Earl Cornwall is in Earldoms of England Alphabetically.
There have been six creations of Earl Cornwall:
1st. 1072. Brian Penthièvre 1st Earl Cornwall. Extinct. 1084.
2nd. 1072. Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall. Forfeit. 28th September 1106. Battle of Tinchebray.
3rd. 1141. Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall. Extinct. 1st July 1175.
4th. 1225. Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall. Extinct. 25th September 1300.
5th. 6th August 1307. Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall. Extinct. 19th June 1312. Capture, Trial and Execution of Piers Gaveston.
6th. 1330. John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall. Extinct. 30th September 1336.
Summary
1072. Brian Penthièvre 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 32] created.
1084. Brian Penthièvre 1st Earl Cornwall extinct.
In 1072 Brian Penthièvre 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 32] was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
After 1084 Brian Penthièvre 1st Earl Cornwall [deceased] died. Earl Cornwall extinct. He may have resigned the title before this date when he returned to live in Brittany.
Summary
1072. Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 41] created.
1090. Son William Mortain Count Mortain 2nd Earl Cornwall [aged 6] succeeded.
28th September 1106. William Mortain Count Mortain 2nd Earl Cornwall forfeit. See Battle of Tinchebray.
In 1072 Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 41] was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
In 1090 Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 59] died. His succeeded son William [aged 6] succeeded Count Mortain Mortagne, 2nd Earl Cornwall.
Before 1106 William Mortain Count Mortain 2nd Earl Cornwall [aged 22] forfeit 2nd Earl Cornwall for having attacked the Normandy castles of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England [aged 37].
On 28th September 1106 King Henry I "Beauclerc" England [aged 38] defeated his older brother Robert Curthose III Duke Normandy [aged 55] at the Battle of Tinchebray at Tinchebray, Orne.
William Warenne 2nd Earl of Surrey and Robert Beaumont 1st Earl of Leicester Count Meulan [aged 66]. Elias I Count Maine commanded the reserve. The following fought for Henry:
Alan Canhiart IV Duke Brittany [aged 43].
Raoul Tosny [aged 26].
William "Pincerna aka Butler" D'Aubigny [aged 42].
Robert Grandesmil [aged 28], and.
William Normandy I Count Évreux.
Robert Curthose III Duke Normandy was captured and spent the next twenty-eight years in prison; never released.
William Mortain Count Mortain 2nd Earl Cornwall [aged 22] was also captured. He spent the next thirty or more years in prison before becoming a monk. Earl Cornwall forfeit.
King Edgar Ætheling II of England [aged 55] was captured and subsequently released; Henry had married to Edgar's niece Edith aka Matilda Dunkeld Queen Consort England [aged 26] in 1100.
Robert II Belleme 2nd Count Ponthieu 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 50] escaped.
Robert Stuteville was captured.
Summary
1141. Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 31] created.
1st July 1175. Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall extinct.
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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In 1141 Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 31] was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 1st July 1175 Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 65] died at Chertsey, Surrey. He was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map]. Earl Cornwall extinct. His son appears to have predeceaseed him by months.
Summary
1225. Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 15] created.
2nd April 1272. Son Edmund "Almain" 2nd Earl Cornwall [aged 22] succeeded.
25th September 1300. Edmund "Almain" 2nd Earl Cornwall extinct.
In 1225 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 15] was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 30th March 1231 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 22] and Isabel Marshal Countess Cornwall, Gloucester and Hertford [aged 30] were married at Fawley, Lambourn. Isabel Marshal Countess Cornwall, Gloucester and Hertford by marriage Countess Cornwall. She the daughter of William Marshal 1st Earl Pembroke and Isabel Clare Countess Pembroke. He the son of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême Queen Consort England [aged 43]. They were fifth cousins.
On 23rd November 1243 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 34] and Sanchia Provence Queen Consort Germany [aged 15] were married at Westminster Abbey [Map]. She by marriage Countess Cornwall. She the daughter of Raymond IV Count Provence [aged 45] and Beatrice Savoy Countess Provence [aged 45]. He the son of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême Queen Consort England [aged 55]. They were fourth cousins.
On 16th June 1269 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 60] and Beatrice Falkenburg Countess Cornwall were married at Kaiserslautern [Map]. She by marriage Countess Cornwall. He the son of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême Queen Consort England.
On 2nd April 1272 Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 63] died at Berkhamsted Castle, Hertfordshire [Map]. He was buried at Hailes Abbey [Map]. His succeeded son Edmund [aged 22] succeeded 2nd Earl Cornwall.
On 6th October 1272 Edmund "Almain" 2nd Earl Cornwall [aged 22] and Margaret Clare Countess Cornwall [aged 22] were married at the Ruislip [Map]. Margaret Clare Countess Cornwall by marriage Countess Cornwall. She the daughter of Richard de Clare 6th Earl Gloucester 5th Earl Hertford and Maud Lacy Countess Gloucester and Hertford [aged 49]. He the son of Richard of Cornwall 1st Earl Cornwall and Sanchia Provence Queen Consort Germany. They were half fourth cousin once removed. He a grandson of King John of England. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.
On 25th September 1300 Edmund "Almain" 2nd Earl Cornwall [aged 50] died. Earl Cornwall extinct. He was buried, heart and flesh, at Ashridge, Hertfordshire [Map]. His bones were interred at Hailes Abbey [Map] during a service attended by King Edward I of England [aged 61].
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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Summary
6th August 1307. Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 23] created. See Return of Piers Gaveston.
19th June 1312. Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall extinct. See Capture, Trial and Execution of Piers Gaveston.
On 6th August 1307 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 23] was created 1st Earl Cornwall by King Edward II of England [aged 23]; Earl Cornwall usually reserved for the heir. The earldom gave Gaveston substantial landholdings over great parts of England, to the value of £4,000 a year. These possessions consisted of most of Cornwall, as well as parts of Devonshire in the south-west, land in Berkshire and Oxfordshire centred on the honour of Wallingford, most of the eastern part of Lincolnshire, and the honour of Knaresborough in Yorkshire, with the territories that belonged to it.
On 5th August 1309 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 25] was restored 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 19th June 1312 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 28] was taken to Blacklow Hill, Warwickshire [Map] where he was beheaded. Earl Cornwall extinct. Blacklow Hill, Warwickshire [Map] being outside of the lands of Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl of Warwick [aged 40]. Gaveston's body was left where it lay eventually being recovered by Dominican friars who took it to King's Langley Priory, Hertfordshire [Map].
Summary
1330. John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 13] created.
30th September 1336. John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall extinct.
In 1330 John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 13] was created 1st Earl Cornwall.
On 30th September 1336 John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 20] died at Perth [Map]. Earl Cornwall extinct. He was buried at the east side of the doorway to the Chapel of St Edmund, Westminster Abbey [Map]. His monument comprises a head of the statue encircled by a coronet of large and small leaves, remarkable for being the earliest specimen of the kind. The details of plate-armour, surcoat, gorget, coroneted helmet, with other accessories, give great antiquarian interest to this work. It was formerly surmounted by a canopy, of which, however, no traces are now visible.