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Dumnonia
is the area that was administered by the Romans as a civitas from
Exeter (or Isca Dumnoniorum -
Exeter of the
 Dumnonians). It
included some of parts of
Somerset,
Devon,
Cornwall and much of Dorset. At its capital, there was its own senate
or government. While the Romans ruled the local people there was
considerable prosperity for many of the wealthy land owners and yet the
ordinary folk may have benefited too.
By the awe and fear they inspired, the Romans brought
peace to the many warring tribal groups and factions. Through their strength of will,
the Romans formed a society in their image. After the defeat of the
Iceni queen Boadicea or Boudica, the ancient Britons never again
seriously threatened Rome's rule. This ever present threat of severe military reprisal,
kept the Britons in line. The
famous pax Romana was indeed a peace of a sort.
After
the Romans left in around 410AD, the local civitates began to
argue with one another. Soon the native British Celts were being attacked by the
invading
Saxons descending from the east, and by the Irish coming into the
area from their settlements in south Wales. Without Roman military order
and civic control, the economy began a slow, but inexorable, collapse
into chaos and darkness. The Dark Ages had begun. The scene was now
set for the emergence of a man who could unite all these peoples
together and lead them through the changes in society that they were
experiencing. That man was to be King Arthur.
After the
Romans left, their cities and towns were neglected; their walls and defences soon
fell into ruin. The burgeoning Roman
bureaucracy, with its
imposition of high taxes,
collapsed. Plague followed pestilence, and so thousands of Dumnonians emigrated to live in
Brittany, in what is today called France.
The
political system of the Romans was usurped by local rulers and
chieftains, the tyrannus. While they might not have been tyrants
in our modern sense, but they ruled autocratically like any recognised
king or rex. Arthur himself was described by the 9th Century
writer Nennius as
dux bellorum, which means ‘warleader.’
Dumnonia was a cauldron of religious turmoil. The majority of the
population seem to have been Christian by the time the Romans left, but
this is by no means certain. Then, as today with our thousands of
denominations, the church had several main divisions. There were the
ancient British Christians who may have traced their faith back to
St
Joseph of Arimathea
and to the earliest missionaries who came to Britain
in the 1st Century AD. But they were not the only Christians.
The
second broad group, comprising probably the majority of the population, would have followed
the Roman Christian way. Since Christianity had come to a position of
prominence in the Roman Empire, after the conversion of the Emperor
Constantine in 312AD, the Roman Christian Church had become the religion of
an increasing number of not only Romans but of the higher strata of
native peoples who came most into contact with the Romans.
The
Irish invaders brought their own bishops and missionaries. They were followers of
St
Columban from the holy
island of Iona. These invaders were at odds with the Roman Christians over many
issues, especially the liturgical date of Easter.
To add
to this religious mix, the Saxons seem to have had a religion that was a
mixture of their ancient religion and Christian. It is a generalisation
but it is probably fair to say that while the British were more
Christian than the Venerable Bede suggests, the Saxons were perhaps a
bit less so. Of course, many of the country folk, the pagani,
would have remained considerably pagan. It seems unlikely that any were
completely untouched by Christianity, but still they must have retained
many of their deep and ancient beliefs and practices in the natural
world.
After the Romans left, Dumnonia was on the defensive from outside
assault and weakened by internal conflict. Though King Arthur defeated
the Saxons many times and finally at the spectacular
Battle of Badon, in
time the Saxons of the east could not be kept at bay. With each
encroaching victory the ancient tribal land was driven back and back,
till finally it boarded the River Tamar.
Today, King Arthur is remembered by both Celt and Saxon as a warrior
king who defended his country from foreign invasion. Dumnonia, his land,
is only a memory in the minds of many who live in the West Country. And
yet, when we journey along these roads, and walk in these fields, and
climb these hills, we are indeed treading in the steps that King Arthur
and his knights once trod. |
