Alfred the Great]] who had acquired a few estates.<ref>Keynes, Simon; Lapidge, Michael (tr.) (1983), ''Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources'', London, Penguin Books, p. 175; cf. ''ibid'', p. 89</ref> [[William of Malmesbury]], writing around 1120, says that King [[Athelstan]] of England (r. 924–939) fixed the boundary between English and Cornish people at the east bank of the [[River Tamar]].<ref name="Stenton, F. M. 1947 p. 337">Stenton, F. M. (1947) ''Anglo-Saxon England''. Oxford: Clarendon Press; p. 337</ref> While elements of William's story, like the burning of [[Exeter]], have been cast in doubt by recent writers<ref name=":0" /> Athelstan did re-establish a separate [[Bishop of Cornwall|Cornish Bishop]] and relations between Wessex and the Cornish elite improved from the time of his rule.

Eventually [[Edgar, King of England|King Edgar]] (r. 959–975) was able to issue charters the width of Cornwall, and frequently sent emissaries or visited personally as seen by his appearances in the [[Bodmin manumissions|Bodmin Manumissions]].