The origin of... Nobel titles: Duke of Cornwall

The start of a new series, origin of... Nobel titles. When I found out that there are sometimes legends about the origin of noble titles, and those are medieval legends, I decided to start this series. First, the title that now belongs to the son of the king or queen: ‘Duke of Cornwall’. 

Edward, the Black Prince ->

Legendary origin

The medieval legend is set in the time that Troy still existed. It goes as follows:  A Trojan warrior and ally of Brutus of Troy, Corineas, was the original settler of the British Isles. He wanted to live in Cornwall, but at the time there still lived giants in Cornwall. The army Corineas brought with him killed most of them. But the leader of the giants, Gogmaggog, wasn’t killed. He needed to wrestle against Corineas. Corineas won by throwing Gogmaggog off a cliff. Corineas could live in Cornwall and Became the first ruler of it. Later, the title became duke and the legendary dukes of Cornwall were founded. 

There are more tales about the original dukes of Cornwall, written by ‘Historia Regum Brittanniae’ writer Geoffrey of Monmouth. 

Historical origin 

The first historical duke of Cornwall was the son of king Edward III, the Black Prince and commander in the Hundred Years’ War, Edward. It was created for the purpose that it still has today, Giving the eldest son of the monarch a title. Edward got this title because the title ‘Duke of Normandy’ was lost to the French.