Earl of Cornwall
Earl of Cornwall was a hereditary British title of nobility , bestowed nine times in the Peerage of England and named after the County of Cornwall .
Awards and history of the title
For the first time, the title was created in 1068 as part of the Norman conquest of England by King William I for his maternal half-brother Robert de Conteville, Count of Mortain . His son Wilhelm , the 2nd Earl, rebelled several times against King Henry I , who stripped him of the Earldom in 1104.
During the turmoil of the civil war over the succession of Henry I , King Stephen bestowed the title on Alain de Bretagne in 1140 , whom he had made Earl of Richmond in 1138 . In February 1141 he was captured by the opposing side under Queen Matilda at the Battle of Lincoln and had to forego Cornwall for his release. Matilda then awarded the title in April 1141 in the third bestowal to her half-brother Reginald de Dunstanville . The title expired when he died in 1175 without leaving any legitimate descendants.
In the fourth award, King Henry II created the title for Baldwin . This is known as the “blood relative of the king”, but his origin is unclear. The title expired when Baldwin died childless in 1188.
In 1189, King Richard the Lionheart enfeoffed his brother Johann Ohneland, among other things, with the County of Cornwall, whereupon he called himself "Earl of Cornwall". All his dignities merged with the crown when John succeeded his brother as King of England in 1199.
King Henry III bestowed the title on February 7, 1217 in the sixth bestowal to Henry Fitz-Count , the Sheriff of Cornwall and illegitimate son of the former Earl, Reginald de Dunstanville. He returned the Earldom to the Crown in 1120 and went on the Fifth Crusade , on which he died childless.
On February 13, 1225, King Heinrich III. the title to his brother Richard . He was elected Roman-German King in 1257 during the Interregnum . The earl title expired when his son Edmund of Almain , the 2nd Earl, died on October 1, 1300 without leaving an heir.
On August 6, 1307, King Edward II bestowed the title on his favorite Sir Piers Gaveston in the eighth award . The title expired when he was murdered on June 19, 1312 and left no sons.
The last time the title was on December 1, 1330 by King Edward III. created for his brother John of Eltham . He remained unmarried and died childless on September 13, 1336, whereupon the title expired.
Instead of the Earldom of Cornwall, the title Duke of Cornwall was awarded from 1337 .
List of the Earls of Cornwall
Earls of Cornwall, first bestowal (1068)
- Robert de Conteville , Earl of Mortain , 1st Earl of Cornwall (1031-1090)
- Wilhelm de Conteville , Earl of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1084–1140) (title forfeited 1104)
Earls of Cornwall, second bestowal (1140)
- Alain de Bretagne, 1st Earl of Richmond , 1st Earl of Cornwall († 1146) (deposed 1141)
Earls of Cornwall, third bestowal (1141)
Earls of Cornwall, fourth bestowal (1180)
- Baldwin, 1st Earl of Cornwall († 1188)
Earls of Cornwall, fifth bestowal (1189)
- John, Earl of Cornwall (1167–1216), 1199 King of England
Earls of Cornwall, sixth bestowal (1217)
- Henry Fitz-Count, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1175–1222) (title waiver 1220)
Earls of Cornwall, seventh bestowal (1225)
- Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1209–1272), 1257–1272 Roman-German King
- Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (1250-1300)
Earls of Cornwall, eighth bestowal (1307)
- Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1284-1312)
Earls of Cornwall, ninth bestowal (1330)
- John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall (1316–1336)
See also
- Earl Cornwallis (1753)
literature
- George Edward Cokayne (Ed.): The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant . Volume 2, George Bell & Sons, London 1889, pp. 360-378.
Web links
- Peerage: Cornwall on Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page